Regions of the United States

1
Regions of the United States

• Based on similarities in
• Environment
• History
• Culture
• Economics

2
The Northeast Region

• Environment
• Excellent natural harbors and long coastline
  encourages trade
• Deep rivers (Hudson) allow for easy trade far
  inland
• Narrow coastal areas means very little
  large-scale farming
• Northern edge of Appalachian Mountains separate
  Coastal and Interior Plains
• Humid Continental climate means cold, snowy
  winters and hot, humid summers

3
The Northeast Region

• History
• 1620 - Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Mass.
• Colonies established by Dutch, then English
  settlers focused on trade, not
  farming
• 1776-1787 - Birthplace of America location of
  American Revolution (started in Boston), NYC was
  first capital, then Philadelphia (Independence
  Hall)
• Called Americas Gateway due to large number of
  immigrant groups throughout history
• Boston Irish and English
• New York (Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty) from
  Europe (1800s), then globally (1900s to today)
• Modern day Megalopolis huge urban area from
  Boston-NYC-Phil.-Baltimore-Washington D.C., over
  50 million people
• New York City is the east coasts busiest port
  and the nations financial and cultural center

4
The Northeast Region

• Culture
• Many different ethnic groups have settled in
  localized areas as they migrated to
  the area
• Amish Pennsylvania Dutch (1700s)
• Many urban pockets of immigrants
• NYC - Italian, Jewish, more recently to include
  Asian (Indian, Chinese, Korean) and Hispanic
  (Puerto Rican, Cuban) groups
• Centers of higher education Harvard, Yale,
  Princeton, MIT

5
The Northeast Region

• Economics
• Region started with a focus on colonial trade,
  then technology encouraged
  industrialization in the
  1800s
• Erie Canal (finished in 1825) connected New York
  City to Lake Erie and the
  entire Great Lakes system, opening trade
• Large rivers (Hudson, Allegheny, Ohio) allow for
  cheap transportation of heavy cargo, encouraging
  more industrial growth, especially in western
  Pennsylvania where coal, and iron are mined and
  used together to make steel products.
• As heavy industry faded in the 1980s due to
  oversees factories, the region moved to a
  service-centered economy, focusing more on
  financial services like banking, investing and
  credit cards.
• New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia are still
  major shipping ports

6
The South Region

• Environment
• Large Coastal Plains along
  the Gulf of
  Mexico makes
  this region warm and
  humid
  almost year-round
• Climate dries out west of
  100 degrees
  west longitude
  (from Texas Panhandle
  
  west) due to distance from
  the
  Gulf and a rise in elevation
• Fertile soil throughout the region, excellent for
  farming
• Some land (out west) does not get enough rain,
  but irrigation (using drilling and sprinklers)
  allows for productive farming
• Mostly Humid Sub-Tropical climate, some Semiarid
  and Desert in West Texas, small spot of tropical
  Wet and Dry in south Florida

7
The South Region

• History
• 1607 First permanent settlement in N. Amer.
  established by the British at
  Jamestown, Virginia
• 1685 French explorer LaSalle lands in Texas,
  later discovers mouth of the Mississippi River,
  establishes Louisiana to honor King Louis XIV
• 1700s large numbers of African slaves are
  brought to work on plantations farming cotton and
  tobacco
• 1700s immigrants from England and Ireland come
  for farm land
• 1861-65 Civil War fought over states rights
  and slavery
• 1901 Spindletop (near Beaumont)-first
  discovery of oil in the South
• 1935-39 long-term drought caused Dust Bowl,
  many Oakies leave bankrupt farms in Oklahoma,
  move to California (Grapes of Wrath)
• 1950s invention of refrigerated A/C eases
  Southern living (pop. inc.)
• 1960s NASA Command Centers built in Cape
  Canaveral, Florida and Houston, TX to focus on
  space exploration
• 1960s Civil Rights Movement centered in
  Alabama and Mississippi

8
The South Region

• Culture
• Because of its location, the South has had a
  wide variety of cultural influences through
  time
• English explorers settling along the Atlantic
  Coast
• French traders exploring rivers for possible
  trade routes
• Spanish explorers seeking fortune in Florida and
  Texas
• African slaves forced to labor in the fields of
  the Deep South
• Immigrants from Cuba, Central and South America
  seeking new opportunity
• Refugees from Asia escaping political persecution
• This variety of different cultures has led to
  long-running conflict between some groups, and
  stirred up new conflict between others
• It has also led to cultural blending in the realm
  of music, like Bluegrass, Country, Rock and Roll,
  Gospel, Jazz, and Rhythm Blues (R B)
• The high percentage of Christian believers (due
  to large numbers of English descendants) in the
  South has earned this region the nickname of
  being the Bible Belt

9
The South Region

• Economics
• The economy of the South started with
  farming due to the rich soil and plentiful
  sunshine
• King Cotton of the 1800s and early 1900s has
  started to give way to other crops like rice,
  wheat, and corn
• Cattle (both beef and dairy) is still vital to
  the economy
• Petroleum (oil) industries continue to be a major
  factor in most coastal states economy
  (especially Texas and Louisiana)
• Electronics companies like Texas Instruments and
  Dell have helped move the South into the 21st
  century
• Wide access to major airline (ATL, DFW, IAH, MEM,
  MIA) and highway transportation (Interstates 10,
  20, 30, 35, 40, 55, 95) hubs has encouraged
  further industrial, manufacturing, and
  business/service jobs
• West Virginia coal mines continue to fuel
  Americas needs
• Tourism and Retirement Living are growing
  industries

10
The Midwest Region

• Environment
• Area is full of large, wide rivers
  (Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio)
  and their
  tributaries
• Glaciers of the last Ice Age
  (about 10,000 years ago)
  created the
  large, fertile plains
  and carved out the Great Lakes,
  as well as over
  10,000 kettle
  lakes in Minnesota
• Large, flat natural grassland areas, and large
  rivers for irrigation make this area Americas
  Heartland for farming
• Direct hits from arctic cold fronts and lake
  effect snows means very cold winters. Being in
  the middle of the continent, far away from the
  cooling, humid effect of the ocean means very
  warm (if not HOT) summers. Humid Continental and
  Semiarid climates.

