1. Alex Alex
Figueroa
The Where and the Why of Figueroa
Period 2 Our Country (USA) Period 2
2. Physical Geography: Climate
and Terrain
Climate: Vastly different
climates, mostly temperate.
Terrain: Many different
mountains in different areas.
3. Physical Geography: Natural
Resources
Coal: Spread around the US
Copper: South west, North west
Phosphate Mining: Majority in
Florida
Lead and other minerals
4.
5. History: Pre-Revolutionary War –
Acts that Heated the Americans
The Sugar Act (April 5, 1764)
The Stamp Act (March 22, 1765)
The Quartering Act (March 24,
1785)
The Tea Act (May 10, 1773)
6. History: Pre-Revolutionary War –
Boston’s Rebellious Ways
The Boston Massacre (March 5,
1770)
The Boston Tea Party
(December 16, 1773)
The Intolerable Acts (1774)
7. History: Revolutionary War
We started the war with George
Washington as the general and
we retreated a lot due to
cowardice.
We had some help winning the
war.
9. Political Geography: Not just
50?
The United States acquired territories that
aren’t actually part of the 50 states.
1. Midway Islands (1867)
2. Puerto Rico (1898)
3. American Samoa (1899)
10. Political Geography: Not just
50? Continued…
The United States acquired territories that
aren’t actually part of the 50 states.
1. Virgin Islands (1927)
2. Northern Mariana Islands (1947)
3. Guam (1950)
11. Political Geography: The
Electoral College.
Was put in place to balance a
congress vote to a populate
vote.
When you vote, it doesn’t count
directly, but it counts indirectly.
Electoral votes are based on the
number of people in congress.
13. Urban Geography: Top 3
Urban Cities
1. New York City, New York
2. Los Angeles, California
3. Chicago, Illinois
14. Urban Geography:
Washington D.C.
Washington D.C. is the Capital
City of the United States
Washington D.C. has many
attractions.
Smithsonian
National
Monuments and
Memorials
Tours
17. Population, Migration: Ethnic
Groups
White (79.96%)
Black (12.85%)
Asian (4.43%)
Amerindian and Alaska native
(0.97%)
Native Hawaiian and Other
Pacific Islander (0.18%)
Basic Info: Capital: Washington D.C. Geographic coordinates: 38 00 N 97 00 W Amount of arable land: 18.01% Total renewable water resources: 3,069 Lowest point: Death Valley -86m Highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m The United States is third largest country in size (after the countries of Russia and Canada), and is the third largest in population (after China and India).
Climate: Most of the United States has a temperate climate. These include the tropical rain-forest in Hawaii and the tropical savanna in Florida (where the Everglades are located) and to the sub arctic and tundra climates found in Alaska. There is a dividing line in the United Sates called the 100 th meridian which divides the dry climate from the humid climates. East of this meridian is the SE of the United States which is humid subtropical, and the NE of the United States which is humid continental. West of this meridian is the steppe climate and grasslands of the Great Plains. You will also see trees along the water courses. You will find the hottest and driest spots of the United States in the SW portion with the deserts of the basin and range province. There is a Mediterranean-type of climate from S California to South East Alaska (along the Pacific coast). There are many forestry areas including the Rocky mountains, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada. Terrain: The terrain in the United States contains a vast costal plain, mountains in the western side, hills and low mountains in the eastern side, mountains and river valleys in Alaska, and Volcanoes in Hawaii.
Coal: Coal was not discovered when America’s founders first settled in the 1600s. This is because they had no idea that there was coal underneath them. The first coal discovered and shown on a map in the United States was discovered by Louis Joliet and Father Jaques Marquette in the Illinois River. Coal was being mined on “Coal Hill,” which is now called Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania around the late 1700s. Americans found many ways to use coal in the 1800s (example: heat salt brines to provide a source of salt in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1814). The Coal industry grew tremendously in 1839 with the invention of the steam shovel. This is the biggest and most used/useful resource in the United States. Copper: Copper ore normally is crushed, ground, and concentrated. Over half of the copper consumed in the United states is made of recycled scraps of copper. Copper is found highly in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Montana, and Michigan. Phosphate: Phosphate mining is mostly found in central Florida in an are called Bone Valley.
This is a map of the 50 States that make up the United States of America. The capital is Washington D.C, which is not actually a state, just a province. The D.C. stands for District of Columbia. Alaska and Hawaii are not part of the United States’ Body. Alaska is connected to the North Western corner of Canada, and the Pacific Ocean. Each state has a nickname (example: Florida “the Sunshine State” and New York “the Big Apple”.
