Thread by @paulgknox

@AlexUsherHESA Thread:

1 The flip answer would be that we were just happy that agitation for “fifty-four forty or fight” and fulfillment of “manifest destiny” did *not* lead the US to seize much of what is now Western Canada. Also that Canadian annexationists in the 1890s didn’t prevail. 1/

@AlexUsherHESA 2Therefire we didn’t care a whole lot what they called themselves. Especially since people moved back and forth across the border to settle, do business, work etc. and Republican sentiment remained significant well after the 1837 rebellions. 2/

@AlexUsherHESA 3 The border meant little or nothing to Indigenous peoples , for whom their own nationality still takes precedence. In some creation stories, North America was and is Turtle Island. The idea of Canada as part of an entity in any way American would have been strange. 3/

@AlexUsherHESA 4 The Spanish-American War did much to further the notion of America as a synonym for the United States. But the concept had been taking shape long before the U.S. attacked Cuba in 1898. The French writer Alexis de Tocqueville published Democracy In America in the late 1830s. 4/

@AlexUsherHESA 5 The term America appears twice in the Declaration of Independence, but so does “united Colonies.” The 1804 Monroe Doctrine speaks of the “rights and interests of the United States” and “the American continents.” 5/

@AlexUsherHESA 6 Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine also speaks of the Unjted States, and refers rather ambiguously to America. But it was over the Western Hemisphere that Roosevelt claimed the status of “police power” for the US. 6/

@AlexUsherHESA 7 Nevertheless, the idea that America and the United States were synonymous were taking root. A powerful boost to this nation came from Katharine Lee Bates’s poem America the Beautiful, written between 1893 and 1895, set to music and a popular song by the early 1900s. 7/

@AlexUsherHESA 8 Meanwhile, inhabitants of Spain’s possessions in North and South America began their own independence struggles. They drew inspiration more from the French Revolution than the victory of Britain’s Atlantic colonies. The republics they established differed in character ... 8/

@AlexUsherHESA 9 ... the United States. While all except Cuba, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola were independent by 1821, pan-American spirit was slow to develop. Simon Bolívar’s dream of a South American federation collapsed quickly. Central America disintegrated into five nations. 9/

@AlexUsherHESA 10 The modern idea of America or the Americas, closely allied to the problematic concept of the New World, is really a 20th-century phenomenon. So is the clash between the pan-American spirit and the appropriation of America as a synonym for the USA. 10/

@AlexUsherHESA 11 The spread of liberal and Marxist ideas promoted encounters among members of Latin American elites who recognized the many traits and challenges their countries had in common. This took two forms: collaboration with and resistance to the US. 11/

@AlexUsherHESA 12 To cement its dominance of the region, the US encouraged liberal pan-Americanism in such forms as the Pan-American Union and its successor, the Organization of American States. Pan-American resistance to the US grew from the mid-1960s under communist Cuba’s leadership. 12/

@AlexUsherHESA 13 In this context it’s easy to see why many Latin Americans feel comfortable calling themselves “americanos” and resentful when the people of the US assume they are the world’s only Americans, or, in translation, “los únicos americanos / os únicos americanos.” 13/

@AlexUsherHESA 14 Many Latin Americans go to some lengths to avoid calling Americans “americanos.” As noted in another reply, the formal term in Spanish and Portuguese is “estadounidense” but gringo, yanqui, chele and other words are widely used. They aren’t always strongly pejorative. 14/

@AlexUsherHESA 15 A fairly neutral alternative used for the people of the US is “norteamericano.” Its literal meaning is North American but since, for many, Canada isn’t really on the radar as sharing a continent with the US, they aren’t aware that it might push our buttons. 15/

@AlexUsherHESA 16 “Norteamericanos” or “los del norte” (the northeners) is used often in Mexico, which lost half its territory to the US during the 19th century. Mexico’s formal name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States). Informally Mexicans use Estados Unidos for the US ... 16/

@AlexUsherHESA 17 ... but in formal Spanish discourse Mexicans will use the full name, Estados Unidos de America, or even Estados Unidos de Norteamerica. The latter is a deliberate blurring of geological fact, since Mexico iindisputably is part of the physical North American continent. 17/

@AlexUsherHESA 18 The term Americas, meaning everything “from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego,” came into vogue in the 1990s as the Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2 administrations promoted a free-trade and investment agreement for North and South America (excluding Cuba & remaining colonies). 18/

