# Why wasn't Canada considered one of the American colonies before the revolution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-canada-considered-one-of-the-american-colonies-before-the-revolution/419913 "2007-09-20T20:41:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-canada-considered-one-of-the-american-colonies-before-the-revolution/419913/21 "2007-09-21T17:26:25Z")
**Freddy** , that was a great post – much info in few words. I’m curious about the last point, though. Caribbean colonies with many slaves and few free settlers – are you suggesting that the free settlers didn’t want to risk rebelling against their colonial motherland because they feared that the slaves would join them in the rebellion, then turn around and keep rebelling against them, too? If so, why exactly would they fear this? Perhaps in the experience Haiti (where, I believe, the slaves rebelled against both at the same time) lies part of the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-canada-considered-one-of-the-american-colonies-before-the-revolution/419913/22 "2007-09-21T17:52:54Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] It is incorrect to think of the First Amendment as having any effect upon the states. Some states barred themselves from affecting “freedom of religion” through either constitutional clauses or legislative acts. But some states openly aided one religion, or acted discriminatorily against one religion until very late in the game as the above citations show. :eek: [/QUOTE] More on this here: [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfreereligion.htm](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfreereligion.htm) And from another staff report: > [@](#): > > Before the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress invited French Canadians to become a 14th colony. The Canadians declined. [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwar1812.htm](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwar1812.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-canada-considered-one-of-the-american-colonies-before-the-revolution/419913/23 "2007-09-21T18:52:11Z")
[QUOTE=JKellyMap] **Freddy** , that was a great post – much info in few words. I’m curious about the last point, though. Caribbean colonies with many slaves and few free settlers – are you suggesting that the free settlers didn’t want to risk rebelling against their colonial motherland because they feared that the slaves would join them in the rebellion, then turn around and keep rebelling against them, too? If so, why exactly would they fear this? [/quote] I would say that it was more that island colonies _needed_ their British garrisons as insurance against slave uprisings. Whites in the mainland colonies were confident that they could kick out the redcoats and still raise enough of a militia to put down a Denmark Vesey or a Nat Turner on their own. Whites in the island colonies, where they were heavily outnumbered, weren’t. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > Perhaps in the experience Haiti (where, I believe, the slaves rebelled against both at the same time) lies part of the answer. Pretty much, yes. Haiti was in the future at the time of the American Revolution, of course, but white planters understood the danger. The general breakdown of colonial authority in France on the heels of the French Revolution invited one of the few successful slave uprisings in history. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-canada-considered-one-of-the-american-colonies-before-the-revolution/419913/24 "2007-09-21T19:26:45Z")
The Continental Army’s Montgomery/Arnold invasion of Canada in late 1775 had pretty rough going, and ultimately failed. I think most of the Canadian population at the time just wanted to keep their heads down and stay out of trouble with the Brits, who seemed likely to remain in control of the region despite the rebellion to the south. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wasnt-canada-considered-one-of-the-american-colonies-before-the-revolution/419913.md?page=1)