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THE HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOK OF

NORTH AMERICA
Written by
IRVING ROBBIN

Illustrated by
DARRELL SWEET
Editorial Production:
DONALD D. WOLF

Edited under the supervision of

Dr. Paul E. Blackwood
U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Washington, D. C.
Text and illustrations approved by
Oakes A. White, Brooklyn Children's Museum, Brooklyn, New York

WONDER BOOKS NEW YORK

Introduction
A picture of North America taken from a man-made satellite will show
the irregular coastline, the magnificent mountains, the plain and valleys,
the rivers and lakes, and the adjacent gulfs and oceans. But such a picture
will not reveal the most interesting things about this continent. A more
meaningful picture would be obtained by a careful observer on an automobile
trip starting from Alaska, and going through Canada, the United States,
Mexico and Central America. It would disclose historical markers, industrial
cities, beautiful scenery, art forms and abundant evidence of a variety of
cultures along the way.
The How and Why Wonder Book of North America effectively combines
the advantages of an overall view of this continent with a ride through its
local areas in an automobile. For it deals with the early history and origins
of the people, the current government forms and the geographic features
of each country. In all, over sixty questions are answered about the major
countries and island groups that make up North America.
From this book the reader will not only learn the names of the various
countries making up the continent of North America, but he will also obtain a
balanced picture of the place each country maintains in relation to the
others. Today we all need more knowledge and understanding of our
neighbors throughout the world. Every up-to-date young person will find The
How and Why Wonder Book of North America a rich source of information
about the lands and the people of the New World-from Alaska to British
Honduras, from Greenland to El Salvador.
Paul E. Blackwood
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Washington, D. C.

1962, by Wonder Books, Inc.

AU rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Printed in the United States of America.

Contents
Page

THE SHAPE OF NORTH AMERICA

How do we know the shape of a
continent?
What does North America look like?
North America (Summary)
What is topography?
What are the physical features of
Central America?
What are the countries of Central America?
Where is the highest capital in North
America?
What is the topography of the
United States?
What bodies of water separate the United
States and Canada?
What is the highest mountain in
North America?
THE FIRST MEN IN
NORTH AMERICA
Where did the first people in North
America come from?
When did the Eskimos cross into Alaska?
What kind of cultures grew in Mexico
and Central America?
How did Eskimos and the northwest
tribes progress?
How did people live in the far west,
southwest and Great Plains?
What kind of society did the eastern
tribes have?
THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
What island was the steppingstone to
North America?
What lands were discovered by the
Vikings?
How were the Viking ships constructed?
Did Columbus set foot on the North
American mainland?
After whom was America named?
COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA
CENTRAL AMERICA
Where was the first European settlement
in the New World?
What was the main interest of the
Spanish conquistadors?
Panama Canal Zone (Summary)
What is the organization of Central
America now?
What is the Panama Canal's chief value?
Panama (Summary)
Nicaragua (Summary)
Costa Rica (Summary)
El Salvador (Summary)
What are the main products of the
Central American lands?
Honduras (Summary)
Guatemala (Summary)
British Honduras (Summary)
How do people live today in Central
America?

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Page

MEXICO
Mexico (Summary)
Who were the Aztecs?
How is modern Mexico blended with
the past?
What is Mexico's climate?
What are Mexico's leading industries?
What are some of the crops grown in
Mexico?
What is happening in modern Mexico?
THE UNITED STATES
The United States (Summary)
What developments took place in fishing and
shipbuilding in the northeastern U.S.?
How did transportation and mineral wealth
in the Northeast help to develop the
industries?
Where are the cultural centers of the
nation?
Why is the Midwest so important to the
nation?
In what way is the Mississippi of
importance?
What are some of the products of the
Midwest?
Why have Chicago and nearby areas
become famous?
How did the southern states develop at first?
What are some of the products and
industries of the South?
Are there oil deposits in the ocean?
What state was originally bought from the
French?
How was the West settled?
What kind of climate does the West have?
What are some of the industries and
products of the western states?
Where is the saltiest lake in the nation?
What are some of the chief products and
industries on the West Coast?
What state was bought from Russia?
Is Hawaii in North America?
CANADA
What is the early history of Canada?
What is the geography of Canada?
Canada (Summary)
What are some of Canada's chief products?
How does snow affect Canada's
transportation?
Greenland (Summary)
The West Indies (Summary)
THE NEW FACE OF THE
CONTINENT
Is it possible to drive a car from one
continent to another continent?
What are some major products that have
been developed in North America?
What is the future of North America?
The Ten Longest Rivers in North America
The Ten Tallest Mountains in North America
The Ten Largest Lakes in North America

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ASIA

ARCTIC OCEAN

The relief map of the

continent shows the
great variety of topographic features of
North. America.

The political map of the continent shows the location of the

countries of North America.

UNITED STATES

SOUTH AMERICA

The Shape of North America

Man knows the shapes of the various
parts of the world
How do we know because of maps,
the shape of
but can we trust
a continent?
maps? We can.
Cartography - the technique of map
making - is quite an exact science, a
science that has developed throughout
the many centuries that men have
traveled over the surface of the earth.
In the very near future, however, we
will all get a chance to actually see an
entire continent. Satellites orbiting in
space will photograph all or most of
our planet, and it is expected that the

pictures will not be too different from

the maps we are used to seeing. The
continents, with their distinct shapes,
will be just where we expected them
to be - surrounded by the oceans and
reaching for the sky with snow-tipped
mountains.
Canada, the United States, Mexico,
Central America,
What does
Greenland and the
North America
islands of the West
look like? .
Indies are all part of
the North American continent. Then,
when we finally look down upon our

The highest and lowest points of the continent are

within the borders of the United States. Above: Mt.
McKinley (Alaska); left: Death Valley (California).

.NORTH AMERICA
AREA: 9,435,000 square miles. It is the third
largest continent in the world. The continents of
Asia and Africa are larger.
POPULATION: Over 246,000,000.
HIGHEST POINT: Mount McKinley in Alaska,
20,320 feet.
LOWEST POINT: Death Valley in California,
282 feet below sea level.
DIMENSIONS (mainland): East to West, 3,000
miles; North to South, 4,500 miles. North
America lies between the continents of Asia and
Europe.
COUNTRIES: Canada; United States; Mexico;
British Honduras; Guatemala; Honduras; El Salvador; Nicaragua; Costa Rica; Panama; Islands
of the West Indies; and Greenland.

world, the familiar outlines of North

America will be seen in the Western
Hemisphere. It is attached to South
America by a slender strip of land. This
strip, the Isthmus of Panama, gradually
broadens as we follow it northward
through the Central American region.
To the east a sprinkling of islands dots
the Caribbean Sea, while from the west
the blue Pacific brings its ocean swells
all the way from Asia.
The . continent begins to take solid
shape in Mexico. Here is a rugged land
mass with parallel mountain ranges
flanking a high plateau. The southern
end of Mexico features the Yucatan
Peninsula, a bold spit of land that juts
into the sea. With Florida to the east it
is as though the pincers of a giant crab
enclosed the Gulf of Mexico. Actually,
the G\llf of Mexico could be called a
sea. There are over 1,000 miles of water
from the inner curve of the Yucatan
Peninsula to Florida's west shore.
6

This body of water washes the shores

of the United States and brings us to
the great mass of the continent itself.
From the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans
this part of North America stretches
about 3,000 miles over a land that is
rich in resources, fertile soil and varying climates. It is an exciting continent
with long winding rivers, broad grassy
plains and dramatic, snow-capped
mountain ranges. To the east the Great
Lakes sprawl like giant fingers planted
on the flat land. The largest of these,
Lake Superior, has the distinction of
being the largest inland body of fresh
water anywhere in the world.
As we move northeast in Canada the
land begins to break up. More lakes
appear, and the large pointed shape of.
Hudson Bay is in view. Finally, the
land ends in a huge group of assorted
islands capped by Greenland - one of
the largest islands in the world.
But to the west the mountain ranges
climb higher and higher. They end in
Alaska, which thrusts toward Asia.
Like a set of chin whiskers the Aleutian
Peninsula points the way to Siberia, and
the continent ends as the Aleutian
Jslands trail off even further to the west.
Topography is the science of plotting
the physical features
What is
of an area, working
topography?
out the contours of
the land and determining the elevations
of mountains and the depths of valleys.
The surface of North America has
almost every kind of natural and physical feature found on earth - from a
mountain 20,320 feet high to a valley
that is 282 feet below sea level.

