Post on 26-Dec-2015
transcript
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
• 1st wave – Early European colonists- 1600s– British, Dutch and French
• 2nd Wave- Germans, Irish and Chinese 1820-1870– Fleeing poor conditions– Work on railroads and gold rush… later jobs nobody
wanted• 3rd wave- Southern and Eastern Europe- 1880-
after– 23.5 million people
Immigration cont.
• 4th wave- Asia and Caribbean – 1960s– Political freedom
• 5th 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• 1913- 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