OT: Happy 4th

[capnq]

Renegade 13 said: it is essentially celebrating the beginning of a war that killed hundreds of thousands.

You're off by an order of magnitude. According to my almanac, American troops killed and wounded combined were 10,643. I would expect British casualties to be similar, and civilian causualities lower.

I doubt the memory of the American Revolution had much to do with Canadian independence at all.

No, but if the independent United States had not pressured Great Britain on the third clause of the Atlantic Charter during WWII, most of those nations that broke off after WWII would not have become independent.

[Renegade 13]

capnq said:
You're off by an order of magnitude. According to my almanac, American troops killed and wounded combined were 10,643. I would expect British casualties to be similar, and civilian causualities lower.

Hmmm...I seem to recall deaths by disease (esp. smallpox) outnumbered deaths by combat, as was usual in such wars of the times. Now, I don't know if you can count those deaths as directly caused by the wars, but if you do, deaths would be much higher.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Interesting tidbit - Canada petitioned Britain to remain a part of the empire. Why? Far as I can remember, wheat subsidies.