I think what totally freaks out some (key word some) Americans is that we speak the same language (for the most part), may even have the same accent, more or less the same cultural make-up, yet we have no desire to be Americans. I think it's a War of 1812 thing. If you guys had of just left us alone, we might have joined you (even the British thought that in 1812), but after 1812, all bets were off.
Thanks guys for helping to forge our nation.
Truth be told (and I've been told this by Americans) that people the North Eastern US states have more in common with people in Toronto and Ontario than they do with Americans in the south and the bible belt. At one time a group of guys from our office in Boston were working in the T.O. office for a year and they told me they quite liked it and felt at home whereas a couple of them who had worked in Atlanta felt like sqare pegs in round holes.
Ditto those in BC and Washington state.
Or those in the Maritime provinces and the Atlantic states.