Central America 1s an area of great

contrasts. A
What are the
long mounphysical features
tainous ridge
of Central America?
forms a backbone, and the lands at the foot of the
mountains are mostly hot steaming
jungles. In general, the entire strip of
land can be classed as having a tropical
climate with heavy seasonal rainfall. It
is believed that millions of years ago a
natural channel existed, connecting the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans somewhere
in the region of Panama. This means
that Central America was really two
peninsulas at one time - a long one
extending south from North . America
and a shorter strip of land jutting north
from South America. But then the ridge
OVER 72

60 -72

32 -60

illlill

~-

--

of mountains began pushing up and the

door between the oceans was closed.
Most of the mountains are volcanic
and there are still many active volcanoes
throughout Central America. One of
the best known is Izalco in El Salvador.
It is called "The Lighthouse of Central
America" because the eruptions can be
seen from many miles out at sea. The
volcanoes have steadily raised the height
of the mountains and, at the same time,
created many beautiful lakes.
There are seven countries in Central
America, all
What are the
squeezed together
countries of
Central America? in the winding
strip of land. The
twisting shape of Panama turns from

UNDER 32

The charts below show the average range of temperature in degrees

Fahrenheit during the month of January (left) and the mO!Jth of July
(right). There is quite some difference between the climate of
Guatemala in central America and Greenland in the far north .

,..
I

,I'
ARCTIC TERN

,,,,.

POLAR BEAR

The plant and animal life-from the tundras in the north to the jungles of the south-are as varied as the climate .

MOOSE

..
PRONGHO RN ANTElbPE

RA INBOW TROUT

the great mass of South America and is

broken in the middle by the man-made
Panama Canal. Then, as the land begins
to widen, we come to Costa Rica. The
border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is one of the few natural land
breaks in the entire area. The mountains
pause briefly and beautiful Lake Nicaragua helps form the natural boundary.
Then, as the mountains rise again;' we
come to Honduras with El Salvador
sandwiched between that country and
the Pacific Ocean. Central America
ends as Guatamala and British Honduras share the Yucatan Peninsula with
Mexico.,,
We could call Mexico "The Country
in the Sky" beWhere is the
cause most of
highest capital
it is on a great
in North America?
plateau over a
mile high. The mountain range that runs
north out of Central America splits in
two and forms a pair of parallel ridges
- the Sierra Madre Oriental and the
Sierra Madre Occidental. But we do not
find a valley between the broad backs of
the mountain ranges. Instead, there is
a high plateau, dry and windswept. On
this plateau stands the capital of the
country, Mexico City, at an altitude of
7,347 feet. It is the highest capital in
North America.
There are . very few lowlands in
Mexico~ The coastal strips, the Yucatan
Peninsula and some parts of Lower California offer the only sea-level territory
in the entire country.
Moving north the mountains and the
plateau taper gradually until they reach
10

the United States border. Here the Rio

Grande River traces its way past El
Paso to Brownsville on the Gulf of
Mexico. West of El Paso the border
seems to be laid out by a ruler with a
series of straight lines connected by aJ
jog or two.
In the United States we seem to find continuations of the two
What is the mountain ranges in
topography
Mexico. They are the
of the U.S.?
Rocky Mountains and
the Sierra Nevada Range. Actually,
only the Rockies continue the Mexican
mountains: The Sierra Nevada Range is
a separate entity. Both ranges are young
in the long time scale of the earth's
history, and their rugged peaks show
little signs of erosion. Unlike the gently
rising and smoothly rounded Appalachian Range in thf" eastern section of the
United States, these western mountains
have been thrust up boldly from the bedrock of the planet.
Geologists say they resulted from a
dramatic shearing of the crust - a slow
but powerful earth movement that tilted
great masses of rock on end and pushed
them toward the sky. The Appalachian
Range, however, resulted from a slow
folding of the crust, the end product
of steady pressure applied for millions
of years.
Between the two ranges lie the fertile
Great Plains - mile after mile of wide
horizons interrupted now and then by
low rolling hills and majestic rivers.
These rivers, the result of the inland
drainage of the mountain chains, were
one of the important factors in the early

A topographical map of
the continent show.s the
distribution of mountain
ranges, lowlands, plains
and plateaus.

exploration and development of the

United States. They provided excellent
transportation routes, and for many
years most of the produce of the country
traveled in barges along these inland
waterways.
The coastline of the United States
fronts on both the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans and also on the Gulf of Mexico.
It is one of the longest coastlines in the
world, offering access to all the shipping
lanes. But even more important is that
t'
this long and involved coastlin~ contains two of the finest sheltered harbors
to be found anywhere - New York
City and San Francisco.

Unlike other areas in the world, where

countries are
What bodies of water sometimes
separate the United
States and Canada?

separated by
natural geographic boundaries, the line between the
United States and Canada runs almost
directly across North America, through
lakes, plains and mountains. The Great
Lakes and part of the St. Lawrence
River are the only natural formations
that have become part of the boundary
between the two countries. Of the Great
Lakes - - Superior, Michigan, Huron,
Erie, Ontario - only Lake Michigan is
entirely within the United States.
11

" ....

STONE AGE
WEAPONS AND TOOLS

The migration route of Stone Age people

into the Western Hemisphere may have
been over the Bering Strait to America .

Once across the border into Canada

there is very litWhat is the
tle change in the
highest mountain
in North America?

shape of the land.

The broad plains
continue northward, and in the west
the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada
Mountain ranges join forces and climb
even higher toward the sky. They end
in Alaska in a mighty cluster of mountain peaks dominated by Mt. McKinley,

At right, a buffalo hunt. For a long time the buffalo

was the chief source of meat for the Plains Indians.

12

SOUTH AMERICA

--------------

the tallest mountain in North America.

It is 20,320 feet high.
In the east, however, the Appalachian Range tapers gradually into the
picturesque, low rolling hills of the
Laurentian Mountains. Then, with
Hudson Bay dominating the landscape,

Canada begins to dissolve into a group

of islands. We are now above the Arctic
Circle, where daylight and darkness last
for six months at a time. As we approach
the North Pole the huge mass of Greenland, which belongs to Denmark, lies to
the east.

The First Men in North America

Many scientists are of the opinion
that there was a time when no men
walked on North America. Only the
prehistoric animals ranged freely across
the broad stretches of the plains and
climbed the snowy slopes of the mountains. The woolly mammoth; the giant
bison, the saber-toothed tiger and the
swift wolves had the land to themselves.
Elsewhere in the world men were developing and forming primitive societies. Places like the Near East, Asia and

parts of Europe were awakening to the

sounds of the early hunters, but North
America remained silent.
But men did come here. Perhaps they
walked across a narWhere did the row strip of land that
first people in
once connected Asia
North America
to the tip of Alaska.
come from?
This neck of land,
which many experts believe existed,
separated the Bering Sea from the Arc-

Indians of the Northwest were experienced fishermen

and were noted for their hand-carved totem poles.

--

tic Ocean, and eventually it was washed

away when the glaciers melted and the
oceans rose. During the many thousands
of years that the land bridge existed,
wandering tribes of hunters came from
Asia and crossed into North America
from Siberia. They were the ancestors
of the people we now call Indians.
The migration started sometime between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Some scientists believe that these tribes
were among the less developed groups
from the Old World and were gradually
forced out of the better areas of Asia.
Siberia is cold and inhospitable, and it
seems reasonable that wandering tribes
would keep moving, trying to find a
more pleasant place to live.
These first people in America were
very primitive, and they came here before many things had been discovered.
At that time men did not know how to
plant seeds and to grow their own food.
They had not domesticated any animals, and their tools and weapons were
quite simple. They used spears and
clubs because the bow was unknown.
Weaying and pottery had to wait many
thousands of years, and there was no
knowledge of metals. They were Stone
Age people.
The migration across the Bering Strait
was slow and steady.
When did the
The Indians did not
Eskimos cross
arrive all in one
into Alaska?
group. For a period
of over 20,000 years tribal units continued to cross the icy strait and move
down into North America. It is believed
that the Eskimos were among the last
to come - over 2,000 years ago - and
14

perhaps they crossed in their small

boats. They probably had to remain in
Alaska and the other far-northern regions, because the warmer areas were
already settled and well defended.
Although they came at different
times, the early tribes had one great
similarity. They all seemed to resemble
the Mongolians who still roam across
Central Asia. The high cheekbones and
straight black hair of these Indians and
Eskimos place them as. related to the
Asiatic peoples.
Once on the continent they spread
s 0 u t h rw a rd
What kind of
rapidly, forming
cultures grew
very distinctive
in Mexico and
cultures. In CenCentral America?
tral America and
Mexico very complex societies were developed over the years, with involved
religious rituals, systems of law and advanced mathematical systems. They
domesticated animals, learned to work
with metal and built large cities. These
cultures, the Mayan, Aztec and Toltec,

Left: typical adobe

(dried mud) dwellings
of the Pueblo Indians.
Below: a Hopi woman

had just about reached the heights of

the ancient Egyptian culture when
America was discovered by Europeans.
Throughout the rest of the continent
the Indians spread and settled. Some
remained hunters; others concentrated
"' on agriculture or fishing. But they retained the same tribal life that they had
known for thousands of years. Only the
type of area in which they settled
changed their way of life.
The Eskimos developed a umque
method of copHow did Eskimos
ing with the bitand the northwest
ter snows and
tribes progress?
blizzards of the
north. The igloo is still one of the most
efficient dwellings in the world, and
Eskimo clothing has been copied for
many of our modern, winter-clothing
designs. They domesticated, bred and
trained dogs to pull their sleds,. developed skin-covered boats and used oil
lamps for the long winter months.
In the northwest regions the newcomers became fishermen and hunters.

