He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin's Failure to Annex Canada

by Madelaine Drohan

Throughout his long and illustrious career, Benjamin Franklin nursed a not-so-secret desire to annex Canada and make it American.

When he was not busy conducting scientific experiments or representing American interests at home and abroad, Benjamin Franklin hatched one plan after another to join Canada to the American colonies and then later to the United States. These were not solely intellectual efforts. He went to Montreal in 1776 to try to turn around the faltering occupation by American forces. As lead American negotiator at the 1782 peace negotiations with Britain in Paris, he held the fate of Canada in his hands. Ill health and other American priorities then forced him to abandon his decades-long campaign to possess Canada.

Franklin’s elevation to the status of an American icon has pushed this signal failure into the far reaches of collective memory in both Canada and the United States. Yet it shaped the future of North America and relations between the two neighbours over the next two and a half centuries.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

296 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2025

About the author

I have been writing for most of my adult life, covering
Canada, Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia as a journalist
for publications like The Economist and The Globe and
Mail. When I want to answer a burning question, or just have fun, I put journalism aside to research and write books and reports.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks to the publishers and netgalley for a free copy in return for a honest and open review

.Interesting and detailed book looking at the early history of Canada and the capture by the British and its relationship with its southern neighbours USA (13 colonies) however complex and Franklin moves to incorporate it within the newly established united states but looks at the reasons why he failed. found the book overall insightful and interesting

[Mariama Thorlu-Bangura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would really draw me in, seeing that it's about Benjamin Franklin, one of the most interesting men of American colonial history. That was not the case. I found it dry, and to me, it just seemed like a biography told from a sole focus. I know the author's goal was to share a new aspect of Franklin, but if it's something that has seemed to merit deep focus, maybe it just wasn't as important in the grand scheme of his life. I feel like this was done as a way to temper the outrage over Trump's nonsensical desire to annex Canada, as if to say,' Look! Franklin tried this too!' But the circumstances are not the same. Trump is a bully who always wants what someone says he cannot have. Franklin, in my humble view, was no bully! But anyway, moving on. I just didn't enjoy this book, I'm sad to say.

Thanks to NetGalley for access to this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Maxwell Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember going to the Queen’s York Rangers Officers' Mess at Fort York Armoury, TO for a talk on the subject by the author last month, where she also sold copies of her work to guests both civilian and military. I am thankful I received a copy.

'He Did Not Conquer: Benjamin Franklin's Failure to Make Canada American' by Canadian author Madelaine Drohan is about Benjamin Franklin's obsession and efforts to make New France (Canada, Québec) a part of British North America, then the USA itself. Drohan goes over the history of the contested lands—including the 13 colonies and Québec, Indigenous lands, and Spanish territories from the 17th to the 19th centuries—motivations of conquest ranging from religious motivations to strategic practicalities to take French North America, personalities especially Franklin's and endeavours and relationships, and reflections on the historiography of this episode of the American Revolutionary War. Overall, an informative work.

With this, I must say that Drohan outdid herself here. Her writing style was easy to read and the paragraph formatting was easy on the eyes, she used plenty of sources to describe the several topics covered in the book, followed by intriguing discussion (namely on unknown or disputed actions or motivations of induviduals), and I appreciate the maps provided to give the reader an idea on what lands the empires and individuals were referring to. One can genuinely learn a lot from Drohan in this work.

In conclusion, I commend the author for a fascinating book on a barely-known topic in Canadian and American history, plus its connection to the frightening topic of annexation by the 47th President of the USA. She proved it well that the American desire for Canada is anything but new, originating to the early 18th century and manifested best by Benjamin Franklin. I
recommend it to all Canadians and those interested in the history of the American Revolutionary War.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I read this book, I thought Benjamin Franklin was just that guy who went to France to help negotiate a treaty for the Americans, and, of course, wrote that essay called "Fart Proudly".

Turns out he also was keen to expand north into Canada, because he and others thought Americans should have all of North America. That meant they needed to rule what Franklin and his colleagues described as the backward French Catholics who formed the majority of the population in what was then Canada.

The arrogance of the Americans comes through, even in the formal written language of the time. Those slave owners thought they could just show up and the French habitants would rush to the American side. It seems not much has changed, even after all these years.

Drohan has written a readable account of a little known episode of Canadian and American history. The epilogue of her book is very helpful, and explains why Franklin's failure is overlooked on both sides of the border.

[Andrew Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book felt brief in some areas of colonial history, it’s a great retelling of franklins lifelong interest in the United States controlling Canada. Parallels drawn between the fanatic thinking of colonial Americans and the radical American politics we see today, connects this book to modern America

[Christopher Gould · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew that American ideas to possess Canada didn’t begin with Trump, of course - but I guess I didn’t know that Franklin had a bit of an obsession on the topic, even when he was loyal to the crown. This book did a good job illuminating that fact. The prose was sometimes repetitive, but still easily readable. The maps supplementing the text was also very helpful.

[Ronald Barmby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this enlightening and entertaining book. Well done Drohan! It is not often pointed out that the American Revolution ultimately created not one, but two nations in North America. Franklin's failure was to not recognize that colonists wanted a choice, and for many in 1775 that choice became a significant part of Canada's origin story.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much politics for my taste.

DNF page 102

[Dan Mayville · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting historical information but the book for me was very clunky so I could not finish!!