by Mr. Raymond's Civics and Social Studies Academy
(0:00 Introduction of Topic)
Hi and welcome to Mr. Raymond Social Studies Academy for US history, the first in our series for those taking early United States history.
And today we will look at how the geography of the United States helps shape US history.
The U.S. is the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada with over 3.8 million square miles made up of flat coastal plains, rolling hills, mountains, deserts and productive farmland.
The U.S. shares land borders with Canada to its north and Mexico to its south.
(0:34, Oceans)
It has the Atlantic Ocean on its east coast, the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast and the Pacific Ocean on the west coast.
This is what's known as a physical map.
And you can see a wide variety of topography or natural features across this vast country.
In addition to providing fishing and shipping opportunities to the United States, the Atlantic Ocean has historically provided a large buffer to world events that took place in Europe, home of the first settlers to America and the location of many world conflicts.
The Pacific Ocean provides similar economic opportunities and separation from events in Asia, providing the backdrop to the Pacific campaign of World War Two against the Japanese.
The Gulf of Mexico provides another location for ports, fishing and tourism and offshore oil drilling which has been controversial since the BP oil spill of 2,000 (word??).
(1:30, Rivers)
The United States has a vast river system, some of which you will need to identify for your class, including
the mighty Mississippi which connects to the Missouri and Ohio Rivers,
the Rio Grande running along our border with Mexico,
the Colorado River, which runs through the Grand Canyon,
the St. Lawrence, which borders Canada
and the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, which is also shared with Canada.
Of course there are many other smaller rivers that run throughout the United States.
One river that we didn't mention that would play an important role in the founding of the United States is the Hudson River.
With New York City located right at its base, which would be occupied by the British.
Crossing the Hudson controlled by British ships would be a challenge for General Washington's troops throughout the Revolutionary War, which we will be learning about soon.
The Rio Grande was also the scene of military conflicts in the Mexican-American War.
Originally part of Mexico, the Rio Grande was negotiated as the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
The Mississippi River was especially important to the development of the United States as it runs right through what is referred to as the breadbasket of the US, its rich farmland.
As you can see, many Midwestern cities are located along the Mississippi and its tributaries, including
Minneapolis,
Chicago,
Indianapolis,
Kansas City,
St. Louis,
Cincinnati,
Louisville,
Nashville,
Memphis
and of course New Orleans at the base of the Mississippi.
These rivers again played a crucial role to the development of the US because they allowed farmers to transport their goods to the east coast and then maybe off to Europe or other destinations.
In the days before cars and trucks and railroads, the river supplied the crucial transportation networks needed for the building of America.
(3:28, Midwest)
When the early settlers left the east coast in search of new farmlands, the Midwest supplied the fertile flat lands that they were looking for.
And this area continues to supply much of the food that we today.
Much of this area is known as the Great Plains.
A plain is a large flat area with few trees.
The Great Plains were the setting of a lot of conflicts with the Native Americans living there, conflicts that you will be learning about later this year.
(3:58, Lakes)
Located in the north of the Midwest on the border with Canada are the Great Lakes.
Some of you are going to have to memorize the Great Lakes.
The largest is Lake Superior and you can remember that by its name.
Lake Michigan is where Chicago and Milwaukee are located.
Lake Huron is the second most northern of the great lakes and it's attached to Lake Michigan.
Remember Lake Ontario and Erie as the smallest of the five.
Lake Erie is the southernmost with Ohio and Pennsylvania on its boarder and Lake Ontario is north of Erie and the farthest east with the Canadian city of Toronto located on its coast.
The great lake are massive.
If you've ever been to Chicago looking out at Lake Michigan, it's almost like you're staring out at an ocean.
The lakes provide shipping opportunities and were the location of several battles during the French and Indian War and the war of 1812, both involving the British Navy.
In 1825 the Erie Canal was completed, opening up a transportation system between the Great Lakes and the eastern seaboard.
This incredible feat of civil engineering cut transportation costs dramatically for commercial shipping from the Northern Midwest to the east coast.
(5:09, Harbors)
With over 12,000 miles of coastline, bays, harbors and inlets have also played an important role in the development of the United States.
One of these that was crucial during the Revolutionary War was Chesapeake Bay.
Located between Virginia, Maryland and Delaware,
the Chesapeake was the center for the pivotal battle of the war
—Yorktown, in which French ships providing aid to the United States,
locking British troops from escaping Virginia
and help clinch the victory for the United States.