They built swift canoes and used harpoons with great skill. It is from these
people that the tall, richly-colored totem
poles come.
Along the far west coast and the slopes
of the Sierra
How did people
Nevada Mounlive in the far
tains, the Indiwest, southwest
ans became seed
and Great Plains?
gatherers, collecting nuts, berries, fruit and edible
roots. They hunted, but it was not the
main source of their livelihood. In
the southwestern part of the United
States are found the more permanent
shelters. The Navajos and the Pueblos
built real dwellings from mud and clay.
They designed pottery, wove baskets,
learned to work metal and developed a
system of agriculture.
The Great Plains were populated by
wandering hunters - fierce tribes that
used their spears and bows with utmost
15

skill. Everything they owned was movable, tents and all, because they had to
follow the migrations of the deer and
buffalo in order to get enough food.
Since the eastern region of the continent
was heavily forested,
What kind of the tribes that settled
society did
there became fine
the eastern
woodsmen. They
tribes have?
learned to track animals silently through shadowy trails,
fish the swift streams and build traps.
These eastern Indians were highly organized. In addition to hunting, agriculture was an important development.
Tobacco and maize were grown by these
people, and they learned to preserve
meats. Their society was also highly

organized. The tribes were often parts

of a larger confederation, and the laws
of conduct were quite strict. It was these
eastern Indians that the early European
settlers first met. Some were friendly,
but many resented the invasion, and it
was many years before peaceful relations were established.
There is one thing to remember. The
first Americans were the people we call
Indians. They came here long before
anyone knew there was a North American continent, but they were some ten
thousand years behind the rest of the
world in progress. Only the rapid spread
of the Europeans in America prevented
the Indians from finally developing a
civilization as advanced as those in
Europe and Asia.

The Discovery of America

It is now quite certain that Columbus
was not the first explorer to reach North
America. People from northern Europe
had traveled across the Atlantic as early
as the ninth and tenth centuries, and
accounts of their voyages indicate that
they visited this continent.
The island of Iceland, which lies in the
North Atlantic
What island was
to the east of
the steppingstone
to North America?

Greenland, is a
lonely, stormy
place. It was unknown to man until the
fourth century A.D., when fishermen
16

from northern Europe finally landed on

its shores. The first settlement on Iceland was made in the early part of the
ninth century. A group of Irish monks,
looking for a remote place in which to
set up a hermitage, happened upon this
storm-tossed island. They named it
Thule ( THoo-lee), a place that the
ancients considered the northernmost
part of the habitable world, and they
settled there to pursue their lonely life.
They were not alone for long. A
hardy race of pagan Norsemen, the Vikings, came to Iceland in the same century and drove out the monks. A

rts
ws

:se
an
ly,
it

re
1-

:n
1e

d
d
a
ll

permanent settlement was established,

and it served as the base for further explorations of North America.
Three Vikings were important in this
drive westward.
What lands were
There was Eric
discovered by
the Red, credited
the Vikings?
with the discovery of Greenland. Then came the man
who was the first to set foot on the mainland of the continent itself - Leif
Ericsson, son of Eric the Red. It was in
the year 1000, and he named the continent Vinland or "Wineland the Fair."
Leif described the abundance of wild
grapes that he found along the shores.
It was from his description that scien- .
tists today are able to guess how far

down the North American coast his

expedition may have traveled. It is probable that he reached the area well below
southern Maine, perhaps Rhode Island,
because the type of grapes he described
will not grow any farther north.
In the typical pattern of colonization
following exploraHow were the
tion, Thorfinn KarViking ships
selfni followed Leif's
constructed?
path with three ships
that carried all the equipment needed to
establish a permanent colony. These
Viking ships were very efficient for their
time. They resembled a canoe with a
high prow. Built of planks and featuring
a working keel, they were sixteen feet
wide and about eighty feet long. A short

ATLANTIC OCEAN

The map shows the routes

taken by the most prominent
discoverers of America.

Columbus' first voyage: 149293 (solid line). Second voyage: 1493-96 (dotted line).
Third voyage: 14.9 8 (dashes).
Last: 1502-04 (dots-dashes).

mast with a single, square sail was

mounted in the center, but the main
power was supplied by thirty-two Viking oarsmen - sixteen to a side. With
a fierce-faced figurehead and the shields
of the warriors hanging at the sides,
these Viking ships were extremely colorful. But they were also durable. A small
open boat - propelled by oars - that
could cross the blustery North Atlantic
had to be well made. The people who
would trust themselves to a boat like this
. had to be extremely brave.
Sometime in the year 1003, Karselfni's expedition reached the North American continent. The men brought their
families and domestic animals and prepared to settle down. But year after year
they were attacked by Indian tribes. In
1006, the remnants of the colony gave
up and returned to Greenland.
It was not until 1492, when Columbus
reached the
Did Columbus set
islands in the
foot on the North
warmer and
American mainland?
friendlier Caribbean Sea,. that America was rediscovered. Perhaps if the Vikings had had the
gunpowder and rifles that the later
colonists brought with them, their settlement would have been the beginnings of
a Norse empire in the New World.
Although Christopher Columbus did
reach the New World, he never set foot
on the North American mainland itself .
.He explored several of the islands,
claiming them for Spain. Columbus
always believed that he had actually
sailed around the world and reached
the East Indies. That is why he called
the natives Indians. The name now in
use is Amerind or Amerindian.
18

America was named after an Italian

navigator named
After whom was
America named?

Amerigo Vespucci. He made

four voyages to the Am'ericas from
Europe, the first in 1497, and claimed
that he had actually landed on the continent in several different places. Due
to the vagueness of his reports, however,
some modern scholars doubt that the
claims are completely true. But the explorer did leave his name behind him in
the New World, for America is derived
from Amerigo.
Once it was known in Europe that a
new continent had been discovered,
country after country sent expeditions
across the Atlantic. Colonies were established rapidly, the Indians were con-

quered in many areas, and soon the

riches of the continent began to arrive
in Europe. Intense competition between
nations led to greater and greater exploration. The Indians, the original inhabitants of America, were gradually
displaced by the English, French, Dutch
and Spanish. Eventually the great nations of North America developed.
With North America now placed on
the map, a new era began in the world of
the sixteenth century. This era was important in many ways. Not only were
new foods, minerals and ways of life
developed, but America became a place
to which the oppressed peoples of Europe could come, in order to build a
civilization based on democracy and
religious freedom.

Countries of
North America
CENTRAL AMERICA

This long winding strip of land was the

first part of
Where was the first North America
European settlement t b

?
o e conquere d
an the New World.
d
l d b
an sett e
y
people from Europe. In fact, the first
. real settlement - and later the first real
city-in the New World was Santa
Maria de la Antigua del Darien, located
just south of the Panama border. From
there the Spanish conquistadors, led by
Pedro Arias de Avila, set out to conquer
all of Central America. They accomplished this quite rapidly, ruthlessly
crushing all Indian resistance.
They were mainly interested in the rich
supply of gold that
What was the
could be found in
main interest
many areas of Cenof the Spanish
tral America. After
conquistadors?
the Spanish had
taken all the gold that the Indians
owned, they set them to work mining
the hills for more. When additional
workers were needed, Negro slaves were
brought from Africa to fill the demand.
This mixture, Spanish, Indian and
Negro is the background of most of the
Central Americans today. It is a rich
heritage, but perhaps the Spanish influence is the most dominant. All the Cen-.
tral American countries use Spanish as
their official language, and the Roman
Catholic faith is the predominant religion. During the days of the Spanish
conquistadors, priests traveled with the
armies, converting the Indians.
19

!
i'
I
: I

: i

Little engines called "mules" pull cin

ocean liner through the chamber of
one of the locks of the Panama Canal.

PANAMA CANAL ZONE

AREA: 553 square miles (of which 191 square
miles are water).

POPULATION: 53,000, about half of whom

are United States citizens.

ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER: Balboa Heights.

GOVERNMENT: The civil affairs of the Canal
Zone are administered by the Canal Zone Government, a United States agency.

Above, an Indian girl from

Panama in her native cos
tume. At left, a Panamanian medicine man trying
to cure one of his patients.

