ABSTRACT
For several decades after the American Revolutionary War, Canada was thought of as a security threat to the United States. This was during a time when Canada was under the control of the British authorities, whose aspirations and presence on the North American continent were seen to be inimical to both the American system of government and the westward expansion of the United States. With Canada’s gradual independence from the United Kingdom and the dramatic increase that took place during the 20th century in trade and security linkages between the United States and its northern neighbor, the image of Canada became much more favorable. Ironically, this was accompanied by less attention being paid to Canada. It came to be seen as a place that could be taken for granted and about which Americans need not worry. This helps to explain the surprise and puzzlement among American leaders, and the repeated need to explain Canada to Americans, that have often accompanied serious disagreements between these two countries. In recent decades, Canada has sometimes figured in America’s culture wars: a place to be emulated, in the eyes of some Americans, and a model to be rejected, in the eyes of others.
