America’s roots are showing. That does not bode well for Canada

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Madelaine Drohan is the author of He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada and a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa

People are divided into warring camps. A powerful group with a grudge is trying to yank everyone in a radically new direction. Trade is weaponized to encourage manufacturing and achieve political ends. Immigrants are suspect. White supremacy is openly discussed. Those who resist the changes are identified and punished.

Propaganda and fake news proliferate, fuelling conspiracy theories. People are encouraged to think of themselves as victims, deserving of compensation. There is talk of annexing Canada in the name of security. Americans make contact with people in Canada who are disaffected with government. They use a carrot-and-stick approach, promising liberty but threatening destruction. The flawed politicians steering this starkly different course promise it will eventually lead to liberty and a better life for all.

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You could read this as a description of the United States in 2026. Yet it also describes colonial America in 1775, just before the Americans decided to invade Canada, then a British colony. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has gone back to its roots.

That does not bode well for Canada.

Some details have changed. Instead of Democrats and Republicans being at each other’s throats, the fight more than 250 years ago was between those loyal to King George III and those who wanted a republic. Resisters risked seeing their businesses ruined and their properties seized, or being tarred and feathered. The grudge then was with Britain, seen as a tyrant bent on taxing them and telling them what to do. Mr. Trump’s grudge seems to be with the world.

Among the founding fathers, both Benjamin Franklin and John Adams wrote openly about their preference for a white America, free of what Franklin called “black or tawny” people, or “swarthy” Spaniards, Italians, French, Germans, Russians, and Swedes. Adams told his wife he liked New England best because “The people are purer English Blood, less mixed with Scotch, Irish, Dutch, French, Danish, Sweedish [sic].” Franklin was a frequent writer of anonymous pamphlets, the social media of the day, in which all and sundry could air their views without regard to the facts.

Instead of tariffs, the disenchanted Americans used largely unsuccessful boycotts of British goods to pressure Britain into recognizing their rights. Canada, as a British colony, was not spared. Its colonial status made it an attractive target. The Americans justified their invasion of Canada in September, 1775, citing an unfounded rumour that Britain was about to launch an assault from there on the colonies. Britain might have liked the idea but lacked the manpower to do so at the time.

Much like what is happening now in Alberta, early Americans sent out feelers to people in Canada who were disaffected with government. Many were American merchants who had relocated to Canada after it became a British colony in 1763. John Brown, a Massachusetts lawyer, made several trips to Canada to circulate propaganda and secretly meet with American supporters. He reported to politicians back home.

Despite all the similarities between then and now, two big differences suggest this time could be different. Both involve Britain. When the Americans attempted to cut off their trade with Britain and its other colonies, Canada’s main trade links were with imperial Britain. Now they are overwhelmingly with the U.S., making Mr. Trump’s tariffs a much heavier blow. The U.S. has the economic clout to devastate Canada.

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It also has the military might to do so. What saved the colony of Canada from the American invaders in 1776 was the arrival of British reinforcements. It helped that the Americans were too distracted by battles closer to home to try again during the remainder of the revolution.

Afterwards, Britain loomed as a protector in the background until Canada took shelter under the American military umbrella. Now that the American President and commander-in-chief has turned hostile, who has Canada’s back?

For the first time in its existence, Canada will have to find a new and viable way to defend itself. It is a colony no more. In ordinary circumstances that would be exhilarating. With the Trump administration taking the United States back in time, it’s just frightening.