Download CHAPTER 7 REGIONS UNITED STATES

CHAPTER 7
REGIONS
of the
UNITED STATES
SECTION 1: THE NORTHEAST
SECTION 2: THE SOUTH
SECTION 3: THE MIDWEST
SECTION 4: THE WEST
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
SECTION 1: THE NORTHEAST
THE NORTHEAST
How do we define the regions of the United States
Landforms
Climate
Vegetation
Economic Activity
Population Density
The regions can be determined by physical or human
characteristics
THE NORTHEAST
New England Region
9 States - PA / NY / NH / VT / ME / MA / CT / RI / NJ
Known for its beauty.
Comes from climate
Soil, varieties of trees, precipitation provide fall
colors
New York considered to be cultural center of the nation.
Boston and Philadelphia provide a glimpse of our history
THE NORTHEAST
Has only a few natural resources
thin, rocky soils, and steep hills are challenge to farmers
Appalachian Mountains create rugged terrain
The coal rich area of PA is the major mineral resource
Region is the center for trade, commerce and industry.
What one source created this?
WATER
commerce, fishing, harbors, - been around since colonial times
THE NORTHEAST
Has only a few natural resources
thin, rocky soils, and steep hills are challenge to farmers
Appalachian Mountains create rugged terrain
The coal rich area of PA is the major mineral resource
Region is the center for trade, commerce and industry.
What one source created this?
WATER
commerce, fishing, harbors, - been around since colonial times
THE NORTHEAST
Rivers have played vital role in the regions history.
Hills discouraged farming but aided industrialists in 19th century
Average 35 to 50 inches of rain a year
this keeps rivers flowing
Water provided some of the earliest power to the region
Rivers served as trade routes, railroad routes and highway routes
Early 1900s northeast was most productive manufacturing region
in the world.
THE NORTHEAST
Cities along coastline grew from the importance of harbors.
International trade / shipbuilding
Cities grew so did the desire for industries
needed workers - where did they come from
countryside and Europe
(1840) 80,000 immigrants -(1850) 308,000
came to escape political oppression and economic hardships
Cities began to run together
MEGALOPOLIS - A VERY LARGE CITY based on greek roots Boston to D.C.
40 million people
THE NORTHEAST
What can some of the drawback be?
water shortage
waste disposal
decline in population
Philadelphia from 1970 - 2000 declined 430,000
creates higher taxes and less provisions
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
SECTION 2: THE SOUTH
THE SOUTHERN REGION
• What do we think of as the South?
LINKING CLIMATE TO VEGETATION
• Closer to Equator
• Warmer than northern regions
• Gets weather systems off the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico
• This provides ample precipitation for most of the region
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Louisiana and Mississippi exceed 60 inches a year
Parts of Florida average 55 inches a year
Oklahoma averages 30 inches a year
Texas has areas (El Paso) that average 8 inches a year
• The South’s Climate
• Warm
• Wet
• Produces think mixed forests
• Pine and other trees
• Or marshy stands of mangrove trees
• MANGROVES – tropical trees that grow in swampy ground along
coastal areas.
• BAYOUS – marshy inlets of lakes and rivers
• Found in Louisiana
• EVERGLADES – large area of swampland covered in places with tall
grass
• Refuge for birds and animals
• Over 100 different species of birds
• Approximately 50 different species of animals
LINKING CLIMATE, HISTORY, & AGRICULTURE
• Wide variety of plants and animals
• Subtropical climate of the region as well as
• Rich soils of the wide coastal plains
• Been used for farming for years
• Natchez, Creek, & Cherokee
• Maize, melons, squash, beans, tobacco, and other crops
• Mid-1500s
• First European settlements were in the south
• Continued to farm land
• Region began to grow
• Farming is still vital to the economic system of the south
• Still has areas of poverty
• Appalachia is one of the poorest in the U.S.
• Rocky soil and steep slopes (little industry at all)
APPALACHIA REGION
LINKING RESOURCES TO INDUSTRY
• Primarily viewed as an agricultural area
• Home to important industries as well
• 1840s – textile mills
• Piedmont area of Carolinas
• FALL LINE
• Area along Appalachian Mountains to Atlantic Coastal plains
• Area that has fast flowing streams, rivers and waterfalls and rapids
• Utilized fast-flowing water to power machines running on steam
• Became sites of many cities
• Textile mills are still active today in the Carolinas
• 1901 – oil industry
• Eastern Texas
• Home to many of the countries largest oil reserves
• 1960s – 1970s bringing wealth to the region
• 1980s oil dropped in price causing economic hardship
• Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana
A CHAINGING REGION
• Considered slow-moving with regards to change
• 1981
• Joel Garreau – newspaper editor
• “Change has become the South’s most identifiable characteristic.”
• 1950s large and small industries began to take root
• Space industry – 1960s (Florida, Alabama, and Texas)
• Many moved from the Northern U.S. to the Southern U.S.
