Happy 4th, fellow Yanqui Peegdogs. Suck on it, Brits.

[jimmy olsen]

Quebec has an open invitation to join the US if it wants.

God, no, just no.

Why not?  They'd probably displace Mississippi as the poorest state.

Oh, wait, I get it.  Nevermind. 

According to Wikipedia they'd be 44th between Kentucky and Montana.

[Habbaku]

I really hope you aren't this much a nerd in actual conversation.

[AnchorClanker]

 

[Barrister]

You made one good point, but not two.  The words "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" appears in the Declaration of Independence - which was the document quoted by the original poster.

A preamble to a constitution is a pretty good guide to the motives and desires of that state (or at least it's government).  Since Canada at least does not have an equivalent to the Declaration of Independence it is a good comparison.

That you found the buzzphrase you were looking for in the preamble to the Canadian constitution implies nothing whatever about the absence of that buzzphrase from the preamble of the PRC constitution, as the absence of the other buzzphrase from the preamble of the US constitution demonstrates.

Again, you think I am making claims I am not making.

The phrase "peace, order and good government" does not appear in the preamble to the BNA Act, which you can see since I quoted it.  POGG appears in the actual text of the Act - s. 91 or 92 (I can't be bothered to look it up right now).

[Barrister]

I have a question:  what was the deal with Canada before 1776?  Where they the same kind of colonies that the thirteen colonies were, and just made a different choice that defined their history?  Or were they special right from the start, and were in some way profoundly different from what was the future US?

Well, different circumstances in each area.

Upper Canada (modern Ontario) didn't exist at all as a separate colony in 1776.  It was merely a low-populated portion of the Province of Quebec.

Quebec had only been conquered 20 years earlier, and was overwhelmingly French.  As a result it did not have the kind of independent legislature or governance that the 13 colonies had that could support independence even if it wanted to.  The US did try to capture Quebec in the War of Independence, but was turned back.

The maritimes... Nova Scotia was the home of Halifax, one of the biggest Naval bases in north America.  The British military presence was much too high when compared to the population to support independence.

New Brunswick and PEI were not separate colonies IIRC, and again had no independence political structure that could support independence.

Newfoundland?  I dunno - too far away and too poor I guess.

And of course after the war the influx of loyalists profoundly changed the character of Canada, making "Loyalist" a badge of identity and making independence impossible.

[AnchorClanker]

UEL.  Which you can only join if you participated in the migration/evacuation.  Those who took to the hills and hunkered down are ineligible, so I've read.  (edit - I meant to say if your ANCESTORS participated.)

BTW - there's a new book out on the Loyalist migration out of the 13 colonies to Canada, the Caribbean and back to the UK.