Cultural Diversity in the United States and Canada
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Diverse Cultures in North America North America has always been
culturally diverse. When the Europeans arrived, they found many
different Native American groups. The cultures of the first
Americans reflected their different environment. Native American
people living near the ocean ate fish and told stories about the
sea. People living in the forest hunted and trapped forest animals.
They traded with one another and when groups trade, they also share
ideas and ways of doing things. This was called cultural
exchange.
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Diverse Cultures in North America When the Europeans arrived
they changed the way Native Americans lived. Spanish explorers
brought horses with them and they became an important part of their
culture. They then learned how to use rifles. Native Americans
taught the French how to trap and taught the English families how
to grow local foods.
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Immigration and Cultural Exchange Over the centuries Europeans
and people from other areas flocked to North America. The
immigrants made up different ethnic groups. For the first 200 years
mainly European immigrants came to North America. By the mid 1800s
Asian immigrants began arriving. Waves of Asian immigrants from
China, Japan, and later Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and others
have settled in the United States and Canada. When immigrants move
from their country they must learn the language, laws, and manners
of the people in the new country.
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Religious Diversity in North America There has always been
religious diversity in North America as well. Native Americans
believed in a powerful and mysterious spirit force. This spirit
lived in nature. The earliest European settlers of North America
were Christian. When the United States Constitution was written, it
guaranteed that no one would have to pay taxes to support religion.
It also guaranteed that people could practice any religion they
chose. This attracted many immigrants to the United States and
Canada Jews fled religious persecution in Europe to settle here in
1800s and 1900s. Later 1900s many people who practice Islam
immigrated here. Today many people of Christian, Jewish, Islamic,
and other religions practice their faith freely in the United
States and Canada.
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Creative Expression and Artistic Traditions
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Literature and Music In the early 1900s authors wrote about
lives of the common people. Langston Hughes was an African American
poet who describes life in Harlem, New York City.
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Unique Voices in Literature Canadian literature is often
written in both French and English. French Canadian literature is
called Quebecois literature, after the province of Quebec whose
citizens speak French as their primary language.
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Musical Traditions One of most important American musical
styles is jazz. An important element in jazz is improvisation, in
which musicians do not follow music written down, but spontaneously
create their own. Jazz began with black American music and African
rhythms. Louis Satchmo Armstrong was one of the most important jazz
musicians of all time and was known as the worlds greatest jazz
trumpet and cornet player.
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Art and Architecture Art and Architecture of the US and Canada
have been influenced by history and by the landscape. Andrew Wyeth
is one of Americas most popular artist Native Americans have long
artistic tradition. They create pottery, baskets, woven cloth and
rugs, beadwork, and metal jewelry. In Canada, several painters
formed the Group of Seven in the 1920s and 1930s. These artists
developed bold new techniques for their paintings of Canada's
landscapes.
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D Andrew Wyeth Group of Seven Andrew Wyeth
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Architecture The very diverse landscapes of the United States
and Canada have influenced architecture in both countries. In the
1900s architects began to design new kinds of commercial buildings.
A famous race for the sky took place in New York City. In this new
era, skyscrapers reflected the new wealth and power of the United
States and Canada.