North America Today

North American Diversity

Diversity Variety or differences in people ( races, languages, religions, nationalities) Causes of diversity in U.S. – Desire to be free Economic Political Religious – Slavery – U.S. expansion – Native Americans

U.S.- A Land of Immigrants 1 st wave – Early European colonists- 1600s – British, Dutch and French 2 nd Wave- Germans, Irish and Chinese – Fleeing poor conditions – Work on railroads and gold rush… later jobs nobody wanted 3 rd wave- Southern and Eastern Europe after – 23.5 million people

Immigration cont. 4 th wave- Asia and Caribbean – 1960s – Political freedom 5 th Wave- Asia, Middle East and Central and South America – Economic and political freedoms Today- Mexico, China, Philippines – Economic and political freedoms

Canada's Diversity Native groups- Inuit French and British early colonists- 1600s U.S., U.K. and Ireland – around 400,000 After WWII – Many displaced Europeans Later 1900s – Asia and Latin America Today – Mostly Asian immigrants

Media Culture Mass media changes over time – 1800s- newspapers- provide news and entertainment – 1920s- radio provides news and entertainment – 1950s- television- provides even more news and entertainment – 1990s- cell phones- connected people to the world. – 1990s- internet- power to access huge amounts of information. Allows people to distribute their own media-blogs and videos

Global and Mobile Media Texting Instant messaging Social networking Smart phones – internet and all other mediums These encourage a culture that is global or worldwide

Changing Economy United States Less regulation of businesses Few government owned businesses Individual health care Manufacturing, farming and forestry Service industries Canada Strictly regulated businesses Many government owned businesses Provide all citizens with health care Manufacturing, farming, and forestry Service industries

Information Economy Both countries have a huge new industries associated with computers and information Communications, financial and informational industries are largest growing sectors of the U.S. and Canadian economies.

New Energy Resources Oil – limited supply of this non renewable resource 2020 demand will exceed the supply 2/3 of oil sold in U.S. is from other countries Demand is rising and supply is shrinking = rising prices

Alternative Resources Ethanol- fuel obtained from plants – Uses huge amounts of ground water – Lowers food supply – Not cost effective Nuclear power- electricity produced by nuclear fusion – Expensive to build plants – Create radio active waste

Alternative resources Wind power- an engine powered by wind to generate electricity – Doesn’t always produce enough power – Expensive start up costs Solar Power- panels convert the sun’s energy into electricity – Expensive start up cost – Doesn’t always produce enough energy