AD 1940-2000

Canada followed Britain into World War II in 1939 and the United States entered the war in December 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The end of the war left the United States firmly established as the dominant global power – industrially and militarily. They were challenged by the world’s only other superpower – the Soviet Union, with whom they fought the so-called 'Cold War' until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1957-1975) were seen as part of this global struggle between the superpowers.

In the United States this period saw a rapid rise of consumerism with an expanding, wealthy, mostly suburban, middle-class. At the same time – throughout the 1950s and 1960s there were increasing demands for civil rights particularly from African Americans. These protests were affected by opposition to the war in Vietnam, and became central to American politics of the time.

Inspired by the Civil Rights movement Native Americans became more assertive in demanding respect for their traditional cultures. This lead to a resurgence of Native Peoples, with increasingly confident expressions of their identity – in such events as Powwows. In 1999 in Canada, Aboriginal peoples in the North achieved self-government with the formation of Nunavut.