The US And Canada: A Cultural Region

[Music] North America after a history of over 400 years of settlement by European migrants of land purchases and border disputes has come to be culturally divided at the Rio Grand River. Most lands south of the Rio Grand are inhabited principally by Spanish-sp speakaking people and English-speaking people are the principal inhabitants of lands to the north, the area we are now concerned with. This vast region is occupied by two nations that for the most part share the language and cultural heritage of England. These are the United States and Canada. The two countries are bordered on the west by the Pacific, on the east by the Atlantic and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. The border separating Canada from most of the United States is for the most part man-made. The only extensive natural part of this boundary is formed by the Great Lakes and part of the St. Lawrence River, used by people of both nations. Another river used by both Canadians and people of the United States is the Colombia. Other major rivers drain either one country or the other. The Pacific mountain system parallels the west coast of both nations and the Rockies also extend through both. The most prominent eastern mountains, the Appalachians, lie mostly in the United States. The two nations share an important historical development. That is, broadly speaking, European settlement first took place on the eastern seabboard. The sites of settlement were eastern cities including Montreal, Canada, and the United States cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. After the east was settled, people moved westward, north and south of the Great Lakes across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast. This migration is still in progress, evidenced by the rapid growth of western United States cities, for example, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Vancouver, Canada has experienced similar growth, as has Anchorage in the United States northernmost state, Alaska. The border between Canada and Alaska, like that between Canada and the rest of the United States, is a political boundary, not a physical or cultural one. That the two nations cooperate politically may partly be a result of their shared English language. Examples of close cooperation may be seen at any border crossing, including the one on the 1600-mile Alaska Highway connecting Alaska with Canada. The road was built by the United States. Now Canada operates its own portion and citizens of both countries travel with minimum restriction. Cooperation is also evident along the Colombia River in the inter mountain highlands of the province of British Columbia and the state of Washington. There the two countries have entered upon the Colombia River Project, a program to build dams, create man-made lakes, and store water to supply power stations. The Colombia project is the largest project on which any nations have cooperated. It has resulted in adequate lowcost electric power for communities on both sides of the border. In and around the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River is another joint project, the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Seaway provides a channel for oceangoing ships traveling upstream from Montreal to great industrial cities on the Great Lakes, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago. Far to the north in the cold Canadian and Alaskan desert, the tundra is further evidence of cooperation. Across the tundra is a line of radar and communication stations guarding the northern approach to Canada and the United States. This is the distant early warning or due line. The due line is part of the cooperative defense system of the two countries. It provides employment for citizens of both in military occupations, construction, transportation and supply. Though such cooperation is evident in certain areas, in other places, activities of Canadians and United States citizens are merely parallel. At the Pacific coast, for example, in British Columbia, Canadian occupations of great social and economic significance are fishing and mining, as well as lumbering. In the state of Washington to the south, United States citizens are engaged in the same occupations. For example, in the lumbering industry, they cut the same species of trees cut by Canadians. A somewhat similar parallelism of land use exists in the nearby Inter Mountain Highland and Rocky Mountain regions. For example, in Montana, agriculture centers about livestock. Alalfa is the principal feed crop. To the north in Alberta, Canada, similar ranching activity is carried on. Barley, which will grow in the colder Canadian climate, is the principal feed crop. Elsewhere in the Rockies, for example, at but Montana, mining is important. Although minerals are found in both the Canadian and the United States Rockies, they are more heavily exploited in the United States, mainly because of the lower cost of transporting them over the well-developed highway and rail system. Activities of people in both nations are also parallel in the Great Plains. In Saskatchewan, for example, people raise wheat and barley. To the south in North Dakota, wheat is raised. In Saskatchewan, livestock is raised. Stock similar to the cattle raised in North Dakota to the south. And petroleum is bringing new wealth to the Canadian Great Plains as it has for many years further south on the Great Plains of the United States. Similarity is also evident in the northeast Appalachian Highlands. In New Hampshire, the long period of snow favors the winter tourist industry. Fruit growing is a common agricultural occupation along with dairying and livestock raising. Industry includes fishing and other outdoor trades. Fishing is carried on in much the same way by Canadians from Nova Scotia. Since Nova Scotians are located close to the northern fishing grounds, they are often able to bring in large catches more economically than United States fishermen. There are other regions in the two nations, regions extending far from the border, where there is a lesser degree of cultural and occupational similarity. Take for example the forested region between the tundra and the great lakes entirely within Canada. This is the tiger, one of the largest coniferous forests in the world. Within it are mineral-rich ores for example the iron deposits near Sudbury, Ontario. There is copper, for example that at Manito just north of Lake Superior. These and other deposits place Canada among the leading producers of the world's most wanted metals. Regions in the United States, south of the Great Lakes, are vastly different from the taiga. In the central lands, for example, diverse crops as well as livestock are raised in an area of warm summers and adequate rainfall. South of this along the Atlantic coastal plane, warm and temperate weather crops and dense forests dominate the rural scene. In towns, textile and machine work are common occupations. The Atlantic plane is the site of a huge industrial complex centering about New York City and adjoining parts of New Jersey. We have seen divergent and parallel activities in various regions of the United States and Canada. But a strong link we have not yet considered is the extensive network of transportation and communication facilities that unite all regions of both nations. Canadian railroads follow the southern border of that country, joining highways, air routts, rivers, and ports, and joining United States railroads to the south. In the United States, railroads and highways are more concentrated in the east central area. There are fewer rails and roads in the Appalachian and Rockies due to sparse population and the rough contour of the land. Scarcity of transportation in the great plains is also related to low population and to lack of industry. River transport is important in the two countries. Canadian rivers, principally the McKenzie and the St. Lawrence, carry commodities between the north and the south. United States rivers carry a small percentage of goods. However, United States rivers are beginning to carry more tonnage, especially in bulk commodities such as crude oil and sulfur. Many airline flights are international. Small feeder lines serve Canada and Alaska, connecting with larger airlines to the south. Telephone and telegraph facilities are also international, linking the United States and Canada. Further currencies of the two nations are similar and requirements for travel, residence and trade between them are lenient. Thus, geographic and cultural similarities lead to feelings of identity between peoples of the two countries. There are exceptions. One exception may be found in the Canadian province of Quebec. there. Most people speak and read French and they tend to identify with French rather than English culture. Other exceptions may be found in the southwestern United States, for example, in San Antonio, Texas. There, although English is taught in school, many people speak Spanish and identify with Spanish culture. But the few exceptions only emphasize the prevailing feeling of unity. Unity between the United States and Canada, home of most of the English-speaking people in the Americas. [Music]