45th Parallel US-Canadian Border east of the Mississippi

[Jackson Lennock]

What if the Canadian American Border had been set at the 45th parallel from the Mississippi to the Penobscot River, with a slight adjustment around Michigan?

 

[Caprice]

Ooh, that's certainly something. Would the Upper Canadians be happy with this? That's a lot of people who have been shoved into a new country that they didn't rebel to found all for the sake of a straight line border.

 

[Ricardolindo]

Ooh, that's certainly something. Would the Upper Canadians be happy with this? That's a lot of people who have been shoved into a new country that they didn't rebel to found all for the sake of a straight line border.

AFAIK, the population of Upper Canada at this time was still very small.

 

[Jackson Lennock]

Ooh, that's certainly something. Would the Upper Canadians be happy with this? That's a lot of people who have been shoved into a new country that they didn't rebel to found all for the sake of a straight line border.

There weren't many Upper Canadians at the time.

A British Penobscot Bay means a more populous Maritimes region. Penobscot Bay could be a major port and a major naval base.

Without much of Upper Canada, many loyalists probably settle in New Ireland (British Maine) and the Eastern Townships. Montreal City and Quebec south of the St. Lawrence are probably much more Anglo in influence.

I suspect that there'd be a strong British impetus to dig the French River-Georgian Bay Ship Canal. It would be Britain/Canada's equivalent of the Erie Canal, and would allow for freighters to go straight from Lake Huron to Montreal.

A British Duluth means a warm water port and earlier settlement of western Canada. Britain could also build a railroad through the Peninsula and northern Wisconsin.






I could also foresee border agreements out west in which Britain seeks the triangle between the 45th, the Chippewa, and the Mississippi plus the 46th parallel as the dividing line.




Whether the War of 1812 still occurs is an open question. My guess is yes. The British may grab the remainder of Upper Canada, but it's worth taking into account the Americans managed to make it into Upper Canada OTL. The Americans may be starting from a better strategic position here. They probably still lose though/draw like historically though.

The American debt situation may be better. There is now even more land out west to be sold. And unlike other western lands, Upper Canada wasn't claimed by any states.