Editing Canada–United States relations (section)

=== Late 19th century ===
{{Main|Canadian Confederation|National policy|John A. Macdonald# Prime Minister of Canada}}
Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 in internal affairs while Britain retained control of diplomacy and defence policy. Before Confederation, there was an [[Oregon boundary dispute]] in which the Americans claimed the [[54th parallel north|54th degree latitude]]. The [[Oregon Treaty]] of 1846 largely resolved the issue, splitting the disputed territory along the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]] – the northern half became British Columbia, and the southern half eventually formed the states of [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and [[Oregon]]. 
[[File:Battle of Eccles Hill.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Eccles Hill]] in 1870. The American-based [[Fenian Brotherhood]] launched several raids into Canada in 1866 and 1870–71.]]
Strained relations with America continued, however, due to a series of small-scale armed incursions called the "[[Fenian raids]]" conducted by [[Irish American|Irish-American]] Civil War veterans across the border from 1866 to 1871 in an attempt to trade Canada for Irish independence.<ref>{{cite book |first= Yossi|last= Shain|title= Marketing the American Creed Abroad: Diasporas in the U.S. and Their Homelands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pqj8GFCg7MC&pg=PA53|year= 1999|publisher= Cambridge U.P.|page=53|access-date=November 6, 2015|isbn=9780521642255}}</ref> The American government, angry at Canadian tolerance of Confederate raiders during the [[American Civil War]] of 1861 to 1865, moved very slowly to disarm the [[Fenians]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sim |first1=David |title=Filibusters, Fenians, and a Contested Neutrality: The Irish Question and U.S. Diplomacy, 1848–1871 |journal=American Nineteenth Century History |date=September 2011 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=265–287 |doi=10.1080/14664658.2011.626161 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14664658.2011.626161 |issn=1743-7903}}</ref> The [[Fenian raids]] were small-scale attacks carried out by the [[Fenian Brotherhood]], an [[Irish Republican]] organization based among Irish Catholics in the United States. Targets included British Army forts, customs posts, and other locations near the border. The raids were small, unsuccessful episodes in 1866, and again from 1870 to 1871. They aimed to bring pressure on Great Britain to withdraw from Ireland. None of these raids achieved their aims and all were quickly defeated by local Canadian forces.<ref>Robert M. Groceman, "Patriot War and the Fenian Raids: Case Studies in Border Security on the US Canada Border in the Nineteenth Century" (US Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth United States, 2017) [https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1038696.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113133904/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1038696.pdf |date=November 13, 2020 }}.</ref>

The British government, in charge of diplomatic relations, protested cautiously, as Anglo-American relations were tense. Much of the tension was relieved as the Fenians faded away and in 1872 by the settlement of the [[Alabama Claims]], when Britain paid the U.S. $15.5 million for war losses caused by warships built in Britain and sold to the Confederacy.

After 1874 relations between Canada and the United States were largely amicable.<ref>P. B. Waite, ''Canada 1874 1896: Arduous Destiny'' (Oxford University Press, 1996). pp.200–209; Conrad Black, ''Rise to Greatness: The history of Canada from the Vikings to the present'' (2014) pp.395, 402, 409.</ref> Disputes over ocean boundaries on [[Georges Bank]] and fishing, whaling, and sealing rights in the Pacific were settled by international arbitration, setting an important international precedent.<ref>
{{cite book
|first=Mark|last=Kurlansky|title=Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World|url= https://archive.org/details/cod00mark|url-access= registration|year=1998|publisher=Penguin|page=[https://archive.org/details/cod00mark/page/117 117]|access-date=November 6, 2015|isbn=9781440672873}}
</ref> Longstanding minor boundary disputes regarding Alaska were made critical by the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] in the Yukon portion of Canada most easily reached through Alaska.<ref>Robert Craig Brown, ''Canada's national policy 1883-1900: a study in Canadian American relations'' (Princeton University Press, 1964) pp. 281-322. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Canada_s_National_Policy_1883_1900/ySfWCgAAQBAJ?hl=en online]</ref>   In the Atlantic, the question of fishing rights led to long discussions among Canada, the United States, and Newfoundland.<ref>Thomas Hodgins, ''Fishery Concessions to the United States in Canada and Newfoundland'' (1907) [https://archive.org/details/cihm_79894/page/n5/mode/1up?view=theater online].</ref><ref>Charles S. Campbell, ''The Transformation of American Foreign Relations, 1865–1900'' (Harper and Row, 1976), pp.120–139.</ref>

Both sides raised tariffs on products imported from the other.  Canada reversed earlier free trade policies, introducing protective tariffs under its [[National Policy]] starting in 1879 to promote industrialization. Hopes for renewed reciprocity agreements to lower the tariff faded away.<ref>V.C. Fowke, “The National Policy-Old and New.” ''Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science / Revue Canadienne d’Economique et de Science Politique'' 18#3 , 1952, pp. 271–86. [https://doi.org/10.2307/138568 online]</ref> In the [[McKinley Tariff]] of 1890 the U.S. imposed higher duties on imports from Canada, which led to a backlash and the rejection of half-hearted proposals for a political union by which the U.S. would annex Canada.<ref>James Morton Callahan, ''American foreign policy in Canadian Relations'' (1937) pp.354-437.</ref><ref>Brown, ''Canada's national policy 1883-1900'', pp. 212–280.</ref><ref>Milton Plesur, ''America's Outward Thrust: Approaches to Foreign Affairs, 1865–1890'' (Northern Illinois University Press 1971),  pp.182–197.</ref>   The U.S. economy was growing much faster that the UK economy, and the results were a shift toward more Canadian trade with the U.S. and less with Britain. In 1880, the U.S. supplied 40% of Canada's imports; by 1900, this had risen to 60%.  The U.S. also became a major market for Canadian exports, especially raw materials. By 1900, the U.S. absorbed 45% of Canada's exports, up from 32% in 1870.  Increased trade was facilitated by expanding rail links, and the complementary nature of the two economies: U.S. manufactured goods flowed north, while Canadian raw materials and foodstuffs moved south.<ref>Otto J.  Firestone, "Canada's External Trade and Net Foreign Balance, 1851-1900." in ''Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century'' (1960): 757-771. [https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c11719/c11719.pdf  online]</ref>