Although all of Central America

was originally conWhat is the
trolled by Spain, an
organization
independence moveof Central
ment succeeded in
America now?
1823, resulting in
the formation of five states. They are
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El
Salvador and Costa Rica. All adopted a
republican form of government. Panama joined the Central American group
in 1903, when it declared its independence from the South American country
of Colombia. British Honduras, which
was settled by the English in 1638, is
still a British colony, and the Canal
Zone in Panama is governed by the
United States.
The idea of connecting the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans began in 1534 when
a survey was made on orders of King
Charles V of Spain. Actually, the Spanish explorer Balboa had the same idea

in 1517. However, nothing was .done

until 1882 when a French company actually began to dig the canal. But the
French were forced to give up the project because of major difficulties, and it
was left to the United States to complete
it in 1914. The United States controls
the Canal Zone - a strip of land fifty
miles long and ten miles wide - in accordance with a treaty with Panama.
The land was obtained for a payment
of ten million dollars and additional
annual payments. Today the United
States pays Panama $1,930,000 a year
for use of the Canal Zone.
The Panama Canal is about fifty miles
long and includes
What is the
Ga tun Lake as part
Panama Canal's
of its waterway.
chief value?
Huge locks raise or
lower passing ships for the fifty-mile,
eight-hour trip between the Atlantic
21

and the Pacific oceans. The trip through

this artificial channel saves not only
time but provides a great saving in
ocean transport. Without the canal,
ships would have to travel down the
length of South America, cross the
stormy Straits of Magellan and steam
all the way north to the Pacific coast of
North America. The canal actually
splits a continent in two parts, connects
two oceans and demonstrates man's
ability to change the shape of nature.
It is one of the great achievements of
human technology.

PANAMA
AREA: 28,575 square miles.
POPULATION: About 1,024,000.
CAPITAL: Panama.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish.
MONETARY UNIT: Balboa.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Panama, Colon~ David.
CLIMATE: Tropical -

mostly hot and humid,

but cooler in the mountains.

RESOURCES: Primarily agricultural. Bananas

are the main crop. There are also large timber
resources.

PEOPLE: Mostly mixed Indian, white and

Negro. Pure Indians number almost 50,000
persons, most of whom live in isolated areas
of the country.

Orchids (below) and banana

and coffee plantations (at
right) dominate the countryside of Costa Rica.

Highly decorated ox
carts, resembling the
ones used in Palermo,
Italy, carry coffee and
cocoa to the markets.

--~-------- ----

- -

--

BRANCH OF
COFFEE PLANT
WITH BEANS

To the sounds of a marimba band, girls from Nicaragua take part in the graceful native dances.

NICARAGUA
AREA: 57,000 square miles.
POPULATION: About 1,500,000.
CAPITAL: Managua.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish.
MONETARY UNIT: Cordoba.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Managua, Leon, Granada,
Masaya, Chinandega.
CLIMATE: Tropical and rainy on the east coast.
The interior (high, central plateau) is mild, cool
and dry. The west coast is also tropical, with a
rai.ny season.
RESOURCES: Primarily agricultural. Coffee is
the chief crop, followed by cotton and cacao.
Cattle are raised in the western lowlands. Nicaragua leads Central America in the export of
gold and silver and is also rich in its forests.
PEOPLE: Largely of Spanish descent, or of
mixed Spanish and Indian extraction; also
mixed Indian and Negro, as well as pure Indian.

COSTA RICA
AREA: 19,695 square miles.
POPULATION: About 1, 126,000.
CAPITAL: San Jose.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish.
MONETARY UNIT: Colon.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: San Jose, Alajuela, Pun
tarenas, Limon.
CLIMATE: Varies from tropical to cool, depending on elevation. Below 1,500 feet, hot;
between 1,500 and 5,000 feet 'elevation, temperate; 5,000 feet and above, cold.
'RESOURCES: Mainly agricultural. Bananas are
the most valuable export, followed by coffee,
cacao, sugar cane, tobacco.
PEOPLE: The vast majority of the people are
whites of Spanish descent. The rest are mostly
mestizos (mixed white and Indian).

23

EL SALVADOR
AREA: 8,260 square miles.
POPULATION: About 2,520,000.
CAPITAL: San Salvador.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish.
MONETARY UNIT: Colon.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: San Salvador, Santa Ana,
San Miguel, Sonsonate.
CLIMATE: Subtropical, with a rainy season
from June to October.
RESOURCES: Coffee is the country's chief
resource, followed by cotton, sugar, balsam,
gold and cement as export items.
PEOPLE-: Most of the population is made up of
mestizos (mixed white and Indian). About 20
per cent are pure Indians (descended mainly
from the Pipil and Lenca tribes). The rest of
the people are white.

Natives collect balsam of Peru in

El Salvador for use in medicines.

The Jiboa Valley in El Salvador shows the subtropical vegetation typical of the country.

24

Since all of Central America has a tropical climate with

What are the
heavy rainfall,
main products
certain crops grow
of the Central
American lands?

abundantly. Bananas form one of

the largest crops, growing mainly in the
lowlands at the foot of the mountains.
They arrive on muleback and in native
carts and are piled on the docks at
various seaports. The huge bunches are
green when picked, but ripen on the
way to the United States and other
countries that import them. Shiploading
of bananas is a colorful sight as the huge
bunches, some over five feet long, are
carried into the holds of the freighters.
The cooler and drier slopes of the
mountains are used for growing coffee
beans. Some of the world's best coffee
comes from Central America, for it

Banana plantations are situated throughout Honduras. Bananas make up a third of the country's exports.

HONDURAS
AREA: 43,277 square miles.
POPULATION: About l,900,000.
CAPITAL: Tegucigalpa.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish.
MONETARY UNIT: Lempira.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Tegucigalpa, San Pedro
Sula, La Ceiba.
CLIMATE: Tropical along the coast. Temperate
in the mountain areas.
RESOURCES: Mainly agricultural. Bananas are
the chief crop, followed by coconuts and coffee.
Forest products are important, especially mahogany, rosewood and walnut. Gold and silver
are the chief minerals. Copper, lead, iron and
zinc are also found in abundance, but mining
is little developed because of transportation
difficulties in the mountainous regions.
PEOPLE: About 85 per cent are mestizos (mixed
white and Indian). The rest are Indians, Negroes and whites.

The Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa, capital of

Honduras, is built in Spanish-Colonial style.

25

GUATEMALA
AREA: 42,042 square miles.
POPULATION: About 3,546,000.
CAPITAL: Guatemala City.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Guatemala City," Quezaltenango, Puerto Barrios.
MONETARY UNIT: Quetzal.
CLIMATE: Varies with the altitude. Hot and
humid in the coastal jungles and plains. Cold
in the mountainous regions, where the elevation
is over 6,000 feet.
RESOURCES: Predominantly agricultural. The
most important crops are coffee, bananas, cotton, sugar, rice, maize and chicle. Iron, lead,
copper, zinc, silver and gold ores are also
found.
PEOPLE: Nearly 60 per cent are pure Indians,
descended from the Mayans. Most of the
remainder are of mixed Spanish and Indian
descent. There is also a . small percentage of
whites of European origin, most o.f whom are
of Spanish ancestry.

BRITISH HONDURAS
AREA: 8,867 square miles.
POPULATION: About 60,000.
CAPITAL: Belize.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: British Crown Colony. A colonial governor is appointed by
Great Britain.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: English. Spanish is
also spoken by many people.
MONETARY UNIT: British Honduras dollar.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Belize, Stann Creek,
Corozal, Cayo.
CLIMATE: Hot and humid .
RESOURCES: Forest products are the chief
industry. Mahogany, cedar and pine are the
main timbers. Tropical fruits are also exported.
PEOPLE: Mainly Negro and mixed Negro and
Indian; also some Carib Indian, Asian and
European (Spanish).

26

The ruins of Zaculeu in

the highlands of Guatemala show the early
Mayan architecture.

This fountain stands or:i

the continental divide in
Chimaltenango in centra 1 Guatemala. Its
waters flow from one
side to the Atlantic
Ocean, and from the
other side to the Pacific.

grows in a bed of volcanic ash that

makes a fine, rich soil. The beans are
picked carefully, roasted and packed
for export. Another interesting fact
about coffee is that it is graded according to the height at which it grows. The
higher the plantation, the better the
coffee.
The third important product of the
Central American region is lumber. The
same mountain slopes also grow fine
trees, and the beautifully grained mahogany used for furniture comes from
the tall mahogany trees of Central
America. The light, soft balsa wood that
can be purchased in hobby shops also
comes from the same area.
On the Pacific coast, pearl diving is

Native hut of a Guatemalan Indian.

View of the volcano Atitlan,

11,565 feet high, from shore
of beautiful Lake Atitlan, one
of Guatemala's resort areas.
Pottery corner of a mar
ket in Guatemala City.

an important occupation, but inland,

men dig intensely for gold and silver.
Nicaragua is especially rich in minerals
of many kinds.
The most interesting part of Central
America is the
people. In the big
How do people
cities, people live
live today in
Central America? very much the
way they do in
other countries, but in many villages
there have been no changes for hundreds of years. The Indians still dress
in the same ancient, colorful styles and
even retain some of the old Mayan customs. A Central American market place
is vivid with the colors of clothing,

bright yellow baskets and piles of exotic

foods. Through the hubbub one can
hear the exciting Latin American music.
Many Central Americans still play the
same kind of musical instruments used
for centuries, and the mixture of Spanish and Indian rhythms provides charming entertainment.
Of all the places on the continent,
Central America is perhaps the only
area where the ancient world exists at
the same time as our modem age. At
the docks are the modem ships that
carry away the produce to the great
cities in the north. But the people who
grow and deliver that .produce return
to their villages in the mountains and
a way of .life unchanged for centuries.
27

MEXICO
AREA: 760,373 square miles.
POPULATION: Over 34,000,000.
CAPITAL: Mexico City.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish.
STATES: Mexico is officially called Estados
Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States). The
largest state, with an area of over 94,000
square miles, is Chihuahua. The state with the
greatest population - over 2,000,000 - is
Veracruz. Altogether, Mexico is composed of
29 states.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Mexico City, Guadalajara,
Monterrey, Puebla, Merida.
MONETARY UNIT: Peso.
CLIMATE: The low regions are tropical and
hot. From 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level,
the climate is mild. Above 6,000 feet, it is cold.
In all three regions, there is usually a rainy
season from June to.October.
RESOURCES: Mexico is rich in minerals and
timber, and it ranks high among the countries
of the world in the production of silver, gold,
copper, lead and mercury. The rich soil produces coffee, corn, sugar, rice, tobacco, cotton,
sisal and bananas. Iron, steel arid petroleum
production is increasing.
PEOPLE: 60 per cent are mestizos (mixed white
and Indian), 30 per cent are Indian and 10 per
cent are white.