Note: Around this time period, the British colonized America. There were 13 original colonies which were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia. The Sugar Act: The Sugar Act of April 5, 1764 was actually a renewed version of the original one made in 1733 which was about to expire. This act was created by the British Parliament to created a tax on sugar and molasses, but it backfired. In result of the negative affect and the rebellion of the Americans., the act was cancelled. Stamp Act: Like the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act was a tax act. It put taxes on all stamps duties to be done in America, again created by the British Parliament. Unlike the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act was firmly defended by the Parliament and so it stayed for a while. Quartering Act: The Quartering Act was not another tax act. The Quartering Act was created by the British Parliament and it said that whenever a British Soldier knocks at your door, you have to let them in. Not only let them in, you have to provide food, water, and shelter to them, or you are punished by law. The Tea Act: The Tea Act was another tax act. It was created by British Parliament and it put taxes on tea. This act later backfired, especially in Boston, Massachusetts, where they had the Boston Tea Party. This was unfair in the eyes of the American because British basically had a monopoly on tea back then.
The Boston Massacre: On March 5 th , 1770, there was a “patriot mob” that assembled in Boston that wasn’t causing much harm. The British were warned not to shoot, but the Bostonians provoked them, so they shot. They killed 3 on the spot (a black sailor named Crispus Attucks, rope maker Samuel Gray, and a mariner named James Caldwell), 2 died later on (Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr), and 6 got badly wounded. This wasn’t really a Massacre, but with Paul Revere's painting of propaganda called “The Bloody Massacre” (shown on the bottom of the slide), it became a huge deal. The Boston Tea Party: As a result of the Tea Act, the rebellious Boston residents decided that they had enough of Britain’s foolish rules. On March 5, 1770 they tossed 342 chests of British Tea over the Boston Harbor. This crossed the line in the British eyes. The Intolerable Acts: After the Boston Tea Party, the British got pretty mad, maybe even over reacted a little bit. So the British made the Intolerable Acts, strictly for the Bostonians. They Included: The Boston Port Act: they closed the harbor down for shipping/importing The Administration of Justice Act: anyone who broke laws would be executed The Massachusetts Government Act: no more government for Massachusetts The Quartering Act: the previous one got cancelled, not for Boston The Quebec Act: Government linked to Quebec in North America
George Washington was chosen to be the general of the American Army and, as most American, was afraid of the British Army. Think about it, they were talking the biggest Army in the world that just won their war with the Spanish a while ago. The British were one of the biggest empires in the world at the time. The first battle started within America, as about 1/3 of America was a loyalist (loyal to Britain), 1/3 Patriot (against Britain) and 1/3 neutralists (later took on sides). The Patriots were faced with many wars an often retreated due to cowardice. George Washington lost many fighters in his untrained, unorganized army. We won only because we had certain help. Britain was not fighting on their home turf, so it made help and supplies delay, considering that they were far away. The Americans were bigger because they had all of their people, while British just had their army. It made that easier for the Americans to retreat because they knew the turf. Britain had just fought the Seven Years War, and they were seriously in debt, so they couldn’t support their army economically. The Americans were persistent. They were beaten but not destroyed. They continued to beg for supplies from congress, and they continued to train and fight again. The French helped us out directly and the Spanish and Dutch helped us out indirectly.
This is a cartoon created by Benjamin Franklin to motivate the people to join the war. He used the snake to resemble death, because when a snake is whole, it kills. It is flat out clear, Join or DIE!
Midway Islands: The Midway Islands is a U.S. territory northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. This area was claimed by Captain N.C. Brooks in 1859 (but not officially added into the United States until 1867) . It was placed under control of the U.S. navy in 1903 by president Theodore Roosevelt. The Midway Islands became a link between Hawaii and Guam later in the late 1900s. Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico is a self-governing U.S. Territory which came into the U.S. in 1898. They are west of Virgin Islands. They had elections the same day as the United States for their governor Alejandro García Padilla to take office. Puerto Ricans are way more into politics than the United States even though they don’t vote for our president. They mainly speak Spanish. American Samoa: The American Samoa is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States. It was added into the United States in 1898. It is 93% urban and is 77 square miles. It has a high literacy rate of 99.45%. It has its own governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga, but is still under US leader Barrack Obama.
Virgin Islands: The Virgin Islands are a group of 90 islands that joined the United States in 1927. They are located east of Puerto Rico and are in the Caribbean Islands. These islands are split into two, the northeast side controlled by Britain, the southwest side controlled by the United States. Britain got the four biggest islands. Northern Mariana Islands: Just like Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands are a self-governing territory associated with the United States. They have a governor called Benigno R. Fitial. Not many things are known about this region, but it is an urban region. Guam: Guam is an organized region of the United States that joined in 1950. It is mostly for military purposes but it does have a governor named Eddie Calvo. Guam is located west of San Fransisco, east of Manila, and south of the Mariana Islands.
