united states and canada

Chapter 5 | Barnette | Grade 8

UNITED STATES AND CANADA

• Many scientists believe the 1st known settlers (Native Americans) came from Asia by a land bridge about 12,000 years ago.

• This would be the Bering Strait at Alaska today.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Click on the picture for another idea about the Native American migration.

• Spain colonized in what is today the Southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, etc., in the United States, as well as in Mexico and other areas to the South. France explored and set up trading posts from the St. Lawrence River inward to the Mississippi River and down to New Orleans. Britain had 13 colonies along the East Coast and claims in Canada.

EUROPEAN COLONIALISM

http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~reak/hist/naclaim.htm

• Americans had a revolution

and drove out the British.

• They negotiated the

Louisiana Purchase with the

French.

• The Mexicans had a

revolution and drove out

the Spanish.

• The United States won

much of the Southwest by

way of a war and

negotiations with Mexico.

• The U.S. and Britain

negotiated over Oregon

Territory.

REVOLUTIONS, NEGOTIATIONS, AND WARFARE CHANGED THE POLITICAL BORDERS OF THE UNITED STATES

• As all this occurred, the Native Americans were pushed Westward, and eventually placed on reservations.

http://daphne.palomar.edu/llewis/images/101%20Mod6%20Images/IndLndCessions%201850-1890.jpg

• Both Canada and the U.S. have high mountain ranges, such as the Rockies, to the West. They also have plains in the central area, and lower mountains in the East.

• A Continental Divide is along the Rocky Mountains. It is known as the Great Divide.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

• The Great Lakes are on the border between the U.S. and Canada.

• They were formed by glaciers. This is evidenced by striations in the rocks.

• Erosion is a factor in the look of places like Monument Valley out West and the worn peaks of the Appalachian Mountains in the East.

http://auburn.edu/research/appalachians-vs-himlayas-thunderdome-2010/

• Effects on climate:• Latitude

• Elevation

• Distance from the equator

Another phenomenon is the rain shadow, which occurs to the east of the Rockies. The mountains block rain coming in from the West.

CLIMATES

• The U.S has 301 million people, and Canada has 31 million. That’s almost 10 times as many.

• ¾ live in cities, or urban areas, but there is a trend toward moving to suburbs.

• Language, political beliefs, and legal systems that began in our colonial times help shape our culture.

PEOPLE AND CULTURES

• Standard of living based on:• Education

• Housing

• Health care

• Nutrition

A higher standard of living suggests that we have a greater responsibility to our environment.(IMHO-Mrs.B)

• We have a movement in our economy toward high-tech industries.

• We are trying to make better use of our resources to provide energy and transportation, as well as reduce our use of landfills.

ECONOMICS, TECHNOLOGY, AND ENVIRONMENT