Dugout canoes and butterfly nets are the traditional

equipment of Tarscan fishermen of Lake Patzcuaro.

~l

28

The market place in a Mexican village.

Women carry heavy loads on their heads.
The church is in typical Spanish style.

A pyramid on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico is evidence of the architectural skill of the Mayan Indians.

MEXICO

In 1519, Hernando Cortes led his

army of Spanish conquistadors into
Mexico. Equipped with horses, shining
armor and the most advanced weapons
of the sixteenth century, they fought
their way from the flat coastal area into
the mountainous highlands. Cortes was
looking for gold. It had been found in
Central America, and he was sure that
Indian groups in Mexico had mined
large amounts of the precious metal.
Cortes found it when he met the Aztecs
- and took it.

The university library in Mexico City, the nation's

capital, is a symbol of modern Mexican architecture.

The Aztec Indians, who founded the

Mexican Empire,
Who were
were the.most powthe Aztecs?
erful and the most
advanced culture in Mexico. They had
a highly organized society with wellplanned cities, and like the ancient
Egyptians, constructed huge pyramids
29

of stone blocks. Although the Aztecs

had a high degree of civilization they
shared Mexico with the Yaqui Indians,
a primitive group: It took Cortes several
years to completely defeat the Aztecs,
and by 1521, his army occupied their
capital and controlled the country. Incidentally, this city was on the same site
as Mexico City, the present capital.
Mexico was named New Spain at the
time of the conquest and became part
of the Spanish Empire in the New
World. As in Central America, the
Catolic priests who traveled with the
army began to convert the Indians, and
today, the predominant religion in Mexico is Catholicism.
After thre'e centuries of Spanish rule,
Mexico freed itself and eventually became a republic. The country faced
many stormy years with one revolution
following another - and a war with
the United States. But Mexico soon
became the. stable democracy it remains today.
Like the Central Americans, most Mexicans have a mixed
How is modern
heritage. They are
Mexico blended
descended from the
with the past?
Aztecs, Toltecs,
Mayans, Y aquis and the Spanish. Their
music, too, is a blend of the ancient
Indian and the exotic Spanish rhythms.
They are a gay, colorful people with extremely modem cities, but in the villages
off the beaten track, one may still find
a more primitive way of life. Adobe
houses, mule carts, corn meal ground in
a stone mortar - these can be found
only a few miles from the steel and concrete buildings of modem Mexico City.
30

As a country Mexico has much to offer.

It is a rich place with varWhat is
ied mineral resources, but
Mexico's
even more varied is the cliclimate?
mate. Since most of Mexico
is mountainous, scientists divide the climatic zones by altitude. The lowest area,
especially in Yucatan, is fully tropical
with intense heat and high humidity.
The Mexicans call it tierra caliente (hot
earth). From 3,000 to 5,000 feet high
is the tierra templada (temperate earth),
a subtropical zone. Then, from an altitude of 5,000 to 9,000 feet is the tierra
fria (cold earth), a truly temperate climate with some frost at night. A
Mexican can choose his climate merely
by climbing or descending a few thousand feet!
The entire country is very dry with
only a few lakes and even fewer rivers.
That is why the government has concentrated on developing a large railroad
network, for water transport is impossible. Roads are being expanded every
year to reach areas that are deep in the
mountains.
Mexico is the most industrialized nation
in all of Latin
What are Mexico's
America. Autoleading industries?

mobiles, television sets and refrigerators are only a

few of the many modem machines and
appliances made in its factories. Mining
is really the principle industry. The volcanic mountains are rich in minerals.
The silver mines in Guanajuato yield
more silver than does any other country
in the world. Gold is still being found, as
well as important deposits of coal and
oil to run the industries.

Another large industry is handicraft.

All over .,Mexico - in the larger cities
and smaller villages- individual workers are busy making baskets, weaving
blankets, tooling leather and shaping
exquisite silver jewelry. This, too, reflects the many contrasts in Mexico.
Just as simple village life exists at the
same time as more modem city life, so
too, does the individual artisan contrast
with the busy assembly-line worker in
a modern factory.
Down in the lowlands, agriculture is pursued vigorously.
What are some
A large part of
of the crops
grown in Mexico?
the world's supply of sisal hemp
- used in making rope - comes from
Yucatan, and there is a high production
of maize, cotton, beans, sugar and
chicle (for chewing gum). As the mountains taper away to the north we come
to the ranches. There the Mexican cowboys in their broad-brimmed sombreros
herd beef cattle.
An interesting geographic feature is
the long peninsula known a_s Baja
(Lower) California. This strip of land
extends southward from the border of
California in the United States. It has
a bony ridge of mountains down the
center and sandy, desert-like shores. The
dry soil makes farming the land difficult, but there i's an abundance of fish
in the surrounding waters. The people
of Baja California have developed an

unusual culture, completely cut off from

the mainstream of life in Mexico itself.
Recently many sections of Mexico, especially in the
What is happening
coastal regions,
in modern Mexico?
have become
vacation resorts. Acapulco ,and Veracruz are two of the most famous vacation centers. All through the year
people visit Mexico to relax, to see the
exciting festivals and to sample a way
of life far removed from the rapid pace
in the United States. But Mexico is also
moving forward in other areas, especially in its industrial development program. Many people feel !hat it will one
day become a wealthy nation, self-sufficient and able to supply other parts of
the world with its goods.
Mexico's expanding educational system, its. technical advances and increasing standard of living are ail signs of its
growing prosperity.

Harvesting sisal, a Mexican plant whose tough fiber

is used for twine and matting in Mexico and abroad.

31

THE UNITED ST ATES

THE UNITED STATES

AREA: 3,615,209 square miles .
POPULATION: About 180,000,000.
CAPITAL: Washington, D. C.
CLIMATE: Varies in different parts of the country, from the warm weather all year round in
Florida, Gulf State areas and southern California to the long, cold winters and short, cool
summers in the north. It is dry in the west. The
United States is in the north temperate zone,
and most of the country has moderate weather.

CHIEF RESOURCES: Coal, iron, oil, silver,

wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco, livestock raising,
fisheries and forest products. Among the
countries of the world, the United States ranks
first as a manufacturing nation.

PEOPLE: The United States may be called a

"Melting Pot" because most Americans are
either immigrants or descended from immigrants. The national ancestry of the country is
primarily European.

POPULATION CENTER OF THE U.S.: Northwest of Centralia, Illinois.

LARGEST CITIES (and population):

New York City
Chico go
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Detroit
Baltimore
Houston
Cleveland

7,781,984
3,550,404

2,479,015
2,002,512
1,670,144
939,024
938,219
876,050

Woshington, D.C.
St. Louis
San Francisco
Milwaukee
Boston
Dallas
New Orleans
Pittsburgh

763,956
750,026
742 ,855

741,324
697,197
679,684
627,525

604,332

FIFTY STATES (and population):

Alabomo
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Konsas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri

32

3,266,740
226,167
1,302,161
1,786,272
15,717,204
1,753,947

2,535,234
446,292

4,951 ,560
3,943,116
632,772
667,191
10,081,158
4,662,498
2,757,537
2,178 ,611
3,038, 156
3,257,022
969,265

3,100,689
5,148,~78

7,823,194
3,413,864
2,178 ,141
4,319,813

674,767
Montana
1,411,330
Nebraska
Nevada
285,278
New Hampshire
606,921
6,066,782
New Jersey
951,023
New Mexico
16,782,304
New York
North Corolina 4,556,155
North Dokoto
632,446
9,706,397
Ohio
2,328,284
Oklahoma
Oregon
1,768,687
Penn sylvania
11,319,366
Rhode Island
859,488
2,382 594
South Corolina
South Dakota
680,514
Tennessee
3,567,089
Texas
9,579,677
Utah
890,627
Vermont
389,881
Virginia
3,966,949
Washington
2,853,214
West Virginia
1,860,421
Wist onsin
3,951 ,777
Wyoming
330,066

The United States is a remarkable country. It is fourth

Why d id so many
in size among all
people come to
the countries in
the Un ited States?
the world and
has the fourth largest population. The
Soviet Union, China and Canada are
larger in area, and China, India and the
Soviet Union have larger populations.
The land itself offers resources of
every kind - including minerals, fertile
soil, a temperate climate - but the real
~ealth of the country is to be found in
the people. No other country has a population quite like that of the United
States. Just about every national ancestry, race and religion is represented.
The key to the vigor and spirit of this
population perhaps lies in the reasons
why various groups came here. Other
areas in the New World were colonized
largely for economic reasons. This is
true to some extent for the United
States. But, from the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620 to the migration of the
displaced persons of World War II, this
country was a haven for people looking
for a new way of life.
All through the history of the United
States, groups of people arrived because
of political tyranny, religious oppression) caste systems or lack of opportunity in their own countries. In the
United States a new start could be made
under a democratic system, and a man's
future was largely his own making. This
freedom of opportunity led to the tremen dous .wave of exploration that

New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline.