11
The Midwest Region

• History
• Some evidence suggests first exploration by
  Scandinavian Vikings as early as 1000
  AD in far northern areas
• Settlement started by the French in the 1700s to
  establish fur trading outposts with Native
  American tribes
• American settlement started after the
  Revolutionary War as soldiers were granted land
  as payment for their service. Later (1860s)
  Land Grants gave 160 acres (free!!) to any
  citizen or intended citizen who worked the land
  for five years
• Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the
  Louisiana Purchase (1803) started near St. Louis,
  and followed the Missouri River
• Oregon Trail (1840s) left from the same place
  and followed a similar path out to Willamette
  Valley near modern-day Portland
• 1840s-50s - Cattle drives from Texas ended in
  Omaha, then cattle were shipped by railroad to
  slaughter houses in Chicago
• Northern end of the Underground Railroad
  (1860s) was in Ohio
• Many cities started and then thrived along trade
  routes

12
The Midwest Region

• Culture
• Due to the settler/explorer groups that
  came into the region, this area
  has a strong concept of self-reliance and
  patriotism
• Many immigrants came in search of free land
  (German, Scandinavian, Irish, Italian,
  African-American)
• Large numbers of African-Americans fled the South
  in the 1950s and -60s to live in Detroit,
  Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis, bringing
  their different musical styles such as Jazz and
  Blues
• This would later develop into the MoTown sound
  of the 1960s (The Supremes, Smokey Robinson)
• Rock and Roll as a music style was first named
  that in Ohio, coming from a mix of
  African-American soul and farming family
  guitar-picking type music

13
The Midwest Region

• Economics
• Regional economics started with farming, and
  that continues strongly today.
  This area is called the Breadbasket due to many
  grain crops grown (corn, wheat, sorghum)
• Wisconsin -known as Americas Dairyland due to
  the many dairy cows
• Region also focuses on raising beef cattle, which
  leads to large slaughter houses in coastal cities
  like Chicago and Green Bay
• Large river transportation systems and large
  amounts of natural resources made
  industrialization and steel-based manufacturing
  (like cars) grow easily, especially in Great
  Lakes coastal cities
• In 1900, Chicago citizens built a 26-mile canal
  that connected Lake Michigan to the Chicago River
  (a tributary of the Mississippi River), making a
  complete connection from north to south by water.
  This helped turn Chicago into the financial,
  transportation, and cultural center of the region.

14
The West Region

• Environment
• Widest variety of climates, ranging from
• Tropical Wet and Marine West
  Coast to Subarctic and Desert
• Landforms include
• Rocky Mountains, Cascade Range
• Colorado R. and Grand Canyon
• Continental Divide
• Active and dormant volcanoes
• Earthquake faults (San Andreas)
• Broad areas of nothing compare to areas of rapid
  elevation and climate change
• Rivers are large, but very spread apart,
  resulting in limited access for many cities in
  the desert south (AZ, CA, NM)

15
The West Region

• History
• 1804 - Lewis and Clark Expedition reach the
  Pacific Ocean
• 1849 Gold Rush starts near Sacramento, CA
• 1850s Oregon Territory opened for settlement
• 1853 Commodore Perry opens US trade with Japan
• 1867 Alaska purchased from Russia for less than
  .02 per acre
• 1869 Transcontinental Railroad completed at
  Promontory Point, UT
• 1879 Colorado Silver Rush begins near Denver
• 1896 Oil discovered in Alaska near Point Barrow
  (Arctic Ocean coast)
• 1897 Klondike Gold Rush (Canada) brings many to
  Alaska
• 1898 United States annexes Hawaii
• 1941 Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor, HI.
  US enters World War II
• 1960s Immigrant wave from Southeast Asia
  (Vietnam, Laos,)

16
The West Region

• Culture
• The culture of the West is a mix from around
  the world
• Hawaiian influence from East Asia and the
  Pacific Islander (Polynesian)
  cultures
• Alaskan Inuit (Eskimo) trace their heritage back
  to early Asia
• West Coast people include those from Mexico,
  Vietnam, Canada, and all over the United States
  itself
• Hollywood movie production draws people from
  all over to make it big
• Earthquake zones running through California,
  Oregon, and Washington influence quake-proof
  architecture

17
The West Region

• Economics
• The economy of the West has always focused on
  an opportunity to get
  rich quick
• Gold/Silver/Land Rush
• Opening trade with other countries
• Getting discovered in Hollywood
• As the population has grown, so has the strain on
  natures resources
• Limited space for housing has resulted in higher
  cost of living
• The overall economy has a very broad range of
  opportunities
• Farming, fishing, ranching, mining natural
  resources, tourism, film making and computer
  technology
• Los Angeles is THE busiest port in the United
  States, receiving cargo shipped from Asian ports
  like China and Hong Kong