Understanding the Backlash to the '51st State' Idea: Why Canada Has Long Been Wary of Its Biggest Ally

Santa Clara University Professor Greg Wigmore will give this talk in partnership with the Los Gatos/Saratoga AAUW. 

Topics covered include:

-Leaders on both sides of the 5,525 mile-long Canada-U.S. boundary have long touted the “world’s longest undefended border” as a global model for how good neighbors should behave

– Canadians’ fears of American annexation or absorption have ebbed and flowed over time but can be traced back to the beginning of the American Revolution 250 years ago

– A brief survey of the high and low points in the relationship helps explain why the president’s recent rhetoric questioning Canada’s independence and inviting it to become the “51st state” has created opposition in Canada

About the speaker:Gregory Wigmore teaches a broad range of courses in U.S. and North American history. His research and teaching focus on the intersection of social and political history and foreign relations, especially the role of frontiers and borders.

He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Davis and his bachelor’s in journalism and history from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. In 2014, he was the Peckham Postdoctoral Fellow in Revolutionary America at the University of Michigan’s Clements Library. More recently, he was a Sproul Research Fellow in Canadian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.