Instructomania presents The Geography of the United States. This video will detail the geographic features of the United States, how geography shaped the lives of people throughout history in the United States, and who has lived in the United States in the past and present. The word geography, through a historian's lens, means the physical environment and how it may influence an economy and culture. Some examples may include scorching deserts that encouraged nomads to move between water sources, islands where the surrounding ocean offered a food source, flooding rivers that created fertile farmland, and mountains where a resource like timber was used for building. Section 1. The Geographic Features of the United States The mainland of the United States sits in the Northern Hemisphere, entirely in the continent of North America.
The U.S. is flanked on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The United States shares a northern border with Canada. Mexico lies to the south of the United States.
Lands on the west coast of the United States lie along the western coastal range, followed by the taller Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains further inland. East of the Sierra Nevada Mountains lies the Great Basin, a vast desert area including all of Nevada, half of Utah, and portions of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and California. Continuing eastward, the Rocky Mountains stretch for 3,000 miles, all the way from Canada down to New Mexico.
The middle of the United States is primarily prairie and grasslands, known as the Great Plains. The Great Plains is an area of high, flat land, bordered on the west by the Rocky Mountains. The Central Plains lie further to the east.
Both areas are rich in mineral resources and have a large portion of the country's agricultural land. Together, they make up over one million square miles of land. South of the plains lies the Gulf Coastal Plain, which borders the Gulf of Mexico to the south.
It extends from Texas eastward into Florida and is characterized by low-lying forests, grasslands, wetlands, and marshes. The eastern part of the United States is dominated by the Appalachian Mountains, which are around 480 million years old. This system of mountains runs from New England down to Georgia. As mentioned before, the Pacific Ocean borders the west coast, and the Atlantic Ocean borders the east coast. There are several peninsulas, barrier islands, and archipelagos along the east coast.
One of the most famous peninsulas is Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Another important feature is the Chesapeake Bay, located in the mid-Atlantic region. The Chesapeake Bay runs along the coast of Maryland and Virginia and is an important area for seafood production. One of the major bodies of water in the United States is the Great Lakes, which are located in the northern part of the Great Plains.
There are five Great Lakes. Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. To the west, the Great Salt Lake in Utah is the largest in the entire Western Hemisphere. There are several major rivers in the United States.
The Mississippi River runs north to south in the middle of the plains and became an important transportation hub throughout U.S. history. The Rio Grande serves as a natural border between the United States in Texas and Mexico to the south. The Columbia River in the northwestern United States originates from the Rocky Mountains and forms a natural border between the states of Washington and Oregon. Lastly, there are two present-day states that lie outside the contiguous United States. Alaska is the largest U.S. state and is bordered by Canada on the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south, and Russia nearby to the west.
Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America with a summit elevation of 20,000 310 feet. Hawaii consists of eight volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 2,000 miles southwest of California. Located on the island of Hawaii, the volcano Mauna Loa is one of the largest volcanoes on Earth, with an elevation of 13,679 feet.
Test your knowledge. Let's play Follow the Fish. In this game, you will track the fish as it appears on a blank map of the United States. Once the music stops, you will use a map of the United States labeled with physical features to determine where the fish end up.
Other animals may appear on the map, so don't forget to keep your eyes on the fish. So, where did the fish end up? Was it Cape Cod, the Chesapeake Bay, or Lake Michigan? That's right. It was the Chesapeake Bay.
Let's try it again. Remember to keep your eyes on the fish. So, where did the fish end up?
Was it the Rocky Mountains? The Appalachian Mountains? Or the Western Coastal Range? Yep, it was the Rocky Mountains. Let's try one last time.
You got this. So, where did the fish end up? Was it the Mississippi River? the Gulf of Mexico, or the Great Basin? Nice job.
It was the Great Basin. Did you know that chicken is the most eaten meat in the U.S.? That's right. On average, Americans eat 107 pounds of chicken a year. How geography shaped the lives of people throughout the history of the United States.
Before European settlers arrived, North America was populated by groups of Native Americans whose ancestors migrated from Asia between 38,000 and 10,000 BCE during the Ice Age. Much of the geography of the now United States changed after the Ice Age. New vegetation drew in new animals, such as buffalo and deer.
