“By an Imaginary Line”: Perceptions of the Canadian Border in the Early American Press to 1820

Between the beginnings of European colonialism in North America and the early nineteenth century, the Canadian–US border gained increasing precision and mutual acceptance through a series of international treaties. The border was also increasingly accepted to be a precise line in the US public mind, and key to that acceptance was the early American press. US newspapers portrayed the border as an exact line with a clear location, even when this was questionably the case. Their portrayals served to cement the idea that the Canadian–US border was a precise demarcation that could be violated and should be protected for US readers.