Another inlet that played a role in the Revolutionary War was Long Island Sound.
A sound is a longer sea or ocean inlet.
And Long Island Sound is located between New York's Long Island and Connecticut.
The British used Long Island Sound to attack several Connecticut towns.
We will also be covering the pilgrims this year, landed first on Cape Cod before settling in Plymouth.
A cape is a body of land extending into the sea.
Cape Cod is located just south of Boston and provided the backdrop for one of America's earliest historic events.
(6:14, Mountains)
As we've mentioned, America has several different mountain ranges.
And two that you will be asked to identify are the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains.
The Appalachians run along the east coast of the United States and these mountains provided a dividing line for early settlers to the US, who set up their farms to the east of these mountains.
While America was still part of England, the British parliament passed the Proclamation Act of 1763, forbidding the colonists to settle lands west of the Appalachians.
This act was one of the causes of tensions between the colonists and England that you will need to identify later in the year.
The Rocky Mountains located much further west would not play a big role until much later in US history.
When gold was discovered near San Francisco in 1848, nine eastern settlers flocked to the west coast of the United States but the Rocky Mountains provided a serious challenge to settlers traveling by horse-drawn wagons.
(7:12 Political Map)
Now we’ve showed you before a physical map of the United States but you're probably more familiar with this one which is known as a political map, dividing the country into its 50 states.
My class will be asked to identify all 50 states on a map, and you might too.
Another thing you might be asked to identify is what's known as an absolute location.
This uses latitude and longitude lines to identify an exact location on a map.
You might also be asked to identify regions of the United States, which are often divided into the Northeast, the South, the Midwest and the West.
Your teacher might want you get more specific and identified New England, the Middle Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and so on.
(8:00 Territorial Expansion)
Now the last thing to consider when looking at US geography is how territorial expansion took place from the original 13 colonies.
As more and more immigrants came to America, people moved west, as most of the land on the east coast was taken.
States were added as more people move to a certain location.
In 1803, the amount of land owned by the United States was almost doubled when President Thomas Jefferson pushed through the Louisiana Purchase from
France for a measly 15 million dollars.
You can see that in 1819 Florida was acquired from Spain.
About 30 years later, the war between the US and Mexico provided another massive amount of land, including present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Around that same time, the Pacific Northwest was officially acquired from the British.
Again, this westward expansion was fueled as massive amounts of Europeans fled to the United States.
The idea that America should expand West was known as ‘Manifest Destiny’ that we were destined to populate this land from coast to coast.
Free or cheap land was offered by the Homestead Acts to spur settlers to populate this area.
When the first transcontinental railroads were built, travel time across the country decreased dramatically.
The Panama Canal, now completed in 1914, also greatly reduced the shipping time and travel time by boat between the two coasts.
Nowadays Americans can travel across the country on a variety of interstate highways, opening our vast country to everyone and that's where we'll end our brief look at the geography in the United States.
(9:37 Review)
So let's review what are the two major mountain ranges in the United States: the Appalachian and the Rockies.
This major river runs through the middle of the country into Orleans: the Mississippi.
This Cape was where the pilgrims first landed: Cape Cod.
This river runs through New York City and was important during the Revolutionary War: the Hudson.
This river separates the U.S. from Mexico: the Rio Grande.
This massive purchase of land from France almost doubled the size of the United States: the Louisiana Purchase.
These developments greatly decrease the amount of time it took to travel across the country: the transcontinental railroad, Panama canal and the interstate highway system.
(Quiz)
Here's a typical state exam review question.
This one's for the New York Regents.
River systems were important to the development of the United States because they
(A) allowed Americans to travel easily between the East Coast and the west coast
(B) prevented foreign invasion of US territory
(C) provided routes for shipping agricultural and manufacturing products
or (D) made southeast the major destination for immigrants.
And today we will look at how the geography of the United States helps shape US history.
The U.S. is the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada with over 3.8 million square miles made up of flat coastal plains, rolling hills, mountains, deserts and productive farmland.
The U.S. shares land borders with Canada to its north and Mexico to its south.
(0:34, Oceans)
It has the Atlantic Ocean on its east coast, the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast and the Pacific Ocean on the west coast.
This is what's known as a physical map.
And you can see a wide variety of topography or natural features across this vast country.
