Politically Divided and Culturally United

A brief study of similarities and differences between the United States and Canada

1. The Great Salt Lake is the fourth largest in the world, measuring approximately 75 miles long and 35 miles wide.
2. Long Island is one of the largest islands, and most densely populated urban areas in the United States, covering nearly 1400 square miles.
3. The only living coral reef within the boundaries of the continental United States is at Coral Reef State Park, just off the coast of Key Largo, FL.
4. The tallest dunes in North America are at the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.
5. The Badlands contain the world’s richest deposit of Oligocene fossils.
6. Chimney Rock, a 535 million year old landmark, is a very rare and obvious volcanic feature for the region.
7. Half Dome in Yosemite National Park is a massive chunk of non-monolithic granite that had its side scoured away by glaciations.
8. The Mississippi Embayment is a failed rift valley that continues to cause earthquakes, some of which have been the most severe known in the United States.
9. Santa Catalina Island, created by seismic forces pushing it up out of the ocean, is a pleasant day-trip vacation for many in Los Angeles.
10. Rock Island is the western most edge of the Niagara Escarpment, which runs from this point east to Niagara Falls.
11. The Great Slave Lake, frozen 8 months out of the year, is the fifth largest lake in North America, and is the reservoir for numerous rivers and streams that spill over the Canadian Shield.
12. Vancouver Island covers 12,407 square miles and hosts the second largest population in Canada.
13. Ward Hunt Island is the most northern point in Canada, and completely locked in by sea ice, until the recent break up of the surrounding Ward Hunt Ice Shelf.
14. Five Finger Rapids passes through four basalt columns and at the time of the Yukon Gold Rush, the only way through was winching through the canyon.
15. Lake Winnipeg covers approximately 24,500 square km and is the center of the largest and most complex aquatic ecosystem west of the Great Lakes.
16. L'Anse aux Meadows is the site of one of the earliest known European settlements in North America, and contains some of the rarest plants on the continent.
17. Kakabeka Falls are part of the Niagara Escarpment and are the highest in Ontario.  Nearly 40 meters in height, it contains some of the oldest fossils in the world.
18. Manitounuk Islands are a shelter for a variety of aquatic species, including the Beluga Whale, ceremoniously hunted by the Inuit tribe from the nearby village of Kuujjuarapik.
19. First Nations Petro glyphs & Pictographs is the largest adequately preserved collection of art on rock on the North American Plains, and is a cultural center for the Blackfoot tribe.
20. Thutade Lake, discovered by John McLoed in 1831, is the source of the Mackenzie River system. 

Regions of North America

Old New England has long been a fishing industry centered culture, probably due to agricultural conditions insufficient to meet local demands.  Market fluctuations have taught these folks that they should not be reliant on only one source of sustenance though.  Not only because of the unreliable fishing industry, but in forestry and mining as well, has created a culture that appears to be easily adaptability to quickly changing market conditions.  (McKnight:  107, 119,142, 143)

The Metropolitan Seaboard contains some of the oldest and most densely populated cities of the continent.  Fleeing their urban cores in the north, in favor of the sunshine of Florida, has only served to create a front of major metropolitan areas that will one day extend as one major urban complex from Boston to Miami.  Urban pressure has not eliminated the rural scene though, which has adapted to become a highly specialized small garden to market economy.  (McKnight:  151, 152, 171)

The Swamp Oil Gulf is concerned primarily with oil extraction and production.  It is probably the most dominant industry shaping the culture of this part of the country, which has set the stage for a relatively unbalanced economy.  The people of this area are highly dependent on this industry, related manufacturing, and services.  Urban areas are limited in this region, and a myriad of small and poor communities dot the area.  Houston, Tx. and New Orleans, La are the two most major complexes, the former with about 4 million people and the later with only about 1.3 million.  (McKnight:  236-239)

Folk America spans the Appalachian, Ouachita, Boston, St Francis Mountains, and the part of the Mississippi valley between.  Time moves slow in this part of the country, where traditional values are held close, and population density is relatively low.  Historically, the economy has centered on mining and forestry, which has made the working population extremely dependent upon the prevailing market conditions.  Ultimately, it has created a bust-or-boom situation that has left most below the poverty level.  (McKnight:  178-192)