@AlexUsherHESA 19 The FTAA initiative failed, and after 9/11 pan-American spirit of all kinds weakened. The US, Canada and Mexico strengthened the NAFTA trade agreement and South America, led by Brazil, responded by forming the Mercosur economic bloc. The influence of the OAS diminished. 19/

@AlexUsherHESA 20 Today the idea of America as a cultural sphere encompassing North and South America is weaker than at any time since the 1920s. And in English, American is the only suitable demonym (place-denoting noun for an inhabitant) for a US person. United Statesian won’t cut it. 20/

@AlexUsherHESA 21/ So we’re left with, in English, American meaning (n.) a person from the US or (adj.) of, from, resembling, etc., the US or a person or thing from the US. And with Americans calling their country America, which bugs everyone else in any language. 21/

@AlexUsherHESA 22 Where do Canadians fit in all of this? We certainly don’t like being called Americans, because in English American means a US person. Although many of us have cross-border family, work or friendship ties to Americans, we treasure the distinction for many reasons. 22/

@AlexUsherHESA 23 We don’t identify with or we actively oppose many characteristics of the US presence in our lives and in the world. Some of these dislikes, not all of which would be endorsed by every inhabitant of Canada:

- swagger
- gun laws
- global projection of force 23/

@AlexUsherHESA 24
- environmental depredation
- dismissive attitude toward Canada/Canadians
- contested assertion of sovereignty & global reach
- cultural permeation of the world, esp. Canada
- the legacy of chattel slavery, still significant
- social conservatism, firearms 24/

@AlexUsherHESA 25 These traits make most of us happy enough to be separated, even though many of us admire US individuals, elements of culture, technology and business acumen. But are we OK with the US calling itself America? I don’t think most of us feel we have a dog in the hunt. 25/

@AlexUsherHESA 26 Here’s why. The America that Latin Americans feel part of - the one they invoke when they’re upset about the US appropriating the term - is not something Canadians feel viscerally part of. We’re fine with being North Americans ... 26/

@AlexUsherHESA 27 ... and we’re not fine with being Americans in the US sense. But do Canadians feel part of a two-continent America - that is, of the Americas? I don’t think so - not most of us, anyway. Language, culture, politics and history separate us. We aren’t a republic. 27/

@AlexUsherHESA 28 Whereas Latin Americans share the same kind of disputes and affinities with the US, ours tend to be different. Our friendship with Cuba and our refusal to send troops to Iraq are exceptions. We haven’t had US-backed military dictators, US-sponsored coups or guerrilla wars. 28/

@AlexUsherHESA 29 Unless we make unusual effort, we’re exposed to quite selective Latin American and Caribbean art, music, writing and film. Despite the determined efforts of diplomats and negotiators, we didn’t embrace the idea of an Americas-wide trade alliance.

This isn’t to say ... 29/

@AlexUsherHESA 30 ... every Canadian feels this way. Some are of Latin American ancestry. Some dedicate their lives to strengthening exchanges of people and knowledge. Some help Latin American migrants settle in Canada or visit the rest of the Americas repeatedly. But I doubt that ... 30/

@AlexUsherHESA 31 ... even the most pan-American visionary in Latin America would say Canada is a serious part of the vision. Our ties are more likely to be with the US, Europe or our countries of origin.

Indigenous people in Canada may share the outlook of other Indigenous peoples ... 31/

@AlexUsherHESA 32 .... in the Americas. But they may have little sympathy for formulations of pan-Americanism rooted in European-derived practices and institutions. And the America question - America is, after all, a colonial construction - may simply not resonate among Indigenous peoples. 32/

@AlexUsherHESA 33 To sum up, Canada is located *in* the Americas, but most Canadians don’t feel *of* the Americas. We place ourselves in North America (including the Caribbean). Our chief geopolitical concern is to mark our separation from the US and resist its less savoury influences. 33/

@AlexUsherHESA 34 We’ll recognize the appropriation of America as one of many imperial projections. But as long as others don’t call *us* Americans, most of us will let it slide.

Thanks to @AlexUsherHESA for being the perhaps unwilling host of this long, sporadically posted thread. 34/

@AlexUsherHESA 35 Thanks to @AlexUsherHESA and @dimmerwahr for inspiration, and to all who got this far for your patience. This is my longest Twitter essay by far. It should probably be my longest ever, also by far.

The unroll is upcoming. By the way, there’s no tweet #4. 35/35

@AlexUsherHESA @dimmerwahr @threadreaderapp unroll pls & thx