Chapter 3 – North America

1. Chapter 3 – North America A – The Landscape B – Settling the Territory C – Continental Expansion D – Regions of the Realm

2. A The Landscape • Continentalism • Canada: • Second largest country in the world. • The longest non-militarized border in the world (8,900 km). • Trade agreement since 1989. • Several similarities but different societies. • US: • Fourth largest country in the world. • 48 continental (conterminous or contiguous) states. • Mexico: • Longest border between a developed and a Third World country. • Border problems related to illegal immigration and drug traffic. • Trade agreement since 1992. • An advanced and a transitional (Third World) country.

4. The Landscape • Climate • Very diversified, ranging from continental humid to sub tropical. • Relatively simple weather system: • Varies from west to east. • Influenced by air masses moving from the arctic (cold and dry) and from the gulf of Mexico (hot and wet). • The southeast section of the United States: • A high precipitation level. • Result of movements of air masses from the gulf of Mexico. • Subject to tropical storms coming from the South Atlantic.

5. The Landscape • East/west gradient in precipitation • Wet air from the Pacific. • When reaching the coastal chain and the Sierra Nevada is forced to gain altitude. • Air cooling process forces precipitation over the West Side of these mountain chains. • Once the ridges passed over, the air becomes dryer. • Low level of rain falling over the high plateaus and the western part of the Great Plains. • As it moves east, air masses gain in humidity through land evaporation and precipitation levels rise.

6. Precipitation in North America Cold Temperature Precipitation Hot & Dry Hot & Wet

7. Maritime Fronts of North America Arctic Pacific Great Lakes Atlantic Gulf of Mexico

8. Territorial Definition • The Anglo-American cultural space • Prominence of English institutions. • Opposed to Latin America (Spanish and Portuguese cultural origin). • A few exceptions: • French Canada, Hawaii, US/Mexico border regions, southeast Florida, First Nations and the Black population. • Immigration is changing this space. • English remains the language of power and business.

9. Territorial Definition • Overcoming space • Always been a challenge. • Massive transport infrastructure (from trails to railways to highways to the information highway). • Regional cultural differences requiring different marketing strategies. • Territorial scale and diversity impose organization • Diversity of landscapes but uniformity of society. • Created problems of territorial uniformity and organization. • Several decision centers are spread over the territory. • Not absolute primacy. • Relative isolationism has favored local entrepreneurship.

10. B Settling the Territory • Exploration • Took 125 years after its discovery for continent to be first settled. • Spain and Portugal, the main colonial powers, were more interested in Central and South America. • Later England, France and Spain settled North America. • Territorial development • Continental mass of difficult access • Process where economic, political, demographic and social forces organize the territory and the human landscape. • A question of national perception. • Accumulation of infrastructures and populations.

11. Settling the Territory • Processes of territorial development • Annexing new territories. • Conquering territories from other colonial empires. • Exterminating and repelling First Nations. • Three major phases: • The colonial era (1492-1783). • Independence and expansion (1783-1898). • Imperialism (1898-).

12. Settling the Territory • Colonization of the The North American Territory • Colonized by three major colonial powers. • Spain: • Occupied the south of the United States, including Florida, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. • Part of the Spanish Empire of Mexico. • Massive organization of the native labor. • France: • Controlled the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi basin. • More interested in fur trade than in colonization. • England: • Occupied the Atlantic Coast with 13 colonies (1620 and 1681). • Strong emphasis on agriculture and economic development. • High population densities constrained by the Appalachians. • Holland: • Bought Manhattan Island (New Amsterdam) for $24 (1626). • Conquered by the British and renamed New York (1664).

13. North America, 1750

15. Settling the Territory • Five major core colonial regions • New England: • Limited agricultural potential compensated by fishing and logging. • Hydraulic power (grain and saw mills). • Boston was the main commercial centre. • The Middle Colonies: • More liberal with Pennsylvania and Delaware as main colonies (initial utopias). • New York and Philadelphia were main centers. • Southern Colonies: • Predominantly rural. • Plantation system with slave labor.

