Hello and welcome to a history of the United States.

Episode 141.

The Invasion of Canada.

Last time out, the War of American Independence began with the skirmish in Lexington and Concord,

and we followed it through the creation of the Second Continental Congress to the British expulsion from Massachusetts in March 1776.

But now I want to look at the failed attempt to make Quebec the 14th state of the American Union,

although perhaps we should be more nuanced in evaluating its success.

Quebec and Canada, more generally, would not join the United States.

In fact, the war led it to become very anti-American, but it would distract the British and

helped to bring the French into the war.

It's a question we'll revisit at the end of this episode.

It's very easy to draw a distinction between the 13 colonies and Canada,

but it must be remembered that at this stage, they were all British North American colonies.

It was quite natural that the Americans would look to expand their scope and their activity.

Nova Scotia was of little interest because it was both scarcely populated and it contained Halifax, but their eyes were

instead drawn towards Montreal and the city of Quebec, hoping that the French Canadians

would join them, or at least not aid the British. The memories of the wars against French

Canada were still fresh for many. Then there

was the Iroquois Confederacy to bear in mind. The six nations could all be easily supplied

from Quebec, Montreal and Detroit. So there would be potential benefits for the Patriots to take control of Quebec,

and with the British focused on Boston, they sensed they needed to act swiftly.

The first overtures were made in 1774, at the time of the first Continental Congress, and French Canadians were invited to

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