250 and Counting

Tag: Canadian History

  • September 4, 1775: The Offensive in Canada Grows

    An invasion of Canada seems a little absurd on its face, but when you think about it in the context of the Revolution, it actually starts to make sense.

    After all, Canada was also a few British colonies in the North American continent, but they were a little more obedient to the whims of Parliament and they had Loyalist leanings. So the Patriots had a choice between bringing them over ideologically toward Independence, or ignoring them. Neither of these were likely to work, so they set about on the next best thing.

    Invade and then occupy Canada.

    But as we’ll learn in upcoming episodes, it’s not as easy as you’d think.

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  • August 28, 1775: Preparing to Invade…Canada?

    Cover art for August 28, 1775: portrait of Guy Carleton, artist unknown, 1750. via National Archives of Canada and Wikimedia.

    As farfetched as it sounds today, considering the need to invade and occupy Canadian territory was considered important early in the war effort, largely because the colonies in the Great White North had been treated a little more favorably by Parliament. Therefore they were more likely to lean on the Loyalist side of things.

    In making the decision to do so, however, there were lots of things to consider that (in retrospect) seem not to have been considered. But as time goes on and we get closer to the end of the year, we’ll be discussing that in future episodes. At this point, the plans are mostly just getting started.

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