In addition to providing fishing and shipping opportunities to the United States, the Atlantic Ocean has historically provided a large buffer to world events that took place in Europe, home of the first settlers to America and the location of many world conflicts.
The Pacific Ocean provides similar economic opportunities and separation from events in Asia, providing the backdrop to the Pacific campaign of World War Two against the Japanese.
The Gulf of Mexico provides another location for ports, fishing and tourism and offshore oil drilling which has been controversial since the BP oil spill of 2,000 (word??).
The United States has a vast river system, some of which you will need to identify for your class, including
the mighty Mississippi which connects to the Missouri and Ohio Rivers,
the Rio Grande running along our border with Mexico,
the Colorado River, which runs through the Grand Canyon,
the St. Lawrence, which borders Canada
and the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, which is also shared with Canada.
Of course there are many other smaller rivers that run throughout the United States.
One river that we didn't mention that would play an important role in the founding of the United States is the Hudson River.
With New York City located right at its base, which would be occupied by the British.
Crossing the Hudson controlled by British ships would be a challenge for General Washington's troops throughout the Revolutionary War, which we will be learning about soon.
The Rio Grande was also the scene of military conflicts in the Mexican-American War.
Originally part of Mexico, the Rio Grande was negotiated as the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
The Mississippi River was especially important to the development of the United States as it runs right through what is referred to as the breadbasket of the US, its rich farmland.
As you can see, many Midwestern cities are located along the Mississippi and its tributaries, including
Minneapolis,
Chicago,
Indianapolis,
Kansas City,
St. Louis,
Cincinnati,
Louisville,
Nashville,
Memphis
and of course New Orleans at the base of the Mississippi.
These rivers again played a crucial role to the development of the US because they allowed farmers to transport their goods to the east coast and then maybe off to Europe or other destinations.
In the days before cars and trucks and railroads, the river supplied the crucial transportation networks needed for the building of America.
When the early settlers left the east coast in search of new farmlands, the Midwest supplied the fertile flat lands that they were looking for.
And this area continues to supply much of the food that we today.
Much of this area is known as the Great Plains.
A plain is a large flat area with few trees.
The Great Plains were the setting of a lot of conflicts with the Native Americans living there, conflicts that you will be learning about later this year.
Located in the north of the Midwest on the border with Canada are the Great Lakes.
Some of you are going to have to memorize the Great Lakes.
The largest is Lake Superior and you can remember that by its name.
Lake Michigan is where Chicago and Milwaukee are located.
Lake Huron is the second most northern of the great lakes and it's attached to Lake Michigan.
Remember Lake Ontario and Erie as the smallest of the five.
Lake Erie is the southernmost with Ohio and Pennsylvania on its boarder and Lake Ontario is north of Erie and the farthest east with the Canadian city of Toronto located on its coast.
The great lake are massive.
If you've ever been to Chicago looking out at Lake Michigan, it's almost like you're staring out at an ocean.
The lakes provide shipping opportunities and were the location of several battles during the French and Indian War and the war of 1812, both involving the British Navy.
In 1825 the Erie Canal was completed, opening up a transportation system between the Great Lakes and the eastern seaboard.
This incredible feat of civil engineering cut transportation costs dramatically for commercial shipping from the Northern Midwest to the east coast.
With over 12,000 miles of coastline, bays, harbors and inlets have also played an important role in the development of the United States.
One of these that was crucial during the Revolutionary War was Chesapeake Bay.
Located between Virginia, Maryland and Delaware,
the Chesapeake was the center for the pivotal battle of the war
—Yorktown, in which French ships providing aid to the United States,
locking British troops from escaping Virginia
and help clinch the victory for the United States.
Another inlet that played a role in the Revolutionary War was Long Island Sound.
A sound is a longer sea or ocean inlet.
And Long Island Sound is located between New York's Long Island and Connecticut.
The British used Long Island Sound to attack several Connecticut towns.
We will also be covering the pilgrims this year, landed first on Cape Cod before settling in Plymouth.
A cape is a body of land extending into the sea.
Cape Cod is located just south of Boston and provided the backdrop for one of America's earliest historic events.
As we've mentioned, America has several different mountain ranges.
And two that you will be asked to identify are the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains.
The Appalachians run along the east coast of the United States and these mountains provided a dividing line for early settlers to the US, who set up their farms to the east of these mountains.
While America was still part of England, the British parliament passed the Proclamation Act of 1763, forbidding the colonists to settle lands west of the Appalachians.
