Canada has long been one of the United States' closest allies—but the relationship between those nations hasn’t always been so friendly. One of the first campaigns of the American Revolution was an attempt to annex Canada, and off-and-on American hostilities were one of the key motivations behind Canada’s creation as a unified country.
Besides the American invasion of Canada in 1775, and continued fighting throughout the War of 1812, Canada has faced American invasion on several other occasions.
1. The Dickson Filibuster // 1836
The first minor American invasion of Canada was very minor indeed. James Dickson first appears in history in 1835, when he declared that he would create an Indian federation with himself as president. The first step in his plan to create an empire spanning the western half of North America was to seize the fur outposts of Manitoba, where Métis scouts had a tense relationship with the Hudson’s Bay Company. He left Buffalo, New York in August 1836 with 60 volunteers.