The Statue of Liberty stands in foreground.

finally opened the three thousand miles

of land to settlement. America was soon
populated from "sea to shining sea." ,

"

The northeastern section of the United

States was the
What develop'!'lents
first area to be
took place in fishing
developed.
and shipbuilding in
the northeastern U.S.? This was na:tural, since it
was the traditional gateway to the country for people arriving from Europe
and, as such, it was here that the original
colonies were established. The North-

Inside a steel plant in

Pittsburgh, one of the
industrial centers of the
United States.

A Maine lighthouse, a
typical landmark of the
New England coast.

east offered many opportunities in spite

of its cold weather and rocky soil.
Along the coast of New England, fishing
became the most important pursuit, and
fishing also means shipbuilding. The
waters of the North Atlantic are rich in
marine life, and it was not too long
before large fleets of small boats braved
the icy waters in search of cod, mackerel
and sea bass. Along the shore in the
quiet bays, the lobster industry estabNEVADA .
lished itself.
Most of the towns and cities along
this northern coast became shipping
centers. Today, the greatest shipyards
of the country are still located along
the coastline with its fine protected harbors. The town of New Bedford and
ARIZONA
Nantucket Island became the jump-off
points for American whaling fleets that
Phoenix
toured the world. During the nineteenth
century most of the world's supply of
whale oil and whale bone came from
these two small areas of Massachusetts.
After the huge forests were cleared,
the inland areas of New England became farms. The supply of lumber
helped build the cities, and now the rolling open fields are covered with vegetable farms, fruit orchards, large herds
of dairy cattle and poultry. Just as
the lumber contributed to the building Pennsylvania provided fuel to fire the
of the cities, later the land helped feed
furnaces of almost every industry. The
the people.
northeastern states became the manufacturing center of the entire country.
The cities became industrial centers
From safety pins to aircraft carriers,
quite rapfrom delicate clothing to steel plates How did transportation
idly. There it is hard to find a product that is not
and mineral wealth in
are many manufactured here. With the great array
the Northeast help to
power of natural harbors all along the coast
develop the industries?
sources in
and the network of railroads and highthe Northeast, and the coal mines of
ways, there is a constant flow of raw

..

34

KANSAS

Topeko

. f-:- ~ ' ..~

:;b~~.i.;~d~A.
.... .

'

:. ,,
;

'~

>

'---~....-:~~

materials into the factories. Finished

goods go out through the country and
to the world markets.
Immigrants from many countries settled throughout the Northeast - in
great port cities such as Boston, New
York and Philadelphia. Some retained
their colorful Old World customs, languages and methods of agriculture or
manufacture. It is this blend of varied
customs, habits, ideas and rituals

throughout the nation that has enriched

the spirit of the United States.
The immigrants made important contributions not only in
Where are the
agriculture, induscultural centers
try and commerce,
of the nation?
hut in the social
and cultural life of the community, too.
They brought art forms - music, painting, sculpture, ballet. These arts existed
35

here, but in the early pioneering days

the colonists worked very hard earning
a living from the rocky soil. They didn't
have much free time for cultural pursuits. But as transportation spread and
machinery was invented there was time
for relaxation. The later immigrants
brought with them a tradition of culture
that had existed for centuries. This love
of the arts was rapidly accepted and the
eastern section of the United States is
still the artistic center of the country.
New York, Boston and Philadelphia
are the major cultural centers. Here,
symphony orchestras, opera and ballet
companies, the theater, book publishing
houses, and more recently the broadcasting industry, have become a vital
part of the American scene.
With population building up on the
eastern coast, there was soon pressure
for more land. As expeditions returned
from beyond the Appalachian Mountains with news of broad, open country,
this pressure became a movement. At

first, the mountains were a barrier, but

four natural gateways were discovered
and the trek westward began. A new
wave of pioneers followed the Mohawk
River valley or the Potomac River into
Ohio. Others followed a valley through
the Appalachians in Virginia or rounded
the southern end of the range. These
gateways led to the Midwest.
The Midwest has been called the "breadbasket of the nation."
Why is the
It is the finest agriculMidwest so
tural region in the
important to
world and grows more
the nation?
food than any similar
area. Agriculture is one of the important bases of the American economy,
and the twelve states that make up the
Midwest feed most of the nation. This
land is a vast area of rolling plains and
great rivers-rivers that flow hundreds
of miles from the mountain ranges.
From the western slopes of the Appalachians and the eastern slopes of

Farmland in America's Midwest, the nation's breadbasket, is one of the world's best agricultural regions.

Cattle branding on a Western ranch requires

teamwork from the cowboy and his mount.

the Rockies, these mighty watercourses

drain almost one half of the total land
area of the country. All this water ends
in the Mississippi River, one of the longest rivers in the world.
The Mississippi River splits the country
in two and is a natIn what way is
ural water-borne
the Mississippi
highway. From pioof importance?
neering days to the
present time it has offered transportation, shipped supplies and delivered
food to a multitude of people. It empties
into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans,
which provides the Midwest with its
own, though distant, seaport. Due to the
immense amount of water that this river
carries, draining over one million square
miles and moving several thousand

Oilfields are a part of America's great mineral wealth .

gallons minute, it quite often floods.

Controlling the water has become a tremendous engineering feat with levees
and channels being worked on all year.
The major crops of the Midwest are
wheat and corn.
What are some
During the long hot
of the products
summers the farmof the Midwest?
ers work their spacious farms with powerful tractors,
37

A stern-wheeler on the Mississippi River.

reapers and other mechanical farm

tools. The development of such machinery has made farming the long stretches
of the Great Plains faster and more economical. States like Wisconsin and Minnesota specialize in dairy farming, and
these farms make most of the cheese and
butter in the country. Here the climate
is cooler and the plains become rolling
hills. When winter locks these lands in
snow, the men go hunting while the
golden cheese slowly ripens in the sheds.

Chicago, because of its central location,

became the inWhy have Chicago
dustrial and
and nearby areas
commercial
become famous?
center for the
Midwest. All the railroads of the area
arrive at Chicago, bringing food, cattle
and raw materials - and leave with finished products and packaged foods.
Because Chicago is located on Lake
Michigan, the water transport makes
delivery to the East much cheaper.
Now with the St. Lawrence Seaway
open, ocean-going ships can travel all
the way to Lake Superior. Chicago is
surrounded by a heavy industrial area.
The steel mills of Indiana receive iron
ore from Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and tum out the steel needed
for the industry of the nation.
In nearby Detroit much of this steel
is used by the automobile manufacturers. They not only make cars but also
much of the heavy farm equipment. The
automobile industry is one of the largest
in the nation. It is a logical industry for
. a country that measures its distances in
hundreds and thousands of miles.
38

At the same time that colonists were

spreading into the
How did the
Midwest, the South
southern states
develop at first? was also being populated. In the beginning the southern states were mainly
agricultural, and huge plantations were
established there. Negro slaves were
brought from Africa to work in the cotton fields, and a way of life began that
was totally different from the rest of the
country. With the end of the Civil War,
slavery was destroyed and the South
began to expand.
In addition to cotton, the South grows
tobacco, com, soyWhat are some
beans, peanuts and
of the products
many other crops
and industries
that depend on the
of the South?
moist, tropical climate. More recently the southern states
have developed centers of industry.
Great textile mills are scattered through-

Mechanical cotton pickers are replacing hand labor.

Everglades and the bayou section of

Louisiana. Brightly colored birds flash
through the reeds and thick swamp
trees, while in the waters, alligators and
snakes pursue the tropical fish.
Louisiana was part of the territory acquired by the
w.hi~h state was United States by
or191nally bought
from the French?