The Founding fathers had set this up. They recognized that the people need the power to vote. They also recognized that there are many uneducated people in this world so they put this system into the constitution. When you vote, it doesn’t count directly, but it counts indirectly. When you vote, you are voting for a set of people who are most likely going to vote for the candidate of your choice. The candidate with the most people in the state gets the state electoral votes. With this system, there is a possibility that one candidate can get the popular vote, but not the electoral vote. This has happened three times in history. In 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. Hayes won the electoral votes, but not the popular votes, and became president. In 1888 between Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland. Harrison won the spot without winning the popular vote. In 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Bush won, even though he didn’t win. What I find funny is when all three of these event happened, it was in favor of the Republicans. Electoral votes are based on the number of people in congress. Each state has two senators and the number of representatives is based on population.
This is a map of the United States electoral votes currently. The minimum number of electoral votes you can have in a state is 3. The top four states with the most electoral votes are California with 55 votes Texas with 34 votes New York with 31 votes Florida with 27 votes
New York City: New York City is the United State’s most urbanized city. It is located in the state of New York (obviously). New York city is a city full of attractions. These attractions include the African Burial ground, Brooklyn Brewery Tours, Central Park, Chelsea galleries, and much more. New York, with its busy streets and high crime rate, is located in the New England Territory. Los Angeles: Los Angeles is the second most urban city in the United States. It has many attractions that are costly, but they also have many that are free. For example, you can take pictures of the Hollywood sign. You can take a tour of the Los Angeles Central Public Library. You can also discover fossil fun. California is located on the west coast of the American body. Chicago: Chicago is the third most urban city in the United States. In Chicago, it is all about the art and culture. There is many concerts and art museums. There is even an art institute.
Washington D.C. (District of Columbia). This is where you would find the White House (the housing of the President), the Capitol building (congress) and the Supreme Court (top court in the judicial system). The capital location was chosen by George Washington even though he never lived there. The government is the major industry of Washington D.C. Washington D.C. has many attractions Smithsonian: The Smithsonian is an area where all the D.C. museums link up. You can visit all of them. The museums cover a whole lot of things (from art to space exploration). These museums are so convenient that you can watch and IMAX movie inside the museum. National Monuments and Memorials: There are many monuments and memorials everywhere. They light up these monuments at night. Tours: There are a large number of tours in Washington D.C. The most famous of these tours is the tour of the three branches of government (where you see the Capital building, the White House, and the Supreme Court).
There are three pictures of the main buildings you would find in Washington D.C. The one on the top left is the capitol building, home of the congress. The top right is the White House, home of the President. The bottom picture is the Supreme Court, home of the Judges.
These are two population pyramids that are 20 years apart. The one on the top (1990) resembles a population pyramid somewhat of prosperous country. You can easily see that there is a lot of babies but not a lot of old people. Since the United States is so populated, this isn’t really a problem. The Population Pyramid of 1990 resembles stage 2 (a little bit of stage 3) in the demographic transition model. The population pyramid of 2010 shows a major change. It shows a more working force. The Population Pyramid of 2010 has to be in the stage 3 of the Demographic Transition. The current population in the United States is 313,847,465 .
Ethnicity (% of them in America) White (79.96%), most came from Britain. Black (12.85%), most came from Africa. Asian (4.43%) Amerindian and Alaska native (0.97%) Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (0.18%)
Job Theft and Economic Harm: This has always been an immigration problem in the United States. There are an estimate of twelve million illegal immigrants in the United States now. Illegal immigrants bring curses to the United States. These curses are decreasing job opportunities for citizens, rising costs, injustice, and crime. Many Americans wants illegal immigrants to leave because they are mostly stuck with the side effects (such as unemployment, and rise in their daily costs.) Illegal immigrants heat up American because they get paid more for their jobs because they don’t pay taxes when paid “under the table”. Overstaying after expiry of Visa or Border Crossing Card (BBC): A Visa is a temporary permit for immigrants that are legal to work in the United States. Technically, you are not allow to work in America unless you have one, but sometimes people slip through. When an immigrant stays when the Visa Card or Border Crossing Card is expired, they now are stealing jobs and hurting our economy (like I mentioned above). Drug Smuggling: In Mexico, there was this lady who would, every morning, stuff drugs anywhere she could fit them. Every day, she would cross the border, sell her drugs, and bring it back home to her kids. First of all, she is doing illegal things even if she were a US citizen. Second of all, she Is taking money to her country that was made in the United States. This hurts are economy as well.
