W.L. Morton - Canadian Identity - P. 59
As a result, Americans tended to see, as they may still do, the structure of Canadian politics as that of the domination of the country's government and economy by a small, influential, pro-British group which by indoctrination and pressure kept Canada from finding its true destiny in union with the United States. In this view they were fortified by the existence from 1775 on of small groups of annexationists and republicans, by a considerable body of opinion which felt that ultimately continental union was inevitable, and finally, by a large body of careless good nature, or even mistaken courtesy, which sometimes led considerable numbers of Canadians to say that they would welcome union with the United States. In short, Americans have always been prone to discount colonial loyalty, both French and English, to the Empire and the reality of Canadian national sentiment.
