From the expansionist fervour of the late nineteenth century through both world wars and the Cold War, a varied and ever-changing group of dreamers campaigned for Canada’s union with the British Caribbean colonies. They hoped to diversify Canada’s climate and agricultural capabilities, spur economic development, boost the nation’s autonomy and stature in the Empire-Commonwealth and the world, temper American power, and secure a tourist paradise.

Dominion over Palm and Pine traces the transnational ebb and flow of these union campaigns, situating them in the global history of colonialism and white supremacy, Black activism, and decolonization. Paula Hastings centres the British Caribbean in historical narratives that rarely take account of the region, challenging us to rethink the history of Canadian expansionism and its entangled relationship with nation building, the struggle for sovereignty at home and abroad, and Canada’s evolving role and reputation on the world stage. Widely conceived, the brokers of Canada’s international histories included a multiplicity of actors who shaped the evolving contours and outcomes of the debate: Canadian legislators, civil servants, businessmen, and social justice activists; Caribbean migrants, intellectuals, and anti-colonial nationalists; and British colonial officials, absentee planters, and politicians.

Canada’s lack of an overseas empire is often vaunted as a national characteristic that sets Canada apart from the United States and the old European powers. In excavating the dogged resilience of Canadian designs on the Caribbean, Dominion over Palm and Pine unsettles notions of Canadian goodness that rest on this self-righteous observation.

Paula Hastings is assistant professor of history at the University of Toronto.

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“Paula Hastings makes innovative use of postcolonial and transnational analysis to position Canada’s foreign policy within the broader field of whiteness studies and the history of race and racism in Canada. There are no other books on Canada’s relations with the West Indies and the Caribbean of this scope, rigour, and detail.” Daniel Gorman, University of Waterloo and author of Imperial Citizenship: Empire and the Question of Belonging

“Dominion Over Palm and Pine is proof that good things come to those who wait. Hastings, a professor at the University of Toronto, marshals a breathtaking array of research – from multiple archives in over half a dozen countries, and scores of newspapers, magazines, and journals from Canada, the Caribbean, the United States, and the United Kingdom – to offer a sweeping look at Canadian aspirations and even efforts to unite with the British Caribbean. Examining the activities of a wide range of actors in Canada and elsewhere, this book is transnational and international history at its best.” International Journal: Canada’s Journal of Global Policy Analysis

“Meticulously researched, this brilliant book is now the definitive work on the subject of unionism in Canada.” Barrington Walker, Wilfrid Laurier University and editor of The History of Immigration and Racism in Canada: Essential Readings