Steven Pinker, in his book “The Better Angels of Our Nature,” hypothesized that the differences are deeply rooted in culture and history. In the 19th century, he wrote, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police — the Mounties — got to the Canadian Western frontier “before the settlers and spared them from having to cultivate a violent code of honor.”
During the settlement of the American “Wild West,” in contrast, there was no centralized authority. Plunder and feuding were the rule, and settlers often resorted to violence to protect their lives and property. Violent codes of honor, revenge and self-justice were second nature for early settlers and were transmitted from parents and society to children.
Before the settlement of the Canadian West, which I date from 1896 to 1921, the Mounties established a series of forts. That’s where they exercised authority, enforced contracts and protected the property of settlers. Where Mounties were present, self-justice was rare. Canadians, on the whole, developed a less violent culture.
Pascual Restrepo, “Canadian Violence, From the Prairie to the N.H.L.”, The New York Times (11 October 2015), SR10.