People learned to grow native, wild plants, including maize, on farms. These diverse food sources allowed the human population to grow. The different physical features across the continent required native tribes to adapt their housing, hunting, and agriculture to meet the conditions where they lived.
Many who lived near the coast or other large bodies of water relied more on fishing and gathering, whereas inland people were more dependent on farming and hunting. Depending on weather patterns and geography, some Native American tribes were nomadic, or semi-nomadic, while others were more settled. North America is separated from Europe, Africa, and Asia by thousands of miles of ocean. This kept the continent relatively isolated until navigational and shipbuilding technology enabled longer distance traveling.
In the 15th century, Europeans began traveling to North America, first in the areas of Central and South America and the Caribbean. The European settlement of North America occurred primarily east to west due to the inability of Europeans to easily reach the western Pacific coast. The Spanish were the exception, and they came up from the western coast of South America.
European expansion was slowed by the multiple mountain ranges, such as the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, and large rivers, such as the Mississippi, that divide the country, in addition to the harsh winters in many areas. European settlers were mostly from England, Spain, and France. Astonished by the rich resources and vast lands of North America, they were drawn to a newly discovered territory. As some settlers were sponsored by businesses that desired to earn a profit, they quickly began mining and establishing large plantations. This had the effect of depleting the natural resources much more quickly than ever before.
It also created a huge need for manual labor, which led Europeans to enslave Native Americans and later Africans. who were brought over as workers. Early colonies from Great Britain were nearly doomed by the natural features and climate of North America.
The soil on the northeast coast of the modern U.S. was rocky and awkward to farm, while in the southeast, initial settlements on brackish waters made colonization challenging. In fact, most early colonizers died of starvation and disease. Settlers often relied on help from Native Americans and a good dose of luck to survive. Through the 16 and 1700s, European settlers continued to displace Native Americans and push further to the West. Some moved west to have their own land, some to find riches.
This westward movement continued once the 13 original colonies revolted and the United States had achieved its independence from Great Britain in 1776. Geography also played a role in the success of the American Revolution. Britain was so far removed from its American colonies, it made the organization of troops and resources challenging. Plus, natural geographic barriers made it difficult to move large numbers of troops quickly. Through the 1800s and early 1900s, via war and negotiation, American borders expanded from coast to coast.
The vast size and geographic barriers, including mountains and rivers, were eventually conquered with the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad. Today, every corner of the United States is connected with roads, railroads, highways, and airports. Who lived in the United States? Prior to the 15th century, approximately 10 million Native Americans were living in the area that is now the United States. Today, Native Americans make up less than 2% of the population of the United States.
That decline was caused primarily by warfare and disease, both brought by the Europeans. The Spanish arrived in North America in the 16th century, followed by the British, French, and Dutch. The Spanish settled in Florida, California, and the Southwest, while the rest fought primarily over lands in the eastern half of today's United States.
Many Europeans came to North America for economic opportunities or to escape religious persecution back home. Initially, mostly Protestant Christian groups, such as Puritans and Quakers, colonized the U.S., establishing cultural values and a strong work ethic that would become the backbone of American culture and success. Enslaved people from Africa soon made up a large portion of the colonial population, particularly in the British colonies. Over 12 million enslaved Africans were estimated to have been brought over to the area that is now the United States.
Voluntary immigration continued to be a large factor in the population growth of the United States. Immigrants came from Western Europe first, then Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as Asia. Today, the population of the United States is diverse in every way, including race, class, national origin, ethnicity, language, and religion. While America still struggles with equality and inclusion for all, the idea that all men and women are created equal is a banner from which Americans have derived and continue to fight for their cultural values.
Let's check out what it really looks like in the United States. greatly influenced the culture of the people who lived there. Consider this.
In what ways does the physical environment influence your community? Be prepared to support your answers with examples. From two teachers to all of you amazing teachers out there, we would like to thank you for choosing our resources to use in your classroom. Find more Instructomania teaching materials and lessons at our Instructomania store and on our YouTube channel.
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