The religious histories of both the USA and Canada contain many dramatic themes, such as the Great Awakenings, the triumph of religious freedom, the clashes between Catholics and Protestants, the tensions of racial and ethnic differences, the forming of church unions, and the contentions between Christians who seek to express their faith in the thought patterns of their time and those who cling to traditional formulations. The way the churches faced the movement of peoples into and across a vast continent tells much about their present size and characteristics in both Canada and the United States.