North American Countries: Historical & Cultural Connections | Study.com

Canada, the USA, and Mexico

Colonial Pasts

The relationships between Canada, the USA, and Mexico are incredibly complex, so we’re going to break up some major facets of this history into four thematic areas. Let’s start with one very important cultural connection between all three: a colonial history.

This shared history is something that underlies the historic relationship between all three nations, which are the legacies of European colonialism. The United States declared its independence in 1776, an action directly emulated by Mexico in 1810. Mexico’s attempts to build an American-style republic were the foundation of US-Mexican relations for a long time. Canada never fought an independence war, but its shared history in the British Empire has given it linguistic and cultural ties to the USA, as well as historic ties to Mexico.

This history also defined the relationship of these three countries in terms of political power. In 1823, the United States announced the Monroe Doctrine, which identified the USA as the lead protector of the Western Hemisphere, a hemisphere of postcolonial republics. This gave the USA an excuse to interfere in the business of countries like Mexico, but did offer them some actual protection. In fact, when the USA broke into its Civil War in 1861, France took advantage of America’s inability to act as hemispheric protector and invaded Mexico.

Wars

Does this mean that Canada, the USA, and Mexico have always gotten along peacefully? Of course not! Canada and Mexico have never gone to war, but both have fought against the USA. In 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain. One direct objective of the War of 1812 was to capture Canada and incorporate it into the United States, a goal that Americans failed to achieve.

The USA also went to war with Mexico in 1846 over disputed claims to Texas. The result of the Mexican-American War was a bit different, with about 1/3 of Mexico’s northern territories being seized by the United States (it’s now the US Southwest). While this did sour the relationship between the USA and Mexico for a long time, it’s also partly the reason that Mexican culture is still so dominant in many US states like California, New Mexico, and Texas.

Trade

Whether we’re getting along or not, the three nations of North America have always depended on each other, and nowhere is this more evident than economics. Canada, the USA, and Mexico are all each other’s largest and most important trade partners, thanks largely to geographic proximity.

Representatives from all three countries sign NAFTA into effect

Trade between the three nations of North America has motivated some of the most important infrastructural developments in our histories, from railroads across the Mexican desert and USA Southwest, to ports, shipyards, and even bridges across the Great Lakes. This relationship was reinforced in the 1990s with the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which eliminated most import and export tariffs between these three countries. NAFTA was controversial, because some saw it as a path towards a more equal relationship and others saw it as disproportionately beneficial to the USA. Either way, it’s become an important part of the continental economy and a symbol of political and social unity as well.

When looking at North America, we tend to talk about the USA a lot, just because it’s in the middle. However, we should never forget that Canada and Mexico have their own relationship. In 2004, the two nations announced the Canada-Mexico Partnership (CMP), their own trade deal and political policy of cooperation, designed to enhance trade, technological development, and human services in both countries.

Borders

The final thematic element we’re going to look at is perhaps the most controversial: borders. Let’s start with the US-Canada border. For a long time, this border wasn’t really defined. There weren’t many Americans or Canadians in the western parts of their respective nations, so there was no need to define a border. In fact, the 49th parallel was not established as the US-Canadian border until 1846, and wasn’t applied all the way from coast to coast until the 1870s. Today, the USA and Canada share the longest border in the world, as well as one of the most unguarded.

By contrast, the US-Mexico border is the most militarized border between any two nations at peace. Why? Was it always this way? Absolutely not. Before the Mexican-American war, the border between these nations was, like the border with Canada, fuzzy at best. However, illegal immigration started to become a real issue…for Mexico. American pioneers began settling in northern Mexico, which eventually helped motivate the Mexican-American War.

The US-Mexico border is highly visible today, a fact that was not always historically true

After the war ended and northern Mexico became the US Southwest, the border between these nations remained virtually nonexistent. People crossed it daily, working in the USA or Mexico by day and returning home to the other country by nighttime. There were even towns on the border, half technically in Mexico and half in the USA. It wasn’t until the labor shortages of the Great Depression and the US’s first mass deportation of Mexican workers that the border became more important. Throughout the 20th century, the United States started militarizing the border, ironically making it harder for Mexican laborers to get back to Mexico and thus creating permanent Mexican and Mexican-American communities in the USA. Today, the border remains a controversial topic, maintained by xenophobic and racist fears far more than any statistical evidence that the border prevents threats or harm to either nation. It’s just one more piece of a complex relationship that has existed between North American countries for generations.

Lesson Summary

Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico are the sole three nations of North America, and the relationships between them have been complex. All three share a colonial past, and have embraced similar ideas about democracy. However, the USA did try to capture Canada in the War of 1812 and seized major parts of Mexico in the Mexican-American War. All three have maintained strong trade relationships for generations, today sustained in part by programs like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Canada-Mexico Partnership. The border has become a controversial part of this relationship, something relatively new to our histories, but very important in today’s world. We’re only three countries, but we’re three countries with strong opinions and lots of ambition. It’s a complex continent we share.