- out the South, and no longer does the

cotton have to be shipped north to be
made into clothing. Another aid to the
industrialization of the South came with
the discovery of mineral deposits. Alu- minum ore was found in large amounts
in Arkansas, and Alabama proved to be
rich in iron ore. These minerals, plus
reservoirs of oil and natural gas, are
helping to make the South an almost
self-sufficient area.
An interesting method of drilling for
oil is taking place in
Are there
the Gulf of Mexico.
oil deposits
in the ocean?
There, sometimes
many miles off shore,
great floating docks form the platforms
for oil wells. Now the ocean floor is
helping to supply the hungry furnaces
of the country.
Many exotic forms of animal life live
in two of the largest swamp areas of
the continent. They are the Florida

direct purchase
from France.
Named after King Louis XIV of that
country, it was largely settled by the
Frerich, and even today a dialect of
French is still spoken. The Mardi Gras
celebration in New Orleans is a colorful
sight and serves to remind people of
their European origin.
The conquering of the West is still one
of the most exciting
How was the
sagas in American
West settled?
history. Expeditions
like that of Lewis and Clark paved the
way to further settlement, and soon
huge wagon trains moved across the
endless plains, the dusty deserts and the
snow-capped mountains. Fighting Indians most of the way, these pioneers completed the settlement of the country.
They passed through areas of great scenic beauty. The western part of the
United States is very dramatic, with
painted deserts, petrified forests, tall,
craggy mountains and a beautiful coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
Much of the Southwest and California originally belonged to Spain and
was occupied by the Spanish and Mexicans. But through purchase and the
Mexican War, the United States gradu39

Arizona's inspiring Grand Canyon is so deep that it

takes half a day on horseback to reach the bottom.

ally acquired the land it has today.

These areas were territories - frequently wild and lawless - before they
became states, but the increasing number of settlers brought calm. One by one
the territories were admitted to the
Union as states, until the entire country
was neatly divided into individual units,
all part of the National Government.
The climate in the West varies. The
Southwest is hot
What kind of
and dry, the Pacific
climate does
the West have? Coast is temperate
and moist, the
North has icy winters. But the most imelse in the country. Some of the valleys
are even higher than parts of the Appalachian Range.

An "eagle dance" during an Indian ceremony.

portant contrast .to the East is the altitude. Beginning in Colorado, a slowly
rising plateau continues until the Rocky
Mountains rear up suddenly against the
sky. The city of Denver stands a mile
high and the mountains tower over it.
From there to the Pacific Ocean the
land is generally higher than anywhere
40

Cattle and sheep ranching form the most

important occuWhat are some of pation of the
the industries and
Western Plains.
products of the
Here the animals
western states?
are fattened and
driven north to huge stockyards for
shipment to many cities. The exciting
stories of the American cowboy arose in
this wide-open cattle country. In the
mountains, however, mining takes
place. Large deposits of lead, copper,
gold, silver, zinc and uranium are to
be found deep in the craggy heights.
These minerals are important to the
growing technology of the country.
They illustrate the great riches of North
America, the tremendous amount of
wealth beneath the surface of the land.
Idaho has developed a product

uniquely its own. Although other states,

notably Maine, are famous for potatoes,
the Idaho potatoes are famous the world
over. They grow in seemingly endless
rows - mile after mile of food.

managed to make a living from the

desert sands. By careful irrigation and
use of the streams coming down from
the Wasatch Mountains, this part of
Utah has become a beautiful area.

The state of Utah has an interesting

geological feature.
Where is the
It is the Great Salt
saltiest lake
in the nation?
Lake, the remains
of an ancient inland ocean. During the centurie~ the
water has slowly evaporated, leaving
the lake so rich in salt that a person can
float on it with his body barely in the
water. Next to the lake stretch miles
of endless salt flats, blinding in the glaring sun. They are so hard-packed that
automobile companies use them for
road-testing cars.
It was to Utah that the Mormons
came, seeking a place to practice their
religious beliefs. They built Salt Lake
City with its famous Tabernacle and

The West Coast is rapidly giving serious

competition to
What are some of
the industrial
the chief products
East. Califorand industries on
nia, which at
the West Coast?
one time was a
land of farms, now echoes to the sounds
. of great factories, aircraft and rocket
plants and the making of movies. All of
this is in strange contrast to the old
Spanish missions that are still to be
found throughout the state. California
shows a combination of cultures - the
quiet, peaceful farm life inherited from
the Spanish occupation and the quick .
pace of modern industry.

CALIFORNIA MISSION

ORANGE
BLOSSOMS

Dog teams are still usefu l in remote areas during A laska's long , hard w i nters.

The inland valleys of California contain some of the finest farmlands in the
world. Fruits and vegetables grow abundantly and are packaged for shipment to
the rest of the country. The San Joaquin
Valley, for instance, is so fertile and
enjoys so temperate a climate that it can
produce three crops a year. Farther
north on the West Coast, fishing and
lumbering are important industries. The
seaport of San Francisco, with one of the
finest harbors in the world, is the western gateway to the country. Here ships
from the Far East arrive with their
goods and raw materials.
Alaska -

the forty-ninth state and the

largest in area - has
What state
much to contribute to
;was bought
from Russia? the rest of the country.
It was purchased from
Russia in 1869 and thought useless at
the time. But there are immense tracts of
forests to supply lumber, a fine fishing
42

industry and rich deposits of minerals in

the lofty mountains. Alaska is also fast
becoming a vacationland due to the
speed of air transport. For those who
love hunting, fishing and winter sports,
these may be found in Alaska.
With the admission of Hawaii to the
Union, the United
Is Hawaii in. ? Statesnow has fifty
North A mer1ca.
states. Although
geographically not a part of the North
American continent, the islands of
Hawaii are nevertheless closely linked
to the continent in every other respect.
With its smoking volcanoes and pineapple groves, Hawaii adds a touch of the
exotic to the nation. Connected to the
mainland by well-traveled shipping
lanes and jet air-service, these islands
serve to broaden the human quality of
the United States. Hawaii is a place
where people of many backgrounds live
in harmony with each other.

CANADA
Canada is the largest country in
North America and the second largest in
the entire world, yet it has only a modest
population for its size. A great deal of
the country is still undeveloped, and the
Arctic Circle cuts right through the
Northwest Territories, making most of
Canada fairly uninhabitable. But it does
have the last frontier area in North
America, and pioneering is still going on
in the remote provinces.
Canada began to be explored in the mid1500' s by Jacques
What is the
Cartier. He was folearly history
of Canada?

lowed by others Samuel de Champlain,

Louis Joliet and Father Marquette.
It can be seen from the names that Canada was originally a French settlement.
But the French were unable to hold
Canada. In the course of a long war
they gradually lost it to England, and it
became a British possession in 1763.
Today Canada is a member of the
British Commonwealth of Nations. The
French, however, have left their mark,
too. Almost one-quarter of the present
population speaks French and many
cities retain their old French names. As
a matter of fact, Montreal is the world's
second-largest, French-speaking city.
French and English are the official languages of the country.
There are still several hundred thousand Indians living in Canada as well as
many Eskimo tribes, and there are many
areas where no white man has ever been.
Many of these people still live in the

same fashion as their ancestors did

centuries ago.
The country is rugged and, as in the
United States, there
What is the
are great plains begeography
tween the mountains,
of Canada?
but the land is much
lower. Central Canada is a great basin
with all the rivers draining into Hudson Bay. The land shows the scars of the
glaciers that cut deep lakes, gorges and

CANADA
AREA: 3,845,774 square miles.
POPULATION: About 18,000,000.
CAPITAL: Ottawa . .
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Constitutional
Monarchy. Canada is a member of the British
Commonwealth of Nations. Queen Elizabeth II
of Great Britain, who is represented by a Canadian governor-general, is the Head of State.
The Canadian Prime Minister is the Head of
Government.
PROVINCES: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec
and Saskatchewan.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Ottawa, Quebec,
Edmonton, Calgary, Windsor, Halifax.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: English and French.
MONETARY UNIT: Canadian dollar.
CLIMATE: Varies in different parts of the country. Generally, cold winters throughout country.
Cool summers in the north. Warm summers in
the south. Mild on the west coast.
CHIEF RESOURCES: Wheat, fruit, lumber, fish,
fur, gold, silver, nickel, asbestos. Canada is
especially rich in mineral and natural resources.
PEOPLE: Most Canadians are of European
descent, but principally British and French.
There are also 160,000 Indians and 10,000
Eskimos in the country.