This shows where the Immigrants are coming from. There are 57% (more than half) coming from Mexico, 24% are coming from Other Latin Americas, 6% is coming Europe and Canada, 9% from Asia, and 4% from Africa and others. This says a lot about our neighboring country, Mexico. This is why we protect the border between Mexico and the United States so carefully.
The United States has suffered many periods of time to get to the economic development that we are in now. Many believe that the economy is bad here, but the economy surpasses those in many countries. In the world-system’s theory developed by John Meyer, the United States is categorized as a country with core processes. A country with core processes has higher levels of education, economic development, and better ways of living. They are also based on Industry. So with that definition, the economy in the United States is strong. There has been an attempt by our 7 th president Andrew Jackson to pay off the economic debt. He succeeded, but shortly after came the Great Depression, where the GDP lowered by 3.8 percent, which is the peak and the lowest drop we ever had as far as GDP.
This graph shows how government spending has brought the United States’ GDP down in comparison to Japan’s. We start above Japan and end WAY lower than Japan in the year 2000. There is an assumption from a European Central Bank study in 2011 that Government spending has gone way out of control, and that most of it is trash. Sure, there are some things that the government is supposed to sped money on, but government spending has gone spiraling out of control, and became a real problem. Although the living conditions of Americans is not so bad, the economy is crashing.
Internet Publishing And Broadcasting: This industry is popular because almost all Americans have internet access, and over half of the adults who have internet access read these publications, and over a third watch Web Videos. Companies get around $40 billion dollars a year, just based on the awareness caused by internet ads. The biggest opportunity for one in this field will have to be in the Online Videos category. E-Commerce And Online Auctions: This industry measures market size, and helps you make some money. The most popular website for E-Commerce And Online Auctions is ebay.com. On E-bay, you can sell your stuff and get paid on PayPal, and a whole lot of people use it. Biotechnology: Biotechnology is technology based on the findings of biology. It takes bio molecular molecules to develop technology and processes to better the world. This industry is in the medical field and offers many opportunities. Video Games: The Video Game Industry has been along for a while now, but the gaming age is still relevantly the same. The average age for a gamer is 34 years old, and the age where most people play M (Mature) rated games (meant for 17 years and above) is 12 years old. About 67% of U.S. households play video games, mostly from ages 18-49. This industry gets $10.5 billion in revenue.
Formal Wear and Costume Rental: Over the last decade, this industry has had a decline of over 35%. Ever since cheaper formal dresses been available, prom dates would prefer to buy formal attire rather than rent them. It also doesn’t help that less people dress up for occasions like they used to. Newspaper Publishing: This industry has declined by 39.5 percent in the past decade. This industry has declined because of the internet. Ever since the internet, people have turned away from their newspapers and onto their online News Pages. That is why many newspapers, like The New York Times’ , have webpages. Wired Telecommunications Carriers: In the last decade, this industry has dropped 54.9 percent. The reason for this major drops is cellphones and video communications. It is so much easier to handle a cellphone because you don’t have to remember anyone's number, and its portable. Most Americans don’t even have a house phone anymore. This industry is going down fast. Record Stores: Record Stores have dropped about 76.3 percent in the last decade. The reason is online music sharing and stores like iTunes. According to industry, the biggest destroyer or helper of an industry is the internet.
In the map, you see the most manufacturing states in the US Body. The darker the state, the more manufacturing there is in that state. The most manufacturing in the United States is in Arkansas, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Most of the failing industries are in the pale areas.
This chart shows the percent of each agriculture category and how much of it is a part of our agricultural system. 52% Livestock 21% from Fruits and Nuts 20% Grain and Oilseed 2% Cotton 5% Other Agriculture in the United States is really diverse and is the minority of the economy. Less than 1% of Americans have farms.
Corn: The United States is the world’s largest producer of corn, by far. You would see corn grown in over 400,000 farms in the U.S. Corn takes up ¼ of the crop acreage in this country. Corn can be fed as ground grain, silage, high-moisture, and high-oil corn. Soybeans: In the U.S., about 2.8 billion bushels of soybeans were harvested from almost 73 million acres dedicated to crops. The acreage dedicated to soybeans is almost that dedicated to corn. You can make soybean oil, meal, hulls, and many other Hay: The Hay production in the United States exceeds the amount of 150 million tons a year. The most useful crop that comes from hay is alfalfa. You can also make timothy, sudangrass, and bermudagrass hay. Wheat: There are over 240,000 farms that produce wheat located on the United State’s soil. About 13% of the world’s wheat and supplies about 25% of the world’s wheat export market is produced by the United States. Most of the production comes from the Great Plains (from Texas to Montana).
This map shows the areas of farmland per capita in the United states. The most farmlands comes from the middle of the United States body, including the Great Plains (from Texas to Montanna).
