THE END OF AMERICA: THE BEGINNING OF CANADA - A RESPONSE

Abstract

In his recent article entitled ‘The end of America: The beginning of Canada,’ Patrick McCreevy (1988) asserts that the Falls at Niagara act as a visible border or ‘wall,’ which separates two vastly different places. Since the American Revolution, however, Canadians and Americans residing along the Niagara frontier have made every effort to reach across the river which separates them. By means of either improved transportation and communication facilities, by marriage, or the free trade agreements of 1854 and 1989, local Niagarans have overcome the physical barrier of the river. In fact, in the summer of 1989, Canadians and Americans paid tribute to two centuries of ‘openness' and peace along the Niagara Frontier with a four-day ‘friendship festival' held in July.