How did geography influence what happened in colonial and early US History??

Question

Im the same person please help me!!!

Answer 1

Well, here are a few things that come to mind. This list will by no means be exhaustive.

1. The geographic separation from England has already been mentioned. That gave the colonists a measure of self-government and also encouraged self-reliance.

2. Early colonial communities were coastal, or were along rivers. In the very beginning, the easiest communication between colonies or settlements was by water. Roads came in due course, but they were rugged and primitive.

3. Rocky New England had a short growing season, so small family farms was the rule. Eventually towns grew up, and manufacturing became important.

4. Tobacco grew in Virginia and the Carolinas, and later cotton throughout the deep South. These were cash crops. (The North had none.) The black soil was fertile, so land was developed into large plantations manned by slave labor. Cities and towns in the South were not as important as in the North.

5. Important seaport cities developed where there were good harbors. Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia all owe their growth to their location. Large port cities also serve as destination points for immigrants.

6. New England towns grew up along short, fast-flowing rivers and streams that supported sawmills and powered an early iron industry. Some iron ore was available in the region.

7. Early on, the Hudson River Valley provided easy access to upstate New York. The Hudson was navigable as far as Albany, 150 miles upriver. When the Erie Canal opened along the Mohawk Valley frolm Albany to Lake Erie, New York City was positioned to be the nation's largest city.

8. After pioneers crossed the Appalachians into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, the mountains served as a barrier separating the hardy westerners from the "city-folk" back east.

9. Early railroads followed river beds and canals toward mountain passes ... the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) and Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) are examples; the New York Central went north to Albany, then west to Buffalo, following water all the way. These railroads further opened up the interior.

10. But railroads in the South were oriented toward ports such as Charleston, Mobile, Norfolk, and New Orleans, where cash crops could be shipped abroad. The North had a better rail network, and in the Civil War, that was one of the factors that favored the North.

11. The French penetrated the St. Lawrence Valley, but that river was only navigable as far as Quebec, and later, Montreal. The Great Lakes saw only canoes for a long time.

12. Military campaigns often followed the geography. The northern route via Lakes George and Champlain hasn't been mentioned yet; and the Shenandoah Valley saw much action. Washington's final victory at Yorktown was insured when Cornwallis was trapped on a peninsula, and the French fleet kept the British Navy away.

13. I almost forgot Roanoke and Jamestown. The first colony failed, in part because of poor geography, and the second almost failed for the same reason.

I guess that's enough. I didn't say anything about the Mississippi or Lewis & Clark, but I've said enough.

Answer 2

That's a big and complex question, but I think your answer will probably highlight on a few important factors:

1. The Appalachians largely limited colonial settlement to the eastern seaboard, leading to fairly quick urbanization of the modern US Atlantic coast.
2. The seperation of the colonies from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean. This made the Revolutionary War extremely difficult and costly to conduct for Britain over the long term, and gave the fledgling U.S. a buffer against more powerful nations. It also made the French feel their claims on the Louisiana Territory were untenable and contributed in large part to the sale of that to the U.S. at a very attractive price.
3. Canada, the remaining British posession on the contient, was sparsely populated, in large part due to Geography, giving the young U.S. a free rein in the center of the current U.S.

Answer 3

Geography is the study of the earth, right? So go look at a map, people settled along waterways for the transportation of goods. Farmers cleared forests in the flatlands first and expansions westward was done after explorers talked of what they had seen. Daniel Boone was a farmer who just wanted to see what was over the next hill.