ALASKA AND HAWAII: THE NEWEST STATES
Regions of the United States
The northeast
The Northeast includes the states of New England and the Middle Atlantic region, the nation’s most densely populated area. From the north, the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Together with Virginia in the south, they comprise the oldest settlement areas in the United States. Historic sites dating back to colonial times dot the region. Farming and fishing are significant, but industry, manufacturing and commerce are the most important economic activities.
With its high population density concentrated mainly in cities near the coast like Boston, New York and Philadelphia, much of the Northeast remains rural. Small towns and picturesque villages are spread throughout the region. The largest area of unspoiled nature – mountains, lakes and forests – remind the visitor that it was largely all wilderness only a little over two centuries ago.
The Northeast is one of the most historic areas of the country. The roots of democracy in the United States stretch back to the Mayflower Compact, an agreement drawn up in 1620 by colonists from England. Called “Pilgrims”, they founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. Under the provisions (rules, regulations) of the Compact they decreed “just and equal laws” for all. The Declaration of Independence, enacted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1776, proclaimed that “all men are created equal”, and signaled the break of the American colonies from the British rule. The Constitution, with its later Bill of Rights, was adopted in Philadelphia in 1787 and has served as the basic law of the United States ever since. The tradition of American ingenuity and resourcefulness first developed in this section of the country where people from different cultures and backgrounds came together to establish a new nation. The simple side of life in the Northeast is hard work and small pleasures.
Megalopolis
The region known as Megalopolis is a heavily populated area extending more than 800 km (500 mi) along a northeast-southwest axis from southern Maine to southern Virginia. Although it encompasses only 130,000 sq km (50,000 sq mi), or about 1 percent of the continent, Megalopolis held some 45 million people in the late 1990s, the second largest population of any U.S. region. It contains the world's greatest concentration of urban areas. Three characteristics define Megalopolis as a distinct region: high population density, major urban centers growing toward one another, and a large demand for primary goods that are brought in from other regions.
The Atlantic Northeast
In great contrast to the highly urbanized character of Megalopolis, the Atlantic Northeast is mainly rural in character. It includes the less-populated, less-developed parts of northern New England and upper New York state. The southern boundary of this region skirts the northern edge of Megalopolis just north of the urbanized areas of Portland, Maine, the Merrimack Valley in New Hampshire, the small cities of western Massachusetts, and the Mohawk Valley of New York. On the west and north, the region is bounded by Canada. The Atlantic Ocean forms the eastern boundary. The Atlantic Northeast is a land of bare rock, thin soils, rugged coastlines, swift streams, and slow-growing forests. Because of its location away from the highly populated and economically active urban core, this region developed its own unique way of life characterized by a high degree of self-reliance. Often families live in the same community for generations. Many communities celebrate local holidays that date to colonial times. In addition, unlike more urbanized regions of the nation, the presence of the forest and the sea continue to have a direct influence on people's lives. In rural areas, the house of the nearest neighbor is often beyond sight and sound, while the most dramatic presence is that of undeveloped natural environment.
THE SOUTHEAST (& APPALACHIA)
The history and traditions of the South (historically – South, regionally – Southeast) have created a sense of strong regional loyalty in Americans from the Southern states. For almost a century following the Civil War, which divided North and South overthe issue of slavery, the region was economically depressed. Today, although agriculture – the plantation crops of tobacco, sugar cane and cotton – is still very important, an industrial boom has made the "New South" one of the fastest growing regions of the United States.
The first permanent settlement was the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in 1607. By 1733, Maryland, North and South Carolina, and Georgia had been established as English settlements. The South continued to expand in the 19th and 20th centuries, but not at the same pace as the Northeast, and there are fewer areas of high population density. Besides those mentioned, the Southern States include Delaware, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. The port cities of Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana are two of the largest cities in the South.
There are two main groups of Southerners: those descended from white English, Irish and Scottish colonists and immigrants, and those descended from the vast numbers of black Africans who were brought in as slaves to work on the plantations. The exploitation of slave labor created a Southern life style for the white owners that left a tradition of “graciousness".
