Separate Paths: Why Canada Rejected America’s Revolution

The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series

Listen and You’ll Learn:

📚 What if Canada had become part of the United States?

✉️🇺🇸 Learn how early American leaders tried to win over Canada—with letters, diplomacy, and invasion—and how Canada firmly said no.

📜🇨🇦 Historian Ralph Nurnberger reveals how that rejection shaped a distinct Canadian identity rooted in culture, faith, and loyalty to Britain.

🧠🌎 You’ll come away with a deeper understanding of how two nations, born from the same empire, chose entirely different futures.

In 1774, the Continental Congress sent heartfelt letters to Quebec—inviting Canadians to join the American Revolution. When the letters didn’t work, they tried something else: invasion.

 

Smithsonian Associate, author, historian, Ralph Nurnberger joins The Not Old Better Show in partnership with Smithsonian Associates to explain this little-known history. Smithsonian Associate Ralph Nurnberger will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates on August 21, 2025, and the title of his presentation is “One Border, Two Nations: U.S.–Canadian Relations, 1774–1816.” From diplomatic missions with Benjamin Franklin to failed military campaigns in the Canadian snow, Ralph reveals how America’s northern dreams unraveled.

But this isn’t just a story about war—it’s about identity. While Americans were building a nation based on liberty and representation, Canadians were choosing something different: cultural preservation, religious freedom, and a path loyal to Britain.

The rejection wasn’t personal—it was defining. And it helped shape the two countries we know today.

🎧 Listen to the full episode: https://notold-better.com
🎙️ With Paul Vogelzang and guest Smithsonian Associate Ralph Nurnberger
#Leadership #History #CanadaUSRelations #SmithsonianAssociates #NotOldBetter #LifelongLearning

Smithsonian Associate Ralph Nurnberger will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates on August 21, 2025, and the title of his presentation is “One Border, Two Nations: U.S.–Canadian Relations, 1774–1816.”

https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/u-s-canadian-relations-1774-1816