Could the United States at any time have purchased Canada?

If around the turn of the century with the colonies become more of a liability than benefit to the empire (perhaps exasperated by economic turmoils at home) could Britain have decided to sell Canada to the US?

Would this have been feasible and would the Canadians of this period (turn of the century to right before WW1) have rebelled against such actions?
 
If around the turn of the century with the colonies become more of a liability than benefit to the empire (perhaps exasperated by economic turmoils at home) could Britain have decided to sell Canada to the US?

Would this have been feasible and would the Canadians of this period (turn of the century to right before WW1) have rebelled against such actions?

When was Canada a liability for Britain ? Never after the conquest. And Canada had home rule since 1867 so it won’t be sold.

The US reached a position when it could demand the sale of such a huge territory at a time when it was far too late for Canada to be buyable and Britain was both far too powerful to be forced to sell it and not powerful enough to force Canada to « accept » being sold.
 
When was Canada a liability for Britain ? Never after the conquest. And Canada had home rule since 1867 so it won’t be sold.

The US reached a position when it could demand the sale of such a huge territory at a time when it was far too late for Canada to be buyable and Britain was both far too powerful to be forced to sell it and not powerful enough to force Canada to « accept » being sold.

In Cussler's Night Probe just such a thing is purported to have happened during WW1. America gives Britain a loan (never repaid) to fight in WW1, since Britain knows it can never raise the taxes to what it would take to fund the army for another year. And Britain says that Canada will be handed over to the Americans (because if the Americans ever found out exactly how much money the President had sent out the country, they'd throw the President out of office, if all they had to show for it was a scrap of paper in Europe), as soon as the war is over. Cue the string of convenient deaths - both diplomats (American and British) responsible for taking signed copies of the treaty to their respective governments end up dead in a few days, before the treaty gets published. Jump to the 1980s and Quebec's agitating for independence from Canada, and the POTUS finds out about the existence of said treaty...
 
In Cussler's Night Probe just such a thing is purported to have happened during WW1. America gives Britain a loan (never repaid) to fight in WW1, since Britain knows it can never raise the taxes to what it would take to fund the army for another year. And Britain says that Canada will be handed over to the Americans (because if the Americans ever found out exactly how much money the President had sent out the country, they'd throw the President out of office, if all they had to show for it was a scrap of paper in Europe), as soon as the war is over. Cue the string of convenient deaths - both diplomats (American and British) responsible for taking signed copies of the treaty to their respective governments end up dead in a few days, before the treaty gets published. Jump to the 1980s and Quebec's agitating for independence from Canada, and the POTUS finds out about the existence of said treaty...

Well, that’s a novel. And having read several of Cussler’s novels, I would say that, as often, it probably is not a credible one.

Besides this, there is no way that such a piece of paper would be enough to deny the objections I raised.
 
Well, that’s a novel. And having read several of Cussler’s novels, I would say that, as often, it probably is not a credible one.

Besides this, there is no way that such a piece of paper would be enough to deny the objections I raised.

It's probably not a credible one, I can't see Britain trading off it's biggest colony/dominion for a few pieces of silver. Not to mention that the Canadians would not be happy about it. I would imagine it would need to be between the War of 1812 and the Civil War for it to be successful - or perhaps the US could take bites (just the Maritimes now, something else later, and finally it ends up with a sort of Canada) - and between 1812 and the 1860s the US isn't really in a position to do that (then again, Britain's not really in a position to do anything about it either. It's Canada, not India).
 
Seems more likely the British sell Canada to the Canadians, though I doubt either they or the Americans had the cash to buy it. Home rule is the best option, with the debts and responsibilities being given over to the Canadians, who keep in the Imperial system so their raw goods still go to British factories and pantries.
 
If around the turn of the century with the colonies become more of a liability than benefit to the empire (perhaps exasperated by economic turmoils at home) could Britain have decided to sell Canada to the US?

Would this have been feasible and would the Canadians of this period (turn of the century to right before WW1) have rebelled against such actions?
The British North America Acts make this highly unlikely since they were about increasing self governance to the Canadian Provinces and Territories.
If Canada is so untenable to be retained then it will be let go earlier rather than sold off.
 
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