US Geography for US History Classes - By Lumos Learning
00:0-1 | Hi and welcome to Mr Raymond's Social Studies Academy for | |
00:03 | US history , the first in our series for those | |
00:06 | taking early United States history . And today we will | |
00:09 | look at how the geography of the United States helped | |
00:12 | shape us history . The U . S is the | |
00:15 | third largest country in the world , after Russia and | |
00:18 | Canada , with over 3.8 million square miles . Made | |
00:22 | up of flat coastal plains , rolling hills , mountains | |
00:26 | , deserts and productive farmland , the U . S | |
00:28 | shares land borders with Canada to its north and Mexico | |
00:33 | To its south , it has the Atlantic Ocean on | |
00:35 | its east coast , the Gulf of Mexico to the | |
00:38 | south , east and the Pacific Ocean on the West | |
00:40 | Coast . This is what's known as a physical map | |
00:44 | , and you can see a wide variety of topography | |
00:47 | or natural features across this vast country . In addition | |
00:51 | to providing fishing and shipping opportunities to the United States | |
00:56 | , the Atlantic Ocean has historically provided a large buffer | |
01:00 | to world events that took place in Europe , home | |
01:02 | of the first settlers to America and the location of | |
01:06 | many world conflicts . The Pacific Ocean provides similar economic | |
01:11 | opportunities and separation from events in Asia , providing the | |
01:15 | backdrop to the Pacific campaign of World War Two against | |
01:18 | the Japanese . The Gulf of Mexico provides another location | |
01:22 | for ports , fishing and tourism and offshore oil drilling | |
01:26 | , which has been controversial since the BP oil spill | |
01:30 | of 2000 and 10 . The United States has a | |
01:32 | vast river system , some of which you will need | |
01:35 | to identify for your class , including the mighty Mississippi | |
01:39 | , which connects to the Missouri and Ohio rivers . | |
01:42 | The Rio Grande running along our border with Mexico . | |
01:45 | The Colorado River , which runs through the Grand Canyon | |
01:49 | . The ST Lawrence , which borders Canada , and | |
01:52 | the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest , which is | |
01:55 | also shared with Canada . Of course , there are | |
01:57 | many other smaller rivers that run throughout the United States | |
02:02 | . One river that we didn't mention that would play | |
02:04 | an important role in the founding of the United States | |
02:07 | is the Hudson River , with New York City located | |
02:10 | right at its base , which would be occupied by | |
02:12 | the British crossing . The Hudson , controlled by British | |
02:15 | ships , would be a challenge for General Washington's troops | |
02:19 | throughout the Revolutionary War , which we will be learning | |
02:22 | about soon . The Rio Grande was also the scene | |
02:25 | of military conflicts in the Mexican American War . Originally | |
02:29 | part of Mexico , the Rio Grande was negotiated as | |
02:33 | the border between the US and Mexico . The Mississippi | |
02:36 | River was especially important to the development of the United | |
02:40 | States as it runs right through what is referred to | |
02:43 | as the bread basket of the U . S . | |
02:45 | It's rich farmland . As you can see , many | |
02:49 | Midwestern cities are located along the Mississippi and its tributaries | |
02:53 | , including Minneapolis , Chicago , Indianapolis , Kansas City | |
02:58 | , ST Louis , Cincinnati , Louisville , Nashville , | |
03:03 | Memphis and , of course , New Orleans . At | |
03:06 | the base of the Mississippi . These rivers again played | |
03:08 | a crucial role to the development of the U . | |
03:10 | S . Because they allowed farmers to transport their goods | |
03:14 | to the East Coast and then maybe off to Europe | |
03:17 | or other destinations . In the days before cars and | |
03:20 | trucks and railroads , the river supplied the crucial transportation | |
03:24 | networks needed for the building of America . When the | |
03:27 | early settlers left the East Coast in search of new | |
03:31 | farmlands , the Midwest supplied the fertile flat lands that | |
03:34 | they were looking for in this area continues to supply | |
03:37 | much of the food that we eat today . Much | |
03:40 | of this area is known as the Great Plains , | |
03:43 | a plane is a large , flat area with few | |
03:46 | trees . The Great Plains , where the setting of | |
03:48 | a lot of conflicts with the Native Americans living there | |
03:51 | conflicts that you will be learning about later this year | |
03:54 | . Located in the north of the Midwest on the | |
03:57 | border with Canada are the Great Lakes . Some of | |
04:00 | you are going to have to memorize the Great Lakes | |
04:02 | . The largest is Lake Superior , and you can | |
04:05 | remember that by its name , Lake Michigan is where | |
04:07 | Chicago and Milwaukee are located . Lake Huron is the | |
04:11 | second most northern of the Great Lakes , and it's | |
