81
votes
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
I don't believe the answer to this is known objectively. However, it may be worth looking at the different settlement histories of the two areas you are comparing.
Most of the American possessions, ...
54
votes
Accepted
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
T.E.D.'s answer is very good, and points to the most important issue: the difference between colonisation methods in North America vs Latin America. There are a few missing nexus that I feel could be ...
48
votes
When did Canada become truly independent?
There have been several stages in the history of Canadian independence.
Canada became a self-governing dominion within the British empire on 1 July 1867 when the British North America Act was passed ...
35
votes
Accepted
How much materiel was shipped to Continental Europe per month, after D-Day?
In the second volume of his series Logistical Support of the Armies, Roland Ruppenthal provides a table of materials shipped into Europe from June 1944 to April 1945, broken down by port (including ...
32
votes
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
A large factor in the advancement/financial disparity between the U.S./Canada and its neighbors to the south is the difficulty of colonizing areas in tropical/subtropical climates vs. colonizing ...
31
votes
Why did Loyalists go to Canada during the American Revolution
Loyalists who lived in the 13 colonies fled to Canada because Canada was part of the British Empire. In Canada they could still be British. If they stayed in the colonies they would be traitors to ...
MCW♦
- 34k
27
votes
Accepted
Have there been any plausible reports of killing polar bears with a bone spring?
Yes.
Looking for 19th century sources this comes up in the
Bulletin of the United States National Museum, Volume 27, 1884:
21 SPRING TRAPS-
ANIMAL TRAPS
BEAR TRAPS Made of whalebone strips bent
and ...
25
votes
Accepted
Who was Chief Poking Fire?
Chief Poking Fire's main claims to fame are probably owning and running an Indian museum, and founding and running a tourist village. He also apparently presented Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie ...
22
votes
Accepted
Why did Canada retain the rank of Brigadier General? But not Australia, New Zealand, or UK?
TL;DR: The Canadians did not retain that rank, but re-created it in 1968.
The difference between use of "Brigadier" and "Brigadier-General" in armies seems to depend on the way ...
21
votes
Accepted
Why does Sugar Island belong to USA?
In short, the British agreed to the US having Sugar Island in exchange for the right of British subjects to have access to certain American waters. They felt that land, which was abundant at the time, ...
19
votes
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
Of course there were many factors. But the Spanish/Portugal scheme was a rural patron/peon arrangement that had not reached the bourgeoisie stage, i.e. an educated third estate. The British and ...
19
votes
In World War 1, why were the Australian and Canadian troops so good?
The Australian historian and journalist LA Carlyon in his book Gallipoli reports Australian troops, a higher proportion of whom at that date had grown up in a rural, outdoor life (the same was ...
17
votes
When did Canada become truly independent?
The subject isn't nearly as simple as it is for the USA. The event in the 1980s was Patriation of the Canadian constitution, which removed the power of the UK parliament to amend the Canadian ...
16
votes
Accepted
What, if anything, did Hitler think of the Canadian government's treatment of the Native Americans?
That source is pretty dubious, given that it's a wiki about TV tropes, and that the page no longer contains the content you quote, for starters. For finishers, Germans speak German, rather than [...
15
votes
Accepted
Why is Killiniq island divided between Nunavut and Labrador?
Of course it didn't start out as a border with Nunavut, but instead a murky border with Rupert's Land, which "belonged" to the Hudson's Bay Company. Much later, a more precise border between ...
14
votes
Accepted
Was it really illegal to trade gypsum from Canada to the United States in 1820? Why?
Entering your question into google results in the Plaster War
The problem persisted for years and in 1816-17, the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia colonial governments passed complementary laws that ...
MCW♦
- 34k
13
votes
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
TED's answer is fantastic; it covers the root causes of the problems. I'd like to add one more cause, specifically, US military and economic intervention in Central and South America have acted to ...
11
votes
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
The most important reasons go back to the differences between the English colonial heritage in North America, and the Spanish/Portuguese colonial heritage in South America.
Although England, Spain ...
11
votes
Accepted
Who sold this book in London in the 1930s?
The position of "Limited" in relation to "Smallman &" does resemble the "Smallman and Ingram" logo, for example on their catalog. While John Smallman and Lemuel Ingram started their retail store ...
10
votes
Accepted
Why is/was the world's expo 1967 so important to Montreal, Canada?
Being from Montreal but born in the seventies, I have not visited Expo 67, but I’ve heard a lot about it. Yes, my parents and their peers have always talked about this event with great pleasure and it ...
10
votes
Accepted
The US founding fathers and Canada
From the Declaration of Independence:
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of ...
9
votes
Were discrepancies from the 45th parallel in the US-Canadian border ratified?
CGPGrey covered this in his video Canada & The United States (Bizarre Borders Part 2).
You're basically correct. There's been a series of treaties about the US-Canada border. Rather than go into ...
9
votes
Accepted
Why did the maple leaf become associated with Canada?
According to this research the symbolism was developed by Canadiens living along the St Lawrence River by the early 1700s. The coats of arms for Quebec and Ontario (est. 1867) each feature a triple ...
9
votes
Is it legit to say that allied forces in Market Garden were: USA, British and Polish?
It was often the case that Canadian forces during WWII were included in formations described as "British," because they were under British command.
However, there don't seem to have been any ...
9
votes
Accepted
Why does the Canadian Air Force name its ranks like its Army, whilst the Australian and New Zealand Air Forces use the Royal Air Force's?
This can be explained by organisational history, but for different reasons in the US and Canadian contexts.
The British system, where the RAF has distinct names, arises from the origins of the RAF in ...
8
votes
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
I think this discussion must involve Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
Weber argued that Protestantism induces a mindset in its followers which aligns well with and ...
8
votes
In World War 1, why were the Australian and Canadian troops so good?
One can make much of the prairie and frontier background of the Canadian troops - and one should, as they were 8 cm (3") taller, 5'7" (178cm) at age 21 compared to just 5'4" (170cm) for Brits of the ...
7
votes
Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
Argentina was actually ranked one in the top 10 economies of the world in the late 1800ds.
Infrastructure engineering with torrential rain in the tropics is more difficult, and the jungle was endless,...
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