North America: An Introduction (review)

Reviewed by: North America: An Introduction Angelika E. Sauer North America: An Introduction. Michael M. Brescia and John C. Super. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Pp. 247, $29.95 How does one even begin to write a survey of the history of North America, here defined as the territory of Mexico, the United States, and Canada (but not including the Caribbean)? Not only does any large unit of analysis contain local patterns that defy generalization, but there are also three strong 'exceptionalist' national historiographies to contend with. There is little in continental historiography to build upon, beyond the Bolton school of the 1920s and 1930s and the writings of a few geographers and sociologists. However, the authors were not daunted, and neither was their Canadian publisher. The result is a good starting point for what may one day become a new trend in the teaching of history in three different countries. Brescia and Super call their framework comparative and their approach thematic. Like world historians, they balance explaining historically contingent differences among the three modern nation states with trends and patterns of interactions and exchanges that led to convergences. They seem careful not to over-use the terms continental integration or continentalism – fraught with political baggage in Mexico and Canada in particular – but produce examples of both nonetheless. The analytical narrative starts with a re-periodization of continental history that produces a first look at surprising commonalities. Next, using the methodology of geographers, they reconfigure North American space as regions and resource areas before explaining the emergence of political economies through the colonial and postcolonial periods. What arises early is an interpretation of differences that builds on two 'bedrock features': the size and location of Indigenous peoples and the timing of colonization. Post-colonial political structures grew out of these foundations, but converged on federal [End Page 761] systems and similar difficulties finding effective representation for all individuals and groups. A chapter on diplomacy introduces the features of asymmetry of continental power and suggests why, in fact, the very idea of a North American continent is possibly better suited to explain history from the centre rather than the peripheries. However, the chapters that follow introduce new ideas that show the potential of a continental framework. First, there is a summary of Aboriginal – European relations that, placed in the middle rather than at the beginning of the book, effectively shows continuities and convergences in Indian North America's struggle for survival and revitalization all the way to the present. A chapter on migration adds another transnational dimension by placing cross-oceanic migration alongside the crossing of North American land borders and other intra-national migrations, producing a convincingly integrated pattern of the movement of people. Chapters on labour and on trade give further credibility to the continental framework as a history of interconnected processes. Capital and labour followed transnational rhythms, despite local circumstances and national concerns. The social and material inequalities that arose from the emergence of industrial capitalism in North America reached across borders and were further deepened by new patterns of trade and communication. Integration, we find not surprisingly, always served the richest areas and wealthiest groups and individuals best. Yet it affected all. In the penultimate chapter, the authors tackle the question of culture and identity through the lens of religion. While they admit that religious values compete in a marketplace of ideas, there is a sense of cultural determinism in this chapter, with Catholic Mexico and Quebec having much in common (though not sharing Mexico's deep anti-clericalism and modern Quebec's secularism) and Protestant Canada and Protestant United States converging as well. In their conclusions, Brescia and Super repeat that a continental framework illuminates change over time differently from, even better than, a narrowly national approach. Yet they themselves miss opportunities to de-nationalize history, such as focusing on small border regions to explain a pattern of exchanges and convergence. The analysis is most exciting when it touches on transnational interactions and trends, such as the co-operation of Aboriginal organizations, the cross-border activities of labour unions and capitalists, the flows of migrants, or the common experiences of North America's poor. It...

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