US History Week One: Geography

VOCAB REVIEW Geography – map, history of Earth Climate – temperature of environment (long period) Cash crop – food – farming, $ Immigration – comes from another country Ice Age – frozen Earth Demographics – statistic about people (race, wealth, age) Nomads – move from place to place looking for food Economy - $ types of jobs

5 Features of Geography LOCATION PLACE MOVEMENT REGION HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

Location of the United States ABSOLUTE LOCATION (This is like GPS coordinates. It doesn’t change.) Continent: North America Oceans: Atlantic (east coast) Pacific (west coast)

Location of the United States RELATIVE LOCATION (Where is the U.S. compared to other places?) Bordering countries Canada (north) Mexico (south Disconnected from other areas Technology improved Transportation, communication Examples: railroads, post offices…

Place PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS (landforms, water bodies, vegetation, & climate) Midwest (rich soil, good for farming) Great Plains & Central Plains Mississippi River (transport goods) East Appalachian Mountains West Rocky Mountains

Place HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS (language, religion, customs…) Lots of immigration many cultures Urban Most densely populated (most people in one area) = North East [Washington D.C. to Boston] Good life Longer life expectancy (people live longer) Higher incomes (people make more money) High literacy rates (lots of people can read & write)

Movement BERING STRAIGHT (land bridge) When: Ice Age (20,000-12,000 years ago) What: Ice connected Alaska & Asia Who: Hunters from Asia crossed bridge & moved into North & South America

EUROPEAN COLONIZATION & SLAVERY Movement EUROPEAN COLONIZATION & SLAVERY 1500’s Spain: “colonized” Florida, Southwest, Mexico 1600’s France & Great Britain: “colonized” East Coast Africans: forcefully brought to U.S.

Movement WESTWARD EXPANSION When: 1800’s Who: Vocab: Europeans: moved West looking for gold Native Americans: pushed off their land Vocab: Manifest Destiny (U.S. was meant to expand from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean)

AFRICAN AMERICAN MIGRATION Movement AFRICAN AMERICAN MIGRATION 1890-1920 and 1940’s Moved from South to Northeast & Midwest Looking for better economic opportunity

(southern states from Florida to California) Movement SUN BELT (southern states from Florida to California) When: 1950 What: many moved from industrial cities in the North & Midwest to the Sun Belt Why: warmer, job oportunities Effect: gave South more voice in politics (South has many Republicans, conservatives)

(ONE COMMON CHARACTERISTIC) Regions (ONE COMMON CHARACTERISTIC) Physical: Landform, climate Cultural: Economy, political organization Examples: Amish (PA) New York City’s Chinatown

Human-Environment Interaction (How Did People Use the Land?) Mid-Atlantic (coastal plains): agriculture South (long, hot summers): tobacco, cotton New England (rocky soil, coast): fishing, shipbuilding, water-powered factories Coastal cities: ports for trading goods Tourism: parks, Niagara Falls …

Human-Environment Interaction GEOGRAPHIC PROBLEMS TODAY Waste disposal (dumps, landfills) Air & water pollution Energy sources & energy use