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Anthropogenic Activities: Historical Settlement, Population, and Economy. The Beginning?. European Explorers. Settlement Patterns. Early Settlements Growth and development depended on their situation
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Anthropogenic Activities:Historical Settlement,Population, and Economy
Settlement Patterns • Early Settlements • Growth and development depended on their situation • Based on Accessibility: the locational characteristics that permit a place to be reached by the efforts of those at other placesAND • Site: The internal attributes of a place • Features related to the immediate environment in which the place is located • E.g., topography, drainage, and soil composition
Settlement Patterns • Expansion of Frontier generalizations • Occurred from east to west • Migrations generally followed the paths of least resistance • Distinct migration patterns
Early Settlement • Between 2-10 million American Indians and Inuit • 4/5 of the natives in the US • Natives migrated westward with European Expansion • Not much acculturation
French Settlement French In America, by Edward Wells, 1700 (John Fiske. 1902. New France and New England. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company.)
Spanish Settlement Historical Land Grant Boundaries in Texas
Dutch Settlement Manhattan Island at the time of Dutch
British Settlement • Jamestown (1607) • Treaty of Paris • Albert Gallatin and “principle of contiguity” • William Penn • Metes and Bounds
Cultural Diffusion New England Mid-Atlantic Pennsylvania Tidewater Maryland/ Virginia Frontier Zones by 1810 Hearth Areas (Pre - 1725) Secondary Areas (1740 - 1775) Tertiary Areas (1780 - 1820)
Immigration • Total immigrants to US & Canada from Europe & Africa = ~60 million • Most French came to Canada during the late 1600s (~15,000) • First US census in 1790 • 2/3 of the white population had British origins • 20% had African origins • Sizable % had German and Dutch heritage • 1760-1815 • Immigration slowed • Warfare in Europe restricted travel across the Atlantic
Immigration • 1815-1914 • Immigration increased continuously • 1920 • U.S. passed its first law to restrict immigration • Since 1940s • Steady increases each decade since • Current: • US ~900,000/year; Canada ~180,000/year
10000 8000 6000 Immigration in Thousands 4000 2000 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 Decade Immigration 1820-1980 South/East Europe Germany Scandinavia Latin America Asia British Isles 0 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 Push FactorsPull Factors 1840s: Irish Potato Famine Economic Opportunity 1850-1920: Overpopulation, War Political/Religious Freedom Recent: Overpopulation, War, Oppression Land Availability
Economic Sectors • Primary • Agriculture (and accompanying technology) • Secondary • Manufacturing & Industry • Tertiary • Service (e.g., health care, retail) • Quaternary • Government, Research, Education
Final Thoughts • 20th century remarkable for North America • Global economic and political leadership • Basic background for Geography of North America • 14 different landscapes to explore!!
Discussion Questions Why did North America prosper, while South America stagnated? What impacts did the mobility and freedom of the westward movement have on the cultural landscapes and values that characterize and define American and Canadian cultures today? Why has the productivity of individual farms increased so dramatically, while the number of people employed in agriculture continues to decline?
Related Books • Conzen, Michael P. 1994. The Making of the American Landscape. New York and London: Routledge. • Lots of ideas for learning major parts that shaped US cultural landscapes. • Fisher, Ron, ed. 2004. National Geographic Historical Atlas of the United States. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. • McIlwraith, Thomas F. and Edward K. Muller, eds. 2001. North America: The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. • Everything from French migration and settlement patterns to landscape expressions in early North America. • Sauer, Carl Ortwin. 1971. Sixteenth Century North America: The Land and People as Seen by Europeans. Berkeley: University of California Press. • A classic written by a “Classical” Geographer. What North America was like before European arrival. • Zelinsky, Wilbur. 1973. rev. 1992. The Cultural Geography of the United States. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. • A standard in the regional geographer’s arsenal. Zelinsky writes in a very down to earth style, and his maps are luscious.
Related Books • Castells, Manuel. 1996. The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. Vol. I, The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge: Blackwell. • How nation states—including the US and Canada—are shaping and reshaping the information age. • Meyer, David R. 2003. The Roots of Industrialization. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. • Industrialization of North America and its various impacts on landscapes and economy. • Wheeler, James, Yuko Aoyama, and Barney Warf, eds. 2000. Cities in the Telecommunication Age: The Fracturing of Geographies. London: Routledge. • Outlines the cities playing a major role in the information age. • Zukin, Sharon. 1991. Landscapes of Power: From Detroit to Disneyland. Berkeley: University of California Press. • Probably the most cited source for urban, economic, and cultural landscapes in North America.
WebSources • First Nations http://www.tolatsga.org/Compacts.html • United States History Overview http://www.u-s-history.com/ • North America Map Archive http://www.uoregon.edu/~atlas/america/maps.html