16. Settling the Territory • Nouvelle France (New France): • Centered along the St. Lawrence. • Quebec and Montreal as major cities. • Focus of fur trade. • Limited agriculture. • Mexico: • Mines and plantations. • Natives incorporated in colonial exploitation.

17. Settling the Territory • First Treaty of Paris (1763) • Ended the Seven Years War (France and Spain vs. England). • France: • Lost almost all its North American colonies (Except Louisiana and St. Pierre & Miquelon). • Spain: • Lost Florida (given back in 1783 during the American Revolution). • Britain: • Won Nouvelle France and territories from the Appalachian to the Mississippi. • Second Treaty of Paris (1783) • Formally recognized the United States as a sovereign nation. • Removed the colonial constraints. • Expanded territorial development towards the Mississippi.

18. C Continental Expansion • Growth of immigration • The 19th century was a century of huge territorial growth. • Vast movements from Europe causing territorial pressure. • The population grew from 31 millions in 1860 to 95 millions in 1914. • About 300,000 immigrants per year. • Linked to European crises and demographic pressures: • The Irish famine (1845-1847). • Russian pogroms against Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe (from 1881).

19. Immigration to the United States, 1820-2002 Latin America Asia Southeast Europe Germany Scandinavia British Isles

20. Continental Expansion • Rail technology: • Available after 1850. • Several construction programs established. • State subsidies and land concessions to speed up the process. • The Gold Rush (1849) • Discovery of gold in California. • Massive movement of population. • Accelerated rail construction. • Transcontinental (completed in 1869) • From New York to San Francisco. • Journey was reduced from 6 months by trail to 1 week by train. • The industrial East could now have access to the resources of the West.

21. Continental Expansion • The township • The main territorial development model of the post-independence United States and Canada. • Created by the Land Ordinance Act of 1785. • Social unit of territorial occupation. • 150 acres basic unit. • Oriented along pre-defined parallels and meridians. • Occupies only the western part of the United States and Canada (west of the Appalachians). • Other territorial structures exists. • Formed the morphology of several cities. • Impossible to have a perfect pattern (hydrography and physiography).

22. The Township Model County limits 150 acres (1/4th of a section) 36 sections Main road Railway Township 6 miles

23. Counties, Great Plains States

24. Continental Expansion • Air conditioning • Rose during the post-WWII period. • Ability to achieve interior climate control. • Made several parts of the country much more livable during the summer months: • Tremendous impact in Florida and in the states of the Southwest and California. • States that have registered the highest rates of population growth during the post-war period, far surpassing the rest of the country. • Also resulted in the amenities migrations of many retired persons, seeking to avoid the harshness of northern winters. • Massive migrations by the older age population.

25. Continental Expansion • Moving people, goods and information • A mean for territorial control and constant challenge. • Overcome with technology and infrastructures. • Mobility is a key element of the American society. • Three phases of technological change • 1) To the middle of the 19th century: • Waterways and trails. • Development limited. • 2) From the middle of the 19th century: • Railways. • Territorial development expanded with regional specialization. • 3) The 20th century: • Roads. • Space became a commodity.

26. Continental Expansion • Transportation • Supports the economic efficiency of the United States and Canada. • Comes with high energy and infrastructure costs. • Transportation uses 27% of all the energy. • The American mode of territorial occupation consumes 3 times more energy than the European mode.

27. Continental Expansion • Interstate Highway System • Built since the 1950s: • Peak construction during the 1960s. • Mainly completed by 1991. • Currently about 45,000 miles of highways. • Construction slowed down significantly. • Trans Canadian highway is the Canadian equivalent. • Changes in urban morphology: • The construction of beltways has changed the nature of spatial interactions within metropolitan areas. • Reduced the dominance of the CBD (downtown). • Providing an alternative locational choice - both for commercial and residential activities. • From uninodal to multinodal regions.