04:14 | attached to Lake Michigan . Remember Lake Ontario and Erie | |
04:18 | As the smallest of the five , Lake Erie is | |
04:20 | the southernmost , with Ohio and Pennsylvania on its borders | |
04:24 | , and Lake Ontario is north of Erie and the | |
04:27 | farthest east , with the Canadian city of Toronto located | |
04:30 | on its coast , the Great Lakes are massive . | |
04:33 | If you've ever been to Chicago looking out at Lake | |
04:36 | Michigan , it's almost like you're staring out in the | |
04:38 | notion the lakes provide shipping opportunities . And we're the | |
04:41 | location of several battles during the French and Indian War | |
04:45 | and the War of 18 12 , both involving the | |
04:47 | British Navy . In 18 25 the Erie Canal was | |
04:51 | completed , opening up a transportation system between the Great | |
04:55 | Lakes and the Eastern Seaboard . This incredible feat of | |
04:58 | civil engineering cut transportation costs dramatically for commercial shipping from | |
05:04 | the northern Midwest to the East Coast , with over | |
05:07 | 12,000 miles of coastline bays , harbors and inlets have | |
05:11 | also played an important role in the development of the | |
05:14 | United States . One of these that was crucial during | |
05:17 | the Revolutionary War was Chesapeake Bay , located between Virginia | |
05:21 | , Maryland and Delaware . The Chesapeake was the center | |
05:24 | for the pivotal battle of the war . Yorktown , | |
05:27 | in which French ships providing aid to the United States | |
05:30 | blocked English troops from escaping Virginia and helped clinch the | |
05:34 | victory for the United States . Another inlet that played | |
05:37 | a role in the Revolutionary War was Long Island Sound | |
05:41 | . A sound is a longer sea or ocean inlet | |
05:44 | , and Long Island Sound is located between New York's | |
05:47 | Long Island and Connecticut . The British used Long Island | |
05:50 | Sound to attack several Connecticut towns . We will also | |
05:54 | be covering . The pilgrims this year landed first on | |
05:58 | Cape Cod before settling in Plymouth . A cape is | |
06:01 | a body of land extending into the Sea . Cape | |
06:05 | Cod is located just south of Boston and provided the | |
06:07 | backdrop for one of America's earliest historic events . As | |
06:11 | we mentioned , America has several different mountain rages , | |
06:15 | and to that , you will be asked to identify | |
06:17 | are the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains . The Appalachians run | |
06:22 | along the east coast of the United States , and | |
06:24 | these mountains provided a dividing line for early settlers to | |
06:28 | the U . S . Who set up their farms | |
06:30 | to the east of these mountains while America was still | |
06:33 | part of England . The British Parliament passed the Proclamation | |
06:37 | Act of 17 63 forbidding the colonists to settle lands | |
06:41 | west of the Appalachians . This act was one of | |
06:44 | the causes of tensions between the colonists in England that | |
06:48 | you will need to identify later in the year . | |
06:50 | The Rocky Mountains , located much further west , would | |
06:53 | not play a big role until much later in U | |
06:56 | . S history . When gold was discovered near San | |
06:59 | Francisco in 18 48 and nine , Eastern settlers flocked | |
07:03 | to the west coast of the United States . But | |
07:05 | the Rocky Mountains provided a serious challenge to settlers traveling | |
07:10 | by horse drawn wagons . Now we showed you before | |
07:13 | a physical map of the United States . But you're | |
07:15 | probably more familiar with this one , which is known | |
07:18 | as a political map dividing the country into its 50 | |
07:21 | states . My class will be asked to identify all | |
07:24 | 50 states and a map , and you might , | |
07:26 | too . Another thing you might be asked to identify | |
07:29 | is what's known as an absolute location . This uses | |
07:33 | latitude and longitude lines to identify an exact location on | |
07:37 | a map . You might also be asked to identify | |
07:40 | regions of the United States , which are often divided | |
07:43 | into the Northeast , the South , the Midwest and | |
07:47 | the West . Your teacher might want you to get | |
07:49 | more specific and identify New England , the Middle Atlantic | |
07:53 | , the South Atlantic and so on . Now , | |
07:56 | the last thing to consider when looking at us geography | |
07:59 | is how territorial expansion took place from the original 13 | |
08:04 | colonies . As more and more immigrants came to America | |
08:07 | , people moved west as most of the land on | |
08:10 | the East Coast was taken . States were added as | |
08:13 | more people moved to a certain location in 18 oh | |
08:15 | three . The amount of land owned by the United | |
08:18 | States was almost doubled when President Thomas Jefferson pushed through | |
08:22 | the Louisiana purchase from France for a measly $15 million | |
08:27 | . You can see that in 18 19 , Florida | |
08:30 | was acquired from Spain about 30 years later , the | |
