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Should the US hand over Minnesota's Northwest Angle to Canada?
It's a geographic curiosity - a bit of US land at the top edge of Minnesota, disconnected from the rest of the state. The Northwest Angle is known to local residents, people who love to fish - the region is famous for its walleye - and geography buffs. It is accessible by land only through the Canadian province.
Now, someone has anonymously launched a petition urging the US to hand the land over to its northern neighbours. "Make America great by correcting this critical survey error," states the petition posted on 30 December on the White House "We the People" site, which allows citizens to petition Congress on issues that matter to them. The petition is titled "Give Canada back the Northwest Angle located in Manitoba".
The nub of Minnesota state is roughly 123 square miles (318 square km) and is farther north than any other part of the contiguous United States. Living above the 49th parallel, Angleites - as local residents are known - are the northernmost American citizens, barring Alaskans. It can be reached by driving through Canada or by boat across the Lake of the Woods.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 05 2019, @01:58AM (4 children)
it's kind of the other way around no? you should give back texas and california to mexico. now I don't think that would be bad at all
(Score: 3, Funny) by fustakrakich on Saturday January 05 2019, @02:30AM
I think we should give the continent back to the first lungfish that crawled up on shore. In fact, to be fair, we must roll back evolution to the first single cell life forms at least.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Saturday January 05 2019, @09:37AM
What? Sell them! California at least... Look at all that massive tax burden - I mean revenue stream. Give the state a valuation like it's a company with those profits. Americathon auction!
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Nuke on Saturday January 05 2019, @10:07AM (1 child)
But the Mexican government encouraged USA-ians (Gringos) to settle in those areas in the late 1800's. This was because the areas had got out of control, riddled with bandits, and the Gringos were expected to "gentrify" them. That is the background to Clint Eastwood's spagetti westerns.
But the Gringos took control from both bandits AND Mexico, and the areas ultimately passed to the USA (although Texas under the Gringos had ideas of being an independent nation - the Lone Star state). So things did not work out how the Mexican government hoped. That strategy never does : a previous example is the Romans in Britain inviting the first Anglo-Saxons to settle, and, in the present day, European politicians inviting Muslims to do so.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Saturday January 05 2019, @11:38AM
Sorry, I meant early 1800's for the Mexican encouragement of Gringo immigration - slip of the brain. Austin was one of the first to organise a colony of English speaking settlers within Mexican Texas, around 1820.