The Appalachian Mountains – a part of the southeast region - were formed nearly 230 million years ago and are the oldest mountains in North America. The chain extends from Canada to central Alabama. Where it runs through Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee, although geographically part of the South, it also forms a distinct region of its own: Appalachia. Here the mountains are separated by ridges into valleys and sections called "gaps" or "hollows." Mining and lumbering are important economic activities of the area. Agriculture in the mountains is largely subsistence farming: small crops for home consumption and sale. The great scenic beauty of the mountains attracts many tourists to recreational areas and national parks.
The people are as rugged as the mountains. The southern Appalachians were settled by Scottish and English-immigrants from Virginia in the 18th century. While the rest of the settlers pushed westward, the highlanders stayed put in their mountain hollows, preserving a unique cultural heritage and distinct folk traditions. The songs, dances, crafts, even the speech forms of the people from Appalachia can be traced directly to those brought across the Atlantic by their colonial ancestors. Jesse Stuart, an American writer, wrote that these people – his people – remain among the holdouts (уклонение от чего-л.; стремление остаться в стороне; тот, кто отказывается/ уклоняется от участия в чем-л.)against an American mass culture.
THE SOUTHWEST
The sun-baked wide open spaces of the Southwest recall the title of a popular song ofthe 1940's: "Don't Fence Me In." The Southwestern states of Oklahoma, Texas, NewMexico, and Arizona are, however, in one of the fastest growing regions of the United States,with cities like Houston and Dallas leading the way. The discovery of oil in Oklahoma and Texas brought industrialization to the Southwest that was once known only for its huge cattle ranches, cotton fields and desert scenery.
The region was originally under Mexican rule, but in 1836 settlers in Texas revolted. They declared their independence fromMexico and requested U.S. statehoodwhich was granted nine years later. Arizona and New Mexico were acquired as part of the Mexican Cession following a war between the United States and Mexico, 1846 to 1848. Oklahoma was part of the Louisiana Purchase, acquired from France in 1803. It was reserved as Indian territory. Whites were forbidden to settle there until the westward press became too strong and the land was opened for homesteads in 1889.
The natural wonders of the region include the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, where the river flows through a spectacular gorge in Arizona. The Southwest is a rich mix of cultures – European, Mexican and Indian, Spanish is spoken as a first or second language y many of the people of the region. Though this coming together of cultures might create some of the problems.
THE MIDWEST
The Interior Plains region stretches from the Appalachians in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and forms a great central basin that is the Midwest. From east to west, this central part of the United States includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. It is a vast area with large stretches of fertile farmland and open prairies. Enormous quantities of grain are raised in the prairie region, the "breadbasket" of the nation. The region is also important for dairy farming and livestock raising. The large industrial cities of Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Cleveland are located in the Midwest.
The five Great Lakes in the northeastern part of the region between the United States and Canada were formed thousands of years ago by glaciers. This is the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world. Along with the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers, the lakes provide a vital inland water transportation route.
While the physical characteristics of the Northern Forests region extend through much of central Canada and Alaska, the portion that lies within the contiguous United States is limited to the upper Great Lakes area. This region includes much of northeastern Minnesota as well as northern Wisconsin and Michigan. The common characteristics that make the Northern Forests a distinctive region are its vast forests and its abundant rivers and lakes. The region’s economy focuses on the export of a few primary products via the shipping routes of the Great Lakes.
Pioneers in the westward movement of the 19th century had pushed through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and across the Mississippi into the Great Plains by the 1830's. One of the tragedies of this westward expansion was the expulsion of local Indian tribes from their ancestral lands. As pioneers took over their land, eastern Indians were forced further and further west. The Plains Indians rose against the white settlers and fought to keep the territories. But by the end of the 19th century they had been almost entirely subdued in a series of battles between the Indians and the United States Army.
In the 20th century the farms and towns were established by descendants of pioneer settlers from Germany, Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries, eastern and southern Europe. Black Americans in large: numbers began to leave the South at the time of the First World War. Many of them migrated to the Midwest where they hoped to find better jobs and an escape from the injustices of racial discrimination. This region today forms the Heartland of the nation.