The Old South, inland from the Swamp Oil Gulf and Metropolitan Seaboard, is the ancestral land of people originally imported as slave labor.  Those with African ancestry are the most dominant race in the area, and their religious tendencies are equally as dominant.  Baptist Christianity is the primary religion and probably the densest concentration of this following anywhere in the world.  (NatGeo: 86)

The Grocery contains a culture that has been influenced primarily by an agricultural economy; farming and ranching are the dominant industries.  It is typically a transition zone too, which has created a diverse and constantly evolving culture; historically, people only really visit the region on their way to one of the other regions.  (McKnight:  261, 302, 311)

The High Desert is mostly a dry desert, unsuitable for conventional agriculture, though in some places does exist.  Its populations are primarily Hispanic, and have always been so, historically.  The same is true for the religious tendencies, which are heavily weighted to the Roman Catholic Church.  (NatGeo: 86)

The Western Fringe could be said to be on the alert for the next great disaster.  Unstable earth has created an awareness of the devastating earthquakes that sometime visit the region, and whole industries have risen from that.  Though most of the population is found in the major urban centers of the coast, like Los Angeles and San Francisco, the economy is heavily weighted towards agricultural means, due to fertile and temperate valleys found throughout the area.  (McKnight:  378, 382)

Mountainland stretches across the continent as a large and nearly continuous range of mountains over 10,000 feet.  Communities tend to be centered on mining and related operations.  Recently, environmental tourism, along with recreational tourism have created, not only a service industry based on this culture, but also an awareness of the necessity to preserve the resources contained in this region.  (McKnight:  331-337, 365, 367)

The Frozen Desert is a climatically formidable place to live, and as such, is sparsely populated.  Most are aboriginal, with nomadic cultural attributes such as sustenance fishing and hunting.  Western civilization economic culture in the form of mining and forestry dominates the non-aboriginal populations, which as mentioned before, are nominal at best.  (McKnight:  459, 460, 462, 486)

 

The Global Role of the United States and Canada

As the most dominant democratic governments of the western hemisphere it is imperative that the United States and Canada position themselves for greater influence in not only their own part of the world; as well, with an eye towards leading the rest of the world, by example.  That example should transcend political and economic differences to encompass what the founding fathers of both nations had in mind when drafting the framework for the two unique and similar states.  Tolerance and preservation of culture, religion, democratic ideals, for the preservation of a progressive species is of the utmost importance to ensure the continued evolution of the human race as a whole.

The boundary between the United States and Canada is an agreed upon line, chosen after several years of diplomatic struggle, and represents nothing more than a political separation between the two states.  This line is not distinguishable in any way, except on maps and the occasional border station.  The physical geography of both states extends well in to the other, ignoring political-social boundaries, with some features even extending well in to other states.  Aside from the most obvious aspects, such as the shared coastlines, the Rocky Mountains are probably the best example of this.  While some consider this mountain range to be the exclusive domain of the United States, when viewed from space, this particular feature seems to span half of the globe.  Tracing a line from the center of Antarctica, the range of high peaks travels north along the edge of South America, through Central America, across the United States, Canada, and well into neighboring Russia. (22)

The interior plains of both states are another excellent example, spreading northward across the middle of the United States, deep in to Canadian territory, this physical feature is one of the most important sections of both countries in maintaining a solid agricultural foundation for ensuring the continued sustenance of their people.  

