One key similarity would be that they all started off as colonial powers ruled by larger power in Europe. Most of these nations gained independence through revolution as well, while a smaller amount gained it by the European state giving the colony independence (canada, Jamaica), Cuba was also technically both (revolution against spanish to be ruled by America, given Independence by America). A big difference is that most of North america was ruled by the British and the French, while South and Central America were settled predominantly by the Spanish and Portuguese. This resulted in huge differences in culture, including language (English/french vs Spanish/Portuguese) and religion (Protestantism vs Catholicism).