08:33 | war between the US and Mexico provided another massive amount | |
08:36 | of land , including present day Texas , New Mexico | |
08:40 | , Arizona and California . Around that same time , | |
08:43 | the Pacific Northwest was officially acquired from the British again | |
08:48 | . This westward expansion was fueled as massive amounts of | |
08:51 | Europeans fled to the United States . The idea that | |
08:55 | America should expand west was known as manifest destiny that | |
09:00 | we were destined to populate this land from coast to | |
09:03 | coast free or cheap land was offered by the homestead | |
09:07 | acts to spur settlers to populate this area . When | |
09:11 | the first transcontinental railroads were built , travel time across | |
09:15 | the country decreased dramatically . The Panama Canal , completed | |
09:19 | in 1914 , also greatly reduce the shipping time and | |
09:23 | travel time by boat between the two coasts . Nowadays | |
09:26 | , Americans can travel across the country on a variety | |
09:29 | of interstate highways , opening our vast country to everyone | |
09:33 | , and that's where we'll end our brief look at | |
09:35 | the geography of the United States . So let's review | |
09:38 | what are the two major mountain ranges in the United | |
09:41 | States ? The Appalachian and the Rockies . This major | |
09:45 | river runs through the middle of the country into New | |
09:48 | Orleans . The Mississippi . This cape was where the | |
09:52 | pilgrims first landed . Cape Cod . This river runs | |
09:57 | through New York City and was important during the Revolutionary | |
10:00 | War . The Hudson . This river separates the U | |
10:04 | . S . From Mexico . The Rio Grant . | |
10:07 | This massive purchase of land from France almost doubled the | |
10:11 | size of the United States . The Louisiana purchase . | |
10:15 | These developments greatly decrease the amount of time it took | |
10:19 | to travel across the country , the transcontinental railroad , | |
10:23 | the Panama Canal and the interstate highway system . Here's | |
10:27 | a typical state exam review question . This one's for | |
10:30 | the New York region's river systems were important to the | |
10:34 | development of the United States because they , a allowed | |
10:37 | Americans to travel easily between the East Coast and the | |
10:41 | West Coast . Be prevented . Foreign invasion of US | |
10:44 | territory . See provided routes for shipping , agricultural and | |
10:49 | manufacturing products , or D made southeast the major destination | |
10:53 | for immigrants , which one was important to the development | |
10:57 | that would be C provided routes for shipping , agricultural | |
11:01 | and manufacturing products . The Homestead Act and grants of | |
11:05 | land to railroads were used to a raise money to | |
11:09 | finance the federal government , be limit the influence of | |
11:12 | monopolies and trusts . See support the development of state | |
11:16 | universities or D encouraged settlement of the West . Remember | |
11:21 | , the Homestead Act gave people freelance to move west | |
11:24 | , so this was d encourage the settlement of the | |
11:29 | West , and that's it . I want to thank | |
11:32 | you guys for watching . Be sure to subscribe . | |
11:34 | This is just the beginning of our look at us | |
11:37 | history . Just reminder teachers that this power point with | |
11:40 | lesson plans , activities and other resources are available . | |
11:44 | Teachers pay teachers . Just click the link in the | |
11:46 | notes below , or go to teachers , pay teachers | |
11:49 | and search for Mr Raymond's Civics Academy . |
DESCRIPTION:
This PowerPoint, with activities, and lesson plans are available @: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/S...â This lesson teaches students about how U.S. geography has shaped events throughout the history of the United States. This lesson was designed for students taking US History classes. Students will be asked to identify major geographical features including our major rivers, mountain ranges, the Chesapeake Bay, Cape Cod, and Long Island Sound. Students will be exposed to physical maps, political maps, and absolute location. Students will also learn how territorial expansion took place and how land was acquired. Like most of the videos on Mr. Raymondâs Civics and Social Studies Academyâs lessons, this video ends with a review âquiz.â Remember that the PowerPoint in this video as well as a variety of lesson plans, worksheets, smartboard files and activities, are available at Teachers Pay Teachers. As a social studies teacher, I have often looked for good YouTube video clips to show my students. I hope these videos will serve as a supplement to lessons for civics teachers, US history teachers, US government teachers and their students. I have also thought that these videos could help those who are going to take the naturalization test to become US Citizens.
OVERVIEW:
US Geography for US History Classes is a free educational video by Lumos Learning.
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