The
Annexation Bill of 1866 was a bill introduced on July 2, 1866, but never passed in the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. It called for the annexation of
British North AmericaBritish North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783....
and the admission of its provinces as states and territories in the Union. The bill was sent to committee but never came back, was never voted upon, and did not become law. The bill never came to the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
.
The bill authorized the
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
to, subject to the agreement of the governments of the British provinces, "publish by proclamation that, from the date thereof, the States of
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
,
New BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province in the confederation. The provincial capital is Fredericton...
,
Canada EastCanada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....
, and Canada West, and the Territories of Selkirk (present-day
ManitobaManitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
),
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of and a population of 1,023,810 , mostly living in the southern half of the province. Of these, 233,923 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 194,971 live in the provincial capital, Regina...
, and Columbia, with limits and rights as by the act defined, are constituted and admitted as States and Territories of the United States of America." It provided for the admission of all the colonies and the purchase of the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world...
's lands for $10,000,000.
The
Annexation Bill of 1866 was a bill introduced on July 2, 1866, but never passed in the
United States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. It called for the annexation of
British North AmericaBritish North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783....
and the admission of its provinces as states and territories in the Union. The bill was sent to committee but never came back, was never voted upon, and did not become law. The bill never came to the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
.
The bill authorized the
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
to, subject to the agreement of the governments of the British provinces, "publish by proclamation that, from the date thereof, the States of
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
,
New BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province in the confederation. The provincial capital is Fredericton...
,
Canada EastCanada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....
, and Canada West, and the Territories of Selkirk (present-day
ManitobaManitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
),
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of and a population of 1,023,810 , mostly living in the southern half of the province. Of these, 233,923 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 194,971 live in the provincial capital, Regina...
, and Columbia, with limits and rights as by the act defined, are constituted and admitted as States and Territories of the United States of America." It provided for the admission of all the colonies and the purchase of the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world...
's lands for $10,000,000. The American government would assume public lands and state-owned bonds and the right to levy taxes and, in return, would take over provincial debts to the total of $85,700,000 and give an annual subsidy of $1,646,000 to the new states. In addition, the United States would connect Canada with the Maritimes by rail and spend $50,000,000 to complete and improve the colonial canal system.
The bill was introduced by Congressman Nathaniel Prentiss Banks, a representative from
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
. It was intended to appeal to Irish Americans who supported the
FenianThe Fenians, both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish nationalist...
Movement and were aggressively hostile to Britain. Indeed, much of American public opinion at the time was hostile because of Britain's perceived support for the Confederacy during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
. There was no serious effort in Washington to annex Canada.
Its introduction and similar interest in annexation by the United States possibly provided a little incentive for the organization of Canada as an entity distinct from Britain; indeed, the bill's introduction preceded
Canadian ConfederationCanadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed, officially beginning on July 1, 1867, with the new provinces of Ontario and Quebec along with two other British colonies, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which also became provinces.-Usage:Canada is a...
by less than a year. However the
Fenian raidsThe Fenian raids were attacks by members of the Fenian Brotherhood based in the United States on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada in order to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland, between 1866 and 1871. Most of the raids were successfully repelled by...
had much more influence in shaping determination to hurry the Confederation process.
See also
- Annexationist movements of Canada
From the Independence of the United States of America until today, various annexationist movements in Canada have campaigned in favour of U.S. annexation of parts or all of Canada...
- Continentalism
Continentalism refers to the agreements or policies that favor the regionalization and/or cooperation between nations within a continent. The term is used more often in the European and North American contexts, but the concept has been applied to other continents.-Britain:In the late Seventeenth...
- Expansionism
In general, expansionism consists of expansionist policies of governments and states. While some have linked the term to promoting economic growth , more commonly expansionism refers to the doctrine of a nation's expanding its territorial base usually by means of military aggression...
- Fenian Raids
The Fenian raids were attacks by members of the Fenian Brotherhood based in the United States on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada in order to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland, between 1866 and 1871. Most of the raids were successfully repelled by...
- Hunter Patriots
- Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny is a term that was used in the 19th century to designate the belief that the United States was destined, even divinely ordained, to expand across the North American continent, from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean...
- Oregon boundary dispute
The Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...
External links