<P> Some countries, because of their cultural similarities and close alliances with the United States, are often described as a 51st state . In other countries around the world, movements with various degrees of support and seriousness have proposed U.S. statehood . </P> <P> In Canada, "the 51st state" is a phrase generally used in such a way as to imply that if a certain political course is taken, Canada's destiny will be as little more than a part of the United States . Examples include the Canada--United States Free Trade Agreement in 1988, the debate over the creation of a common defense perimeter, and as a potential consequence of not adopting proposals intended to resolve the issue of Quebec sovereignty, the Charlottetown Accord in 1992 and the Clarity Act in 1999 . </P> <P> The phrase is usually used in local political debates, in polemic writing or in private conversations . It is rarely used by politicians themselves in a public context, although at certain times in Canadian history political parties have used other similarly loaded imagery . In the 1988 federal election, the Liberals asserted that the proposed Free Trade Agreement amounted to an American takeover of Canada--notably, the party ran an ad in which Progressive Conservative (PC) strategists, upon the adoption of the agreement, slowly erased the Canada - U.S. border from a desktop map of North America . Within days, however, the PCs responded with an ad which featured the border being drawn back on with a permanent marker, as an announcer intoned "Here's where we draw the line ." </P> <P> The implication has historical basis and dates to the breakup of British America during the American Revolution . The colonies that had confederated to form the United States invaded Canada (at the time a term referring specifically to the modern - day provinces of Quebec and Ontario, which had only been in British hands since 1763) at least twice, neither time succeeding in taking control of the territory . The first invasion was during the Revolution, under the assumption that French - speaking Canadians' presumed hostility towards British colonial rule combined with the Franco - American alliance would make them natural allies to the American cause; the Continental Army successfully recruited two Canadian regiments for the invasion . That invasion's failure forced the members of those regiments into exile, and they settled mostly in upstate New York . The Articles of Confederation, written during the Revolution, included a provision for Canada to join the United States, should they ever decide to do so, without needing to seek U.S. permission as other states would . The United States again invaded Canada during the War of 1812, but this effort was made more difficult due to the large number of Loyalist Americans that had fled to what is now Ontario and still resisted joining the republic . The Hunter Patriots in the 1830s and the Fenian raids after the American Civil War were private attacks on Canada from the U.S. Several U.S. politicians in the 19th century also spoke in favour of annexing Canada . </P>

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