• Plants were newer, better condition and more efficient
• Could be built on cheaper land than the Northeast’s megalopolis
• Labor unions were not as common
• Labor costs were lower
• Climate has also played a part in the growth of the south
• Retirement and tourism
• Beaches provide welcome relief from winters
• From the Carolinas to Southern California became known as the SUNBELT
SOUTHERN POPULATION
• 1970s
• Growth spurt of the south
• More than any other region of the country
• 7 million or 20 percent (New York City [8 mill in 2012])
• By 1990s had 3 of the largest cities
• Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio
• South today has a diverse population
• Over ½ of the African American population
• Reversed trend that began after Civil War
• Hispanic population in Texas
• Cuban’s in Florida
• Whites have ancestors from
• England, Scotland or Ireland
• Louisiana
• French ancestry
• Made lasting impact on culture (New Orleans)
• Major Cities
• New Orleans
• Major trading center
• Miami
• Gateway to the Caribbean & South America
• Atlanta
• Originally a major railroad hub
• Now major airline hub
• TV stations watched around the world
• Houston
• Large industrial and trading center
• NASA
• Center for oil and banking industries
• Fort Worth
• Heart of cattle industry
• Dallas
• Business and Electronics center
• Washington D.C.
• Considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world
• Home to nations leaders and foreign leaders
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
SECTION 3: THE MIDWEST
THE MIDWEST
● Is an agricultural community
Relatively flat
Fertile Soil
Melting glaciers deposited mineral-rich materials
HUMUS - dark-colored organic material that results
from the decay of plants and animals
○ Cold winters but long hot summers
○ Averages 20 inches of precipitation annually
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THE MIDWEST
● Regional Variations
○ Dependent on climate and area will creates factors
■ amount of precipitation
■ growing season for crops
● Growing Season - the average number of days between
the last frost of spring and the first frost of fall.
● warm, wet climates - corn and soybeans main crops
● dryer climates of western midwest - grains (wheat or oats)
● cooler climates with poor soil allow for growing hay
THE MIDWEST
● The Nation’s Breadbasket
○ Natural conditions (climate)
■ Midwest among most productive farms in the world
■ The mass amount of wheat earned the nickname
● Farming is big business
○ changed from lost of people to machinery
● Farming Technology
○ 1800s huge crops - unable to harvest quickly
■ Machinery and low wage pushed to cities
■ Farming output and size have increased
● machinery, technology, and research
THE MIDWEST
● Linking Farms to Cities
○ Agriculture dominates the economy
■ Business activities center on dairies or grain elevators
■ Grain Elevators - tall buildings equipped with machinery
for loading, cleaning, mixing, and storing grains
■ Businesses in midwest center around the agriculture
● radio stations broadcast reports from Chicago Mercantile
Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade.
○ Chicago Mercantile Exchange
■ busiest market for eggs, hogs, cattle, farm products
○ Board of Trade - largest grain exchange
■ Grain Exchange - a place where buyers and sellers deal for
grain
THE MIDWEST
● Linking Industries to Resources
○ Natural resources make it a heavy manufacturing location
○ Minnesota leads the states in iron ore production
■ minerals have caused development of steel mills in northwest
Indiana and Ohio
■ Automobile industry took off in Detroit
● partly because of steel mills
● Transportation and Industry
○ All about location, location, location
■ Along Great Lakes or major rivers
● Transportation along waterways
○ Excess of 400 million tons of goods - Mississippi
THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
SECTION 4: THE WEST
THE WEST
★ Known best for its natural landscape
○ Snow-capped mountains - Rocky Mountains
○ River carved canyons - Colorado River (Grand Canyon)
○ Hundreds of miles of plains - Great Plains
THE WEST
★ Availability of Water
○ Abundance or Lack of
■ Helps to determine
● Natural vegetation - Economic Activity - Population Density
○ short grasses - hardy shrubs - sagebrush - cactus
■ little water
○ deciduous and coniferous forests
■ lower elevation - 39 inches of rain a year
● Coastal region of Northern California - Redwoods
○ Hawaii
■ wet tropical climate w/dense tropical rain forest vegetation
○ Alaska
■ Tundra - a dry, treeless plain that sprouts grasses
and mosses only in summer
THE WEST
★ Natural Resources and the Economy
○ Areas of immense minerals
■ gold - silver - uranium - and other metals
● created the gold rush in the mid-1800s
● area also contained oil and natural gas
■ population of west grew rapidly
● seeking fortune and wealth
■ Oil discovery in Alaska change the state’s economy
○ Natural resources supported other economic activities
■ Forestry and Commercial Fishing
● Almost ½ of the nation’s construction lumber - Pacific Northwest
● Fish from Alaska - Hawaii - and Pacific Coast
○ billions of dollars annually from around the world
THE WEST
★ The Growth of Western Cities
○ 1869 completion of Transcontinental Railroad
■ 1880s ticket prices were just $1.00
● People flocked to the west.
○ most live in cities to avoid harsh landscape and climate
● Nation’s second largest city - Los Angeles
○ actually began as a cattle town
■ beef for prospectors
■ 1920s military, civil aircraft industry, and motion picture
industry
■ Growing population forces Los Angeles to get water
● Aqueducts - large pipes that carry water over long
distances.
○ Water comes from Sacramento 685 miles north
○ Susceptible to drought - 1987 - 1992
■ Spending - recycle and conservation
THE WEST
★ Conquering Western Distances
○ Alaska is largest state - but least populated
■ 630,000 people
● area is 3 times as big as the northeast
● few roads
● capital of Alaska, Juneau
○ reached only by plane or boat
● Anchorage, Alaska - 250,000 residents
○ 2 roads
○ Hawaii
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8 main islands - 100 smaller islands
2000 miles from the U.S.
annexed in 1898 - 50th state in 1959
Technology has increased the state attractiveness