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North America is acontinent in theNorthern andWestern hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by theArctic Ocean, to the east by theAtlantic Ocean, to the southeast bySouth America and theCaribbean Sea, and to the south and west by thePacific Ocean. The region includesMiddle America comprising theCaribbean,Central America, andNorthern America.
North America covers an area of around 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), representing approximately 16.5% ofEarth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size afterAsia andAfrica, and thefourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, andEurope. As of 2021[update], North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in23 independent states and territories, or about 7.5% of the world's population. Inhuman geography, the terms "North America" and "North American" refers toCanada,Greenland,Mexico,Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and theUnited States.
It is unknown with certainty how and whenfirst human populations first reached North America. People were known to live in theAmericas at least 20,000 years ago, but various evidence points to possibly earlier dates. ThePaleo-Indian period in North America followed the Last Glacial Period, and lasted until about 10,000 years ago when theArchaic period began. Theclassic stage followed the Archaic period, and lasted from approximately the 6th to 13th centuries. Beginning in 1000 AD, theNorse were the first Europeans to begin exploring and ultimately colonizing areas of North America.
In 1492, the exploratory voyages ofChristopher Columbus led toa transatlantic exchange, includingmigrations ofEuropean settlers during theAge of Discovery and theearly modern period. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect interactions between European colonists,indigenous peoples,enslaved Africans, immigrants from Europe, Asia, and descendants of these respective groups. (Full article...)
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TheCalifornia gold rush (1848–1855) was agold rush inCalifornia, which began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found byJames W. Marshall atSutter's Mill inColoma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people from the rest of the United States and abroad to California, which had recentlybeen conquered from Mexico. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy; the sudden population increase allowed California to grow rapidly into statehood in theCompromise of 1850. The gold rush had severe effects onNative Californians and accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation, and theCalifornia genocide.
The effects of the gold rush were substantial. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, nicknamed "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for gold rush immigration). Outside of California, the first to arrive were fromOregon,Hawaii, and Latin America in late 1848. Of the approximately 300,000 people who came to California during the gold rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland on theCalifornia Trail and theCalifornia Road; forty-niners often faced substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, andChina. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to aboomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. In 1849, astate constitution was written. The new constitution was adopted by referendum vote; the future state's interim first governor and legislature were chosen. In September 1850,California achieved statehood. (Full article...)
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Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11 January 1815 – 6 June 1891) was the firstprime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was thedominant figure ofCanadian Confederation, and had a political career that spanned almost half a century.
Macdonald was born inScotland; when he was a boy his family immigrated toKingston in the Province ofUpper Canada (today in easternOntario). As a lawyer, he was involved in several high-profile cases and quickly became prominent in Kingston, which elected him in 1844 to the legislature of theProvince of Canada. By 1857, he had becomepremier under the colony's unstable political system. In 1864, when no party proved capable of governing for long, he agreed to a proposal from his political rival,George Brown, that the parties unite in aGreat Coalition to seek federation and political reform. He was a leading figure in the subsequent discussions and conferences which resulted in theBritish North America Act and the establishment of Canada as a nation on 1 July 1867. (Full article...)
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TheO.K. Corral hearing and aftermath was the direct result of the 30-secondGunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, on October 26, 1881. During that confrontation, Deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone Town MarshalVirgil Earp, Assistant Town MarshalMorgan Earp, and temporary deputy marshalsWyatt Earp andDoc Holliday shot and killedBilly Clanton, andTom andFrank McLaury. Billy's brother Ike, who had repeatedly threatened to kill the Earps for some time, had been present at the gunfight but was unarmed and fled. As permitted by territory law, he filed murder charges against the Earps and Doc Holliday on October 30.
In an unusualpreliminary hearing,Justice of the PeaceWells Spicer heard testimony from a large number of witnesses during the next 30 days. Friends of the Cowboys, most notably Cochise County SheriffJohnny Behan, testified that the Cowboys had thrown up their hands or opened their coats and been shot in cold blood. Initially persuasive, his testimony motivated Spicer to jail Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday who had been free on bond. Virgil and Morgan were recuperating from their wounds. Friends of the lawman and several key neutral witnesses then testified that the Cowboys had drawn their guns and that Virgil Earp had called out, "Hold, I don't want that!" or words to that effect. In a lengthy ruling, Spicer concluded there was no basis for a trial. Although he criticized Virgil Earp's use of Wyatt and Holliday as deputies, he concluded that no laws were broken by the lawmen. He said the evidence indicated that the Earps and Holliday acted within the law and that Holliday and Wyatt had been properly deputized by Virgil. He described Frank McLaury's insistence that he would not give up his weapons unless the marshal and his deputies also gave up their arms as a "proposition both monstrous and startling!" (Full article...)
| Sovereign states |
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| Dependencies |
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Northern America
Central America
Caribbean
North America
Canada
Greenland
Mexico
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
United States
Central America
Belize
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
Mesoamerica
Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Bermuda
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Haiti
Jamaica
Puerto Rico
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and TobagoThe followingWikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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