US History CH3. A Land of Plenty

Bell Ringer Why was the United States so full of natural resources when the colonist arrived? Why is the United States special when it comes to natural resources? Draw a map of the United States without looking. Include as much detail as you can (mountains, rivers, wooded areas, etc)

Outlines Why I gave you an outline. Major problems with the outlines. The moral of the story.

US Geography Before we start our lesson about the resources of the United States you are going to take a short quiz. It should be simple….. You will get 5-10 minutes to complete this. There are exactly 50 questions. Name the 50 states.

Natural Resources The United States had a distinct advantage from the very start. It had an abundance of just about everything. Native Americans did not use the land, but instead lived with the land. For this reason colonists showed up to vast forests, abundant animals, and untouched mineral deposites.

This was radically different from what many of the colonists were use to. European societies had existed for hundreds of years. They had systematically worn down their supply of natural resources. The US is lucky to have good farm land, large forests, fish in the sea, mountains, minerals, numerous natural harbors, large supplies of fossil fuels (oil & natural gas), and just about everything else.

Cities vs Farms One of the early debates in US history was should the new nation be industrial or agrarian? Thomas Jefferson supported the idea of Agriculture, Alexander Hamilton supported the ideas of Cities. Early on the nation will start to favor cities, and even as people move westward the US will favor industry.

Census In 1790 the US had the first Census (official count of population). 3.9 million people Today: – From 1870 to 1920, the number of people living in U.S. cities increased from 10 million to more than 50 million. – By 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the nation’s population at million. – About 83 percent of the population lived in metropolitan areas.

Regions Regional differences can not be over looked in the development of the USA. Those regions can stick together because of a common shared concept. Regions helped lead to the Civil War.

Regions of the USA

2012 US Election Results

Expansion of the USA Washington warned against expansion or international involvement when he stopped being president. The US has done both. Because of the development of jet planes, telecommunication, internet, etc the world has become increasingly small. For this reason cultures, economies, and international policies from around the world have begun to blend. This is an idea known as globalization.

Globalization The US is even more linked to the idea of globalization as there are so many people who immigrated to this country. The US is known as the melting pot. This idea of everyone having something positive to contribute, and sharing between cultures not only influences our economy and foreign policy, but our daily lives.