Maintaining a diverse population of people is important, if these people are to continue to lead the world in progressive diplomacy.  Fortunately, physical geography is not the only feature that ignores political boundaries.  Indeed, the politics even seem to ignore the boundaries.  The constitutional framework of both states is so similar that it is difficult to determine the difference, without a thorough comparative analysis of the documentation.  Both states recognize the necessity of guaranteeing certain fundamental rights to their people.  Unique in these rights is the recognition that their people should be free in “conscience and religion… thought, belief, opinion and expression… press and others means of communication;” (23) as well, peaceable assembly, association, the undeterred pursuit of personal ambitions, and the ability of their citizens to directly influence and participate in the continuing evolution of their governments. (24)

In establishing these fundamental human rights, both states have established a solid foundation on which individual cultural distinctiveness is preserved, nurtured, and permitted to evolve in to new and distinct global identities.  While most of the subcontinent perceptually shares common English, or Anglo-Saxon ancestry, the truth is that the backgrounds of the people that live there are as varied as the states of the world.  Indeed, unique pockets of culture hold their own against this perception, and because of the permissiveness and tolerance of the governments chosen to lead them.  The French Canadians of Quebec, and their transplanted descendants in the wetlands of Louisiana, have maintained a close association to their shared heritage.  (25)  

Despite the distance that separates them from each other and state of origin of their ancestors, their language and customs have not changed so much as to be unrecognized as French.  Closer examination United States and Canadian ancestry reveals a myriad of similar cultural situations, such as Baltic Sea state cultures, which span the central shared borderland.  Drawn to the area by the physical and climatic similarities of their homeland, the cultural presence of the people in the area of the Great Lakes is a recognized landmark on both sides of the political border. (26)

Seamlessly, unique cultures spread and fade in to the landscape of the greater culture that is North America.  The physical landscape necessitated that the two relatively young states learn to live in harmony; their shared political heritage has permitted these unique cultures to live on.  Their shared cultural ideology that people be allowed to pursue their own form of happiness, in their own unique way, is what has made them friends and allies.  As the two states move forward, following their own path, it will be crucial that they never lose sight of the geographic and cultural similarities that forged this friendship, which has perpetuated a lasting peace between the two.  Their continued success in the world will be dependent upon it, and their self-stated role of ensuring that freedom and democracy persist and grow throughout the rest of the world, will be entirely dependent upon it.  Perhaps, that is the best role for both states, to continue to encourage cooperation of all states of the world, leading by example.

Final thoughts

The preceding assessment of the subcontinent of North America was an exercise in patience and open-mindedness.  Casting aside initial assumptions built up over a long educational career, and even longer time drifting about this region, was essential to working towards a new understanding of the topic.

At first, the Annotated Map section appeared to be a simple exercise that would take very little time.  The initial approach was to simple pick some random points in Google Earth.  Exploring the earth using this application quickly diminished any confidence that it would be quick and easy.  Ultimately, the points chosen were of the most interest, or were dramatic in their own unique way.

The Regional Comparison section was somewhat frustrating.  It was difficult to locate specific shared cultural attributes using only the text written by Tom L. McKnight.  Each region seemed to have been evaluated using inconsistent criteria.  In order to complete this point, an excel spreadsheet, listing each attribute, and those with the best match chosen. 

Frustration mounted upon attempting to outline the Suggested North American Cultural Regions, primarily due to the same circumstances surrounding the Regional Comparison.  Anyone addressing this exercise would be unable to do so without attaining a new level of respect for those that have attempted and succeeded to produce this sort of an evaluation.  Lines were drawn and redrawn numerous times, knowing where they should be, but unwilling to compromise on certain conditions, like that of the French Canadians.  If the French Acadians do not deserve their own region, then their cousins in Canada do not deserve special treatment either.  Additionally, writing a short blurb about the specific region, without going on for a page or more, proved an almost impossible task.

Exactly as suggested, the approach used in the section for The Global Role of the United States and Canada, called to task all of the speech writing abilities rarely used.  As with the discussion of the cultural regions, the greatest difficult was in keeping the presentation of this symbiotic political, cultural, and geographical relationship, short and well stated.

Throughout this exercise, there were many things discovered that were not so easily understood.  Previous notions demanded adjustment, and misconceptions left behind.  The United States and Canada share such a commonality that it is difficult to comprehend the necessity of a political border between the two.  Perhaps one day the political borders around the world will vanish and the cultural integration between these two states, and many others, finally permitted flourish, as it did before the lines were drawn.

- GGH200

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