The United States and Canada

Résumé du livre

"Canada has been intimately and directly affected by the United States from the beginning of its history. There is a wide- spread tendency, partly stemming from this circumstance, to regard Canada as little more than a northern extension of its powerful neighbor. The friendship between the two countries appears im- mutable, and Canada's destiny is considered by many to be almost entirely contingent upon that of the United States. Thus only if it is realized that over a period of more than 350 years Canada and the United States have not only diverged but have often clashed in their historical development can the fact and nature of Canadian separateness in North America be understood and appreciated. Mr. Craig, in the first comprehensive study of Canadian-American relations in over a decade, devotes a major section of his book to an historical analysis of Canada's distinctive development, from the days of the French and British struggle for North America, through the era of the slowly evolving rapprochement with the United States, down to the sharp tensions of the present day between French-speaking and English-speaking Canadians. Such topics as geography, the economy, politics, and population are also fully considered. In other sections, Mr. Craig examines current Canadian issues and problems and analyzes Canadian-American affairs in a bilateral and in a broader world setting. In the past, Canadian-American relations were often marked by hostility and even open enmity. Today the vast power of the United States and the multitudinous contacts between the two countries dictate the need for close and continuous cooperation. One of Mr. Craig's main conclusions is that on both bilateral and international questions there are distinct and significant differences in attitudes and policies. These can be reconciled and harmonized only with the help of restraint, knowledge, and experience. The task of maintaining the Canadian-American relationship on a basis of mutual respect and in a way to further each nation's respective best interests is not necessarily becoming easier, Mr. Craig points out. Success in this task will depend, in part at least, on understanding the contrasts as well as the similarities between the two countries. Gerald M. Craig, who was educated at the University of Toronto and the University of Minnesota, is the author of Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784-1841, and edited Early Travellers in the Canadas and Lord Durham's Report. He is Professor of History at the University of Toronto."--Publisher.