>1) Religious freedom which drew a lot of folks from around the world.

Canada has as much religous freedom as the US yet we have not prospered like the US. So this can't be the reason why the US prospered.

Note: Though the US has the separation of the church and state, it is by default (or by cultural momentum) a christian state. The president is mentions his christian faith during speeches and there are photo ops of him attending church at Christmas. Canada is more secular in this regard. I only recently found out that the Prime Minister was a practicing catholic. Religion is very much removed from politics.

>2) Political freedom which flowed from the above and added to the flow.

The rest of the G7 (off the top of my head Canada, Britian, Italy, Japan, France, Germany) have as much political freedom as the US. Although they have done well, they haven't done as well. So this doesn't explain why the

>3) Economic Opportunity. Remember, until around 1917 we had no Income Tax. Gold drew a lot of folks early on too.

Canada has no income tax until 1917 as well. We had North American's biggest gold rush in the Yukon. This does explain why you guys are richer either.

>4) Something I'd call the Composite Character of the nation. A kind of optimism plus willingness to work hard (see #2) that like a meterological low pressure area just 'pulled' folks here.

Hmm... you may have some here. Americans are different that Canadians and Europeans. Heck you guys are damn optimistic! Could it be this?

>5) A LOT of land. Now Canada and Mexico also have a lot of land as well so this might not be as significant.

Russia, Canada and China are the largest countries. Land mass may be a factor but doesn't seem to guarantee anything.

>I think the Roman Catholic influences have tended to cause folks to be too dependent in their general outlook on life and this was also a factor - though certainly much more ambiguous I suppose.

Interesting. You are saying that protestants have a different view on life that makes them more successful. Not sure if I buy it, but I hadn't thought of that.