Question about Canadian history.
Canada consisted of colonies when the United States (before it was that) did, right? So why didn't we join in the American Revolution in the 18th century when the Americans were doing that? And another question. Do you think it better or worse that we're not technically part of the United States?
The American Revolution wasn't something that was a completely overwhelming popular uprising; in fact, at the time, there were approximately 1/3 of people who lived in the American Colonies who were pro-revolution, 1/3 were absteiners, and 1/3 who were pro-British. When America eventually became independent, there saw a large emmigration of these pro-British supporters from the newly formed US to Canada.
Thus, Canada has a historical tradition of being pro-Commonwealth rather than pro-US; not helped by several occasions over the 19th Century where the US either tried to invade Canada or actively planned for it.
One of the main reasons for the American Revolution was over an issue of taxation - following the Seven Years War, Britain had acquired a lot of land in the Americas from the French (ie Quebec amongst others) and decided that taxes needed to be put up in the Colonies in order to finance their defence, and at the same time put a limit on the expansion of the Colonies. I suspect that as Canada was so close to the old French colonies and their Indian Allies, they were probably more tolerant of these taxes than those Colonists who lived further South, while having just acquires Quebec, and living in colder climates, they were also less worried about territorial expansion.