The Ozarks (the Ozark region) lying mainly in Missouri and Arkansas resemble the Appalachian.These two regions of hill-and-mountain country have similar physical and cultural characteristics. Although there are geological differences between the Appalachian and Ozark areas, both are dominated by steep slopes and narrow valleys. As a result, towns and cities compete with highways, railroads, industrial and commercial enterprises, and fast-moving streams for the small amount of flat land. In addition, both Appalachia and the Ozarks have a history of depressed economic conditions and are sparsely populated.
THE WEST (The Rocky Mountains Region, the Pacific Northwest and california region)
The Rocky Mountain States (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada) and the Pacific Coast States (Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii) compose the Western part of the United States. The Rocky Mountain States are relatively thinly populated, but California ranks first among all fifty states, with a population of over 23 million. This is more than the total population of all the other Western states combined. Denver, the "Mile High" capital of Colorado (архит. mile-high – высотой в милю; рекл. the Mile-High City – г. Денвер), Los Angeles in California, and Seattle in the state of Washington are among the largest cities in the West. Much of the region is unsettled however. Some of it is wasteland with little plant life, but much of it is forested mountains, grazing lands for livestock, broad fertile valleys, and dramatic desert.
The Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain system in North America. The Continental Divide passes through these mountains. All water from the western slopes will flow into the Pacific Ocean. Water from streams on the eastern side of the mountains will eventually reach the Atlantic. The Rocky Mountains formed a barrier to the westward pioneer movement until the region was crossed by the nation's first transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific, in the 1860's. The Pacific States also have beautiful rugged mountains in the Coast Range, and the last remaining stands of towering redwoods anywhere in North America.
The population of the West is made up chiefly of people of European descent, with large minority groups of people of Mexican, black, and Asian ancestry. Large numbers of Chinese laborers were brought in to work on the transcontinental railroad in the nineteenth century. Their descendents and more recent immigrants live in large numbers in a colorful section (колоритный квартал) of San Francisco, California, that is known as "Chinatown."
ALASKA AND HAWAII: THE NEWEST STATES
By 1853 the present borders of the United States, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, had been established. Until 1959 there were 48 states and 48 stars in the "Stars and Stripes," as the flag of the United States is called. Then in 1959 two territories were granted statehood: Alaska became the 49th and Hawaii the 50th state.
These two states provide a wealth of contrasts. One is in the tropical zone, an ocean paradise of flowers, exotic trees, brilliant birds; the other touches the Arctic, a land of icebergs and polar bears. Alaska is the largest state with the fewest people. Its original inhabitants, the Eskimos, crossed overthe Bering Strait centuries ago. Hawaii ranks 39th in population. Its original inhabitants, Polynesians, sailed across thousands of kilometers of the Pacific Ocean over a thousand years ago. Both states are famous for their exciting scenery. Alaska has glacial peaks and deep narrow inlets of the sea called fiords, as well as some of the largest wilderness areas in the United States. Hawaii has active volcanoes and beaches where huge waves attract surfboarders from around the world.
The Alaska region includes the entire state of Alaska and encompasses approximately one-sixth of the total landmass of the United States, with about 1,600,000 sq km (about 615,000 sq mi) in area. The 2,600-kilometer-long (1,600-mile-long) string of tropical islands, islets, and reefs known as the Hawaiian Islands is the smallest geographic region in the United States, covering a total area of 28,311 sq km (10,931 sq mi). The region is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, more than 3,200 km (2,000 mi) southwest of California. The majority of the land area is concentrated on eight islands, with the largest and easternmost island of Hawaii possessing almost twice as much area as the other seven major islands combine. Hawaii is the only island state of the United States. It has a tropical climate and spectacular mountain scenery that attracts millions of tourists each year. The population is varied, composed of a mix of Asian immigrants, native Hawaiians, and settlers from the U.S. mainland.
For the teacher:
Sources: American Patchwork, Betty Keene Taska (a collection of American short stories for advanced students of English), 1993 + America in Close-up + additional information from the I-net.