This act was one of the causes of tensions between the colonists and England that you will need to identify later in the year.
The Rocky Mountains located much further west would not play a big role until much later in US history.
When gold was discovered near San Francisco in 1848, nine eastern settlers flocked to the west coast of the United States but the Rocky Mountains provided a serious challenge to settlers traveling by horse-drawn wagons.
(7:12 Political Map)
Now we’ve showed you before a physical map of the United States but you're probably more familiar with this one which is known as a political map, dividing the country into its 50 states.
My class will be asked to identify all 50 states on a map, and you might too.
Another thing you might be asked to identify is what's known as an absolute location.
This uses latitude and longitude lines to identify an exact location on a map.
You might also be asked to identify regions of the United States, which are often divided into the Northeast, the South, the Midwest and the West.
Your teacher might want you get more specific and identified New England, the Middle Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and so on.
Now the last thing to consider when looking at US geography is how territorial expansion took place from the original 13 colonies.
As more and more immigrants came to America, people moved west, as most of the land on the east coast was taken.
States were added as more people move to a certain location.
In 1803, the amount of land owned by the United States was almost doubled when President Thomas Jefferson pushed through the Louisiana Purchase from
France for a measly 15 million dollars.
You can see that in 1819 Florida was acquired from Spain.
About 30 years later, the war between the US and Mexico provided another massive amount of land, including present-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Around that same time, the Pacific Northwest was officially acquired from the British.
Again, this westward expansion was fueled as massive amounts of Europeans fled to the United States.
The idea that America should expand West was known as ‘Manifest Destiny’ that we were destined to populate this land from coast to coast.
Free or cheap land was offered by the Homestead Acts to spur settlers to populate this area.
When the first transcontinental railroads were built, travel time across the country decreased dramatically.
The Panama Canal, now completed in 1914, also greatly reduced the shipping time and travel time by boat between the two coasts.
Nowadays Americans can travel across the country on a variety of interstate highways, opening our vast country to everyone and that's where we'll end our brief look at the geography in the United States.
(9:37 Review)
So let's review what are the two major mountain ranges in the United States: the Appalachian and the Rockies.
This major river runs through the middle of the country into Orleans: the Mississippi.
This Cape was where the pilgrims first landed: Cape Cod.
This river runs through New York City and was important during the Revolutionary War: the Hudson.
This river separates the U.S. from Mexico: the Rio Grande.
This massive purchase of land from France almost doubled the size of the United States: the Louisiana Purchase.
These developments greatly decrease the amount of time it took to travel across the country: the transcontinental railroad, Panama canal and the interstate highway system.
(Quiz)
Here's a typical state exam review question.
This one's for the New York Regents.
(A) allowed Americans to travel easily between the East Coast and the west coast
(B) prevented foreign invasion of US territory
(C) provided routes for shipping agricultural and manufacturing products
or (D) made southeast the major destination for immigrants.
Which one was important to the development?
That would be (C)—provided routes for shipping agricultural and manufacturing products.
The Homestead Act and grants of land to railroads were used to
(A) raise money to finance the federal government
(B) limit the influence of monopolies and Trust
(C) support the development of state universities
or (D) encourage settlement of the West.
Remember that Homestead Act gave people free lands to move west.
So this was (D)—encourage the settlement of the West.
That would be (C)—provided routes for shipping agricultural and manufacturing products.
(A) raise money to finance the federal government
(B) limit the influence of monopolies and Trust
(C) support the development of state universities
or (D) encourage settlement of the West.
Remember that Homestead Act gave people free lands to move west.
So this was (D)—encourage the settlement of the West.
And that's it.
I want to thank you guys for watching.
Be sure to subscribe.
This is just the beginning of our look at US history.
Just a reminder for teachers that this PowerPoint with lesson plans, activities
and other resources are available at ‘Teachers Pay Teachers’.
Just click the link in the notes below or go to ‘Teachers Pay Teachers’ and
search for Mr. Raymond Civics Academy.
I want to thank you guys for watching.
Be sure to subscribe.
This is just the beginning of our look at US history.
Just a reminder for teachers that this PowerPoint with lesson plans, activities
and other resources are available at ‘Teachers Pay Teachers’.
Just click the link in the notes below or go to ‘Teachers Pay Teachers’ and
search for Mr. Raymond Civics Academy.
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