While Donald Trump's comments about Canada have made headlines, history reveals he is far from the first American figure to covet the northern nation. At the very dawn of the United States, Founding Father Benjamin Franklin embarked on a decades-long campaign to bring Canada under American control, a forgotten chapter detailed in a new book.
Franklin's Three-Decade Campaign for Annexation
In her 2025 book, He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin’s Failure to Annex Canada, author and journalist Madelaine Drohan uncovers this surprising historical narrative. Drohan, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa, explains that Franklin's ambition spanned approximately thirty years, beginning when Canada was a French colony and continuing after Britain took control in 1760.
Franklin's primary motivation was rooted in national security. Born in 1706, he grew up during a period of intense hostility between British American colonists and French colonists in Canada, which then encompassed Quebec and areas south of the Great Lakes. Settlements were regularly raided, with houses burned and people taken hostage, often with the involvement of Indigenous allies. For Franklin, eliminating the French presence in Canada was seen as essential for the safety of the American colonies.
From Security to Manifest Destiny
Franklin's rationale evolved over time. He famously projected that the population in the American colonies would double every 25 years, creating a pressing need for new land for settlement. In his writings, he eyed Canada as a prime territory for this expansion. Drohan argues that this was one of the earliest expressions of the idea of Manifest Destiny—the belief that Americans were destined to populate the continent—even before the term was coined.
This expansionist vision persisted even after Canada became a British colony following the Seven Years' War. The dual drivers of security and the need for "room to grow" continued to fuel Franklin's agenda.
The Final Push: Demanding Canada as War Compensation
Franklin's most direct attempt came during the peace negotiations in Paris in the 1780s, following the American Revolution. Serving as a diplomat, Franklin argued that Britain was the aggressor and that the newly independent United States, as the victim of British tyranny, was entitled to compensation for the destruction suffered during the war.
The compensation he demanded was Canada itself. He insisted that Britain should cede the territory to the fledgling United States. This bold proposition was ultimately rejected, cementing Franklin's ambition as a historical "what if" rather than a reality.
Drohan's research connects these 18th-century ambitions to modern political rhetoric, illustrating that the notion of American possession of Canada has deeper roots than many realize. The story underscores the complex and often contentious early relationship between the two neighbors, who would only later become the steadfast allies and defence partners they are today.
