The capital of British Columbia,
Victoria has a population that is smaller than the famous "
Hollywood North" - better known as
Vancouver. This leads many to wonder - "Why isn't Vancouver the capital city of British Columbia? It has a bigger economy, it's situated on the mainland, the city is huge... Why?!" ... The answer lies in history ...
Back in the days of the
Manifest Destiny, America's "
God given right to the entirety of
North America", the US/CAN border was still under dispute. The Americans wanted all land up to the 54'40" parallel, and advertised this fact with posters and rallies. A common chant south of the Canadian border was
"54-40 or fight," which frankly, scared the bejeezus out of the Canadian Government. The Canada-spanning
railroad was still trying to break through the
rocky mountains, so a quick injection of troops was not an option - Canada needed to place its
forts in a place that was easy to defend. Various locations were cited, some high-north (
Alaska area) and some in the
Rocky Mountains. But the final decision came down to the southern tip of
Vancouver Island - it was only accessible by water, making an assault perilous at best, plus it was well south of the 49th parallel; an optimal launching point for any counter-attacks against US soil. Though it is not confirmed, many historians beleive that a
western-canada invasion never occured because of this strategic placement.
James K. Polk was the originator of this slogan, and it accompanied the
Oregon Treaty of
1846.
Apollo's_Squirrel writes an interesting article on the
manifest destiny.