28. The Interstate Highway System

29. Continental Expansion • Impacts on businesses: • Attracted by the lower land rents in the suburbs (and beyond) where the beltways are located. • Availability of parking space. • Proximity to suppliers and customers. • Individual families: • The interstates made commuting much easier (more distance for the same amount of time). • Car ownership increased dramatically, as the result of the increased affluence of the post-war economic boom. • Public transport was relatively neglected in this process.

30. Continental Expansion • Suburban America • Made possible by available land made accessible by highways and personal mobility. • Reflects American ideals of private ownership and individualism: • Attracted by the more spacious surroundings for housing. • Fled the cities with all of their urban problems. • Increase in the size of housing units. • Automobile dependency. • Future of suburbanization?

33. D Regions of the Realm • Canada • Similar to Russia: • Continental scale. • Nordicity. • High dependency to the United States: • Trade 75%. • Finance. • Resources are in the north while population is in the south. • Provinces and territories combined in a federal system.

34. Regions of the Realm • The North American Core • Demographic, economic, corporate and cultural weight: • Financial markets. • Corporate HQs. • Media and cultural centers. • Dynamical component including the Megalopolis, the Midwest, southern New England and southern Ontario. • A third of American and Canadian populations. • Obsolescence issues: • Snow belt vs. Sun belt. • Restructuring of the economy.

35. Regions of the Realm • Maritime Northeast • Three US states: • Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. • Four Canadian provinces: • Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and newest province of Newfoundland and Labrador. • First settled: proximity to Europe. • Strong regional identity. • Maritime orientation: • Low quality agricultural land. • Importance of fishing, but declining resources.

36. Commercial Harvests in the Northwest Atlantic of Some Fish Stocks, 1950-95 (in 1,000 metric tons)

37. Regions of the Realm • French Canada • Linguistic and cultural distinctiveness. • Along the St. Lawrence Valley settled in “long lots”. • Montreal is the second largest French-speaking city in the world. • Significant lumber, mining and hydroelectric resources.

38. Regions of the Realm • The Continental Interior • Dominance of agriculture: • Constitute a tremendous agricultural resource for a sparsely populated population. • Spring wheat in the north: • Planted in the early Spring and harvested in the early Fall. • Winter wheat in the south: • Planted in the Fall and harvested in the Spring. • Corn / soybean in the middle: • Soybeans are the cheapest source of protein. • Rotated with corn production. • Urban centers linked with agricultural processing.

39. North American Regional Agricultural Specialization

40. Regions of the Realm • The South • Used to be lagging behind the snow belt. • Part of the “sun belt”. • “Right-to-work” States, which do not promote social protection and unions. • Acute economic inequalities. • The Southwest • Bicultural regional complex: • Anglo-Americans and Latino-Americans. • Foundations: • Air conditioning. • Water supply. • The automobile.

41. Regions of the Realm • The Western Frontier • Traditionally mining and lumber. • Highly dynamical area. • Low intensity agriculture (ranching). • 90% of the development confined to a few poles: • Las Vegas: 30 million tourists per year. • Denver, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. • Correspond to oasis.

42. Regions of the Realm • The Northern Frontier • Most of it in Canada with the exception of Alaska. • Many natural resources, but difficult to access: • Distances. • Permafrost. • Low populations concentrated along extraction sites. • Tar sands of Northern Alberta: • More oil than Saudi Arabia. • Trapped as bitumen in sand formations.

43. Regions of the Realm • The Pacific Hinge • The new front of North American immigration: • From the Pacific Rim and Latin America. • California: • Most populated and multiethnic state. • 36 million, larger than the population of Canada. • 6th largest economy in the world. • Core of new technological activities: • Silicon valley. • Seattle: aeronautic (Boeing) and software (Microsoft).