43

rushing rivers. Canada has the advan.tage of fronting on three oceans - the
Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. In
addition, Hudson Bay, a great expanse
of water, is navigable all the way out to
the North Atlantic, except for six or
seven months when it is frozen over by
the winter .ice.
The Arctic cold sweeps down over
the country every winter, locking it in a
mantle of snow and restricting travel.
But it leaves enough water behind'in the
spring to thoroughly irrigate the wheat
fields of the central plains. Great herds
of caribou and flocks of birds migrate
from beyond the Arctic Circle to spend
the winter in the relatively warmer central area.
The first industry in Canada was the
fur trade. During
What are some the winter the trapof Canada's
pers spent long
chief products?
months in the northern territories gathering the pelts. These
included fox, muskrat, beaver, ermine
and squirrel. In the spring, the trappers
returned to the trading posts on sleds
loaded with furs to be shipped to Europe. This industry is still flourishing in
Canada. But airplanes now deliver the
trapper and his catch, and food supplies
are dropped to him during the long
winter months. _,
Off the coasts of Newfoundland to the
east and Bdtish Columbia to the west,
fishing goes on as it did in the early days.
It is one of the major industries. The
cold waters along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts abound with fish.
In the central plains much the same
type of farming is pursued as in the

44

YUKON
TERRITORY

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Midwest of the United States. The growing season is only a little shorter in
c;anada, and their winters are harder.
As soon as the wheat is ready for reaping, it must be taken in, processed and
shipped before the blizzards sweep
down from Alaska.
Canada . is naturally endowed with

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

MANITOBA

extensive tracts of forests, and all

through the year, even in winter, lumberjacks are busy felling trees, stripping
the branches and sending the lumber to
the mills. The forests are among the
largest in the world and many of them
have barely been touched.
Scattered throughout Canada, but

mainly in flat regions, great mineral

deposits have been found. These include
nickel, copper, gold, iron ore, titanium
and asbestos - and recently, large oil
fields have been discovered. With onethird of the world's water supply to
furnish hydroelectric power, Canada is
rapidly becoming one of the world lead45

ers in heavy industry and in the processing of mineral ores. But even the mining
must halt for the weather. In winter,
mining slows down almost completely,
not only because of the cold, but also
because the roads are blocked by heavy
snows.
Some parts of Canada become so snowbound that -vehiHow does snow
des are put in
affect Canada's
storage and the
transportation?
Eskimo-type dogsled is used for transportation. Through
the quiet villages and even near the big
cities, one can see the teams of blackand-white Malemutes and tan-colored
Huskies delivering the mail or bringing
groceries to homes almost completely
covered with snow. Today the St. Lawrence Seaway can take ships into the
heart of the Great Lakes from April to
November. The Alaska Highway, kept
free of snow by snow-removal equipment, allows access to the more remote
territories. The most northern section,
the land and the islands of the Arctic
region, still remain closed, however.
Canada must wait until the Polar icecap melts before new colonization can
take place at the northern rim of the
continent.
Canada's relations with its southern
neighbor, the United States, are completely friendly. The border between
the two countries is three thousand miles
long without any defenses along the entire length. It could be an example to
the rest of the world.

GREENLAND
AREA: 840,000 square miles. Of this, over
700,000 square miles of land are covered by
snow and ice.
POPULATION: Over 28,000.
CAPITAL: Godthaab.
FQRM OF GOVERNMENT: Greenland is a
county of Denmark, which appoints a governor
who sits as head of the National Council.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Greenlandic (an Eskimo language). However, most people can also
speak Danish.
MONETARY UNIT: Danish Krone.
PRINCIPAL CITIES: Godthaab, Julianehaab,
Holsteinbo.
CLIMATE: Arctic temperatures. Winter temperatures range generally from 30 degrees below
zero - and sometimes much lower - in the
northern sections to about 20 degrees above
zero in the southern parts. Summer temperatures
average about 40 degrees above zero.
RESOURCES: World's chief source of cryolite,
a mineral. Whale and seal oil and animal skins
are exported.
PEOPLE: Mostly a mixture of Danish and Eskimo
stock; the rest, full-blooded Eskimos or Danes.

THE WEST INDIES

The West Indies are composed of three main
groups of islands: the Bahamas, the Greater
Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. Haiti and the
Dominican Republic (both occupying the island
of Hispaniola) and Cuba are independent
nations. Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth associated with the United States. Several islands
make up the West Indies Federation, which is
closely allied with Great Britain. The rest of the
islands are either owned or governed by
France, the Netherlands, Great Britain or the
United States (the U.S. Virgin Islands). In land
area alone, the West Indies total more than
91,000 square miles. The population is about
16,000,000. Spanish, English, French and
Dutch are the main languages. The people
include Negroes, Indians, whites of European
descent, persons from India and elsewhere in
Asia, as well as mixtures of these groups.

The New Face of the Continent

North Americans have done wonders
with their continent. The early settlers,
if they could return, would hardly recognize the land. The great eastern forests are almost gone, replaced by the
green fields of many farms. The wild
grass of the Great Plains has been replaced with straight rows of grain.
Former deserts are green with plants,
irrigated by man-made systems.

roads all the way to the Mexican border.

Then there is a connection '; with the
Pan-American Highway, running
through Mexico and Central America
into South America. Each country
along the way is responsible for maintenance of the thoroughfare. All in all,
transportation has done much to bring
the peoples of the continents into closer
contact with each other.

The continent has been crisscrossed

with highways,
Is it possible to
r a i 1r 0 a d s ,
drive a car from
bridges and tunone continent to
another continent? nels. Modern superhighways and
gleaming railroad tracks join the big
cities and the farming areas. In fact,
it is now possible to drive a car from
Alaska all the way to . the tip of
South America. Starting with the Alaska
Highway down through Canada, connections are made with United States

One of the most important projects in

North America has
What are some been water control.
maior proiects
Huge dams and
that have been
flood-control sysdeveloped in
North America? .terns are to be found
in many places.
Hoover Dam and the Tennessee Valley
Authority in the United States not only
provide electric power, but also store
water against dry spells. Mexico now
also saves its precious water behind such
dams, and similar projects are under

Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River in

North Carolina is one of
the TV A's highest (480
feet)-the highest dam
east of the Rockies .

way in Central America. Along the seacoasts, harbors have been dredged and
fitted with modern docks. The St. Lawrence Seaway is one of the greatest technical achievements in human history.
Ships from all over the world can now
travel along the historic river, through
the canals and locks, and arrive at almost the middle of the continent.

THE TEN TALLEST MOUNTAINS

IN NORTH AMERICA
MOUNTAIN

ALTITUDE (feet)

McKinley
Logan
Orizaba
St. Elias
Popocatepetl
lxtaccihuatl
Foraker
Luciania
King
Steele

20,320
19,850
18,696
18,008
17,883
17,338
17,280
17, l 50
17, l 30
16,439

LOCATION

Alaska
Yukon, Canada
Mexico
Alaska and Canada
Mexico
Mexico
Alaska
Canada
Canada
Canada

THE TEN LARGEST LAKES

IN NORTH AMERICA
LAKE

Superior
Huron
Michigan
Great Bear
Great Slave
Erie
Winnipeg
Ontario
.Nicaragua
Athabaska

AREA (square miles)

31,820
23,010
22,400
12,000
11,170
9,940
9,398
7,540
3,089
3,058

LOCATION

U.S.A., Canada
U.S.A., Canada
U.S.A.
Canada
Canada
U.S.A., Canada
Canada
Canada
Nicaragua
Canada
RIVER

LENGTH (miles)

OUTFLOW

2,514

Finlay River,
British Columbia

Beaufort Sea,
Arctic Ocean

Missouri

2,466

Jefferson and Madison

Rivers, Montana

Mississippi River

Mississippi

2,348

Lake Itasca, Minnesota

Gulf of Mexico

1,900

St. Louis River,

Minnesota

Gulf of St. Lawrence

Rio Grande

1,800

San Juan Mountains,

Colorado

Gulf of Mexico

Yukon

1,800

Lewes and Pelly

Rivers, Yukon Territory

Bering Sea

Arkansas

1,450

Central Colorado

Mississippi River

Colorado

l,450

Grand County,
Colorado

Gulf of California

Potter County,
Pennsylvania

Mississippi River

Columbia Lake,
British Columbia

Pacific Ocean

Ohio-Allegheny 1,306
Columbia

48

SOURCE

Mackenzie

St. Lawrence

THE TEN LONGEST RIVERS

IN NORTH AMERICA

In the years to come, the energetic

North AmeriWhat is the future
cans will do
of North America?
even more to
make their continent more livable. The
population is growing rapidly. The land
will have to grow more food. Transportation will have to be even faster
and more direct. But if the past is an indication of the future, then North America and its energetic people will continue
to prosper in the free and independent
societies which they have chosen to
keep and defend. This is the heritage
of the North American continent.

1,214

'

HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOKS

Produced and approved by noted authorities, these books
answer the questions most often asked about science, nature and history. They are presented in a clear, readable
style, and contain many colorful and instructive illustrations. Readers will want to explore each of these
fascinating subjects and collect these volumes as an
authentic, ready-reference, basic library.
5001 DINOSAURS

5017 THE CIVIL WAR

5002 WEATHER

5018 MATHEMATICS

5003 ELECTRICITY

5019 FLIGHT

5004 ROCKS AND MINERALS

5020 BALLET

5005 ROCKETS AND MISSILES

5021 CHEMISTRY

5006 STARS

5022 HORSES

5007 INSECTS

5023 EXPLORATIONS AND

5008 REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS

DISCOVERIES

5009 BIRDS

5024 PRIMITIVE MAN

5010 OUR EARTH

5025 NORTH AMERICA

5011 BEGINNING SCIENCE

5026 PLANETS AND

5012 MACHINES

INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL

5013 THE HUMAN BODY

5027 WILD ANIMALS

5014 SEA SHELLS

5028 SOUND

5015 ATOMIC ENERGY

5029 LOST CITIES

5016 THE MICROSCOPE

5030 ANTS AND BEES

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