Aim: How have geographic factors influenced the history of the United States?

Do Now: Can you label each of the following geographic features on a blank map?

1. Atlantic Ocean 2. Pacific Ocean 3. Gulf of Mexico4. Mississippi River 5. The Great Lakes 6. Appalachian Mountains7. Rocky Mountains 8. Great Plains

Do Now: Can you label each of the following important locations on a blank map?

1. New York 2. Washington D.C. 3. Chicago 4. Los Angles5. Louisiana Purchase 6. New Orleans 7. Canada 8. Mexico 9. The Caribbean 10.Proclamation Line of 1763

Key Vocabulary • Neutrality

– the quality or state of not supporting either side in an argument, fight, war, etc• Isolationism

– the belief that a country should not be involved with other countries : a policy of not making political agreements or working with other countries

• Precedent– a similar action or event that happened at an earlier time : something done or said that can

be used as an example or rule to be followed in the future• Commerce

– the exchange or buying and selling of commodities on a large scale involving transportation from place to place

• Manufacturing– the process of making products especially with machines in factories

• French & Indian War– the American phase of a worldwide nine-years’ war (1754–63) fought between France and

Great Britain• Climate

– the usual weather conditions in a particular place or region• Topography

– the features (such as mountains and rivers) in an area of land

Atlantic and Pacific Ocean

• Two large oceans on each coast encouraged U.S. government to pursue a foreign policy of neutrality or isolationism throughout much of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

Isolationist Foreign Policy

• President George Washington set the precedent for an isolationist foreign policy but it became a difficult challenge for later presidents to follow this policy.

Influence of Geography: Colonial Development

• America’s original 13 colonies developed near the coast line where rivers and natural harbors contributed to the development of commerce.

Appalachian Mountains

• Served as the western boundary for British colonial settlements prior to the Revolutionary War.

Proclamation Line of 1763

• Border established along the Appalachian Mountains by Great Britain after the French & Indian War

• Purpose was to avoid conflicts between American colonists and Native Americans.

New England Colonies

• Influenced by good harbors, abundant forests, rocky soil, and a short growing season.

• Geographic factors influenced the economy of New England by promoting the growth of trade and manufacturing.

Southern Colonies

• The climate and topography of the southeastern U.S. had a major impact on the history of the U.S. before 1860 because the region provided agricultural products that were processed in the North and in Europe.

Southern Colonies

• Slavery became more widespread in the South than in the North because geographic factors (fertile land and long growing seasons) contributed to the growth of the southern plantation system.

Great Plains

• The relatively flat, grassy region of the U.S. between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains is known as the Great Plains.

• The states with the largest percentage of land used for agriculture are located in areas with relatively flat terrain.

• Known for producing grain crops (aka food).

Louisiana Purchase: U.S. purchases territory from France which doubles the size of the

nation.

• Secured control of the Mississippi River. • Since the late 1700s, the Mississippi River has been a vital waterway because

it provided farmers and merchants an outlet to the Gulf of Mexico in order to transport farm goods to markets.

• A geographic and economic motivation for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 was the desire to control the Port of New Orleans.

• Farmers in the Ohio River valley gained the greatest economic benefit from the Louisiana Purchase