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Unit 8 SS5G1-2 Geographical Understandings

In this unit, students will learn the importance of places in history, such as Chisholm Trail, Pittsburgh, PA, Kitty Hawk, NC, Pearl Harbor, HI, and Montgomery, AL in the US. Students will also begin to understand basic economic principles by learning about the relationship within production, distribution, and consumption and how the four sectors of the economy contribute to those principles.

SS5G1 Locate important places in the United States.

a. Locate important man-made places; include the Chisholm Trail; Pittsburgh, PA; Kitty Hawk, NC; Pearl Harbor, HI; Montgomery, AL.; and Chicago, IL.

I can locate the Chisholm Trail. (Knowledge)
I can locate Pittsburgh, PA. (Knowledge)
I can locate Kitty Hawk, NC. (Knowledge)
I can locate Pearl Harbor, HI. (Knowledge)
I can locate Montgomery, AL. (Knowledge)

Chisholm Trail

The Chisholm Trail is one of the known routes cowboys used to drive cattle great distances, this route ran from Texas, north through Oklahoma and Kansas with ending points as far north as Nebraska and Missouri.

During the height of cattle drives, the Chisholm Trail provided a means by which ranchers could move cattle from ranches to railroad lines. This allowed ranchers to sell cattle in markets in the east where they could make greater profits. This trail stretched from southern Texas to railroad hubs in Abilene, Kansas. This trail passed through numerous smaller cities and towns in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas on its way to Abilene.

Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh, PA is located where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River. Its location provided key water routes for transporting industrial resources and goods. It is still known as the “Steel City.”

After the Civil War, major cities such as Pittsburgh provided many industrial job opportunities. This factor explains why people MOST LIKELY moved to Pittsburgh after the Civil War. Advances in transportation and business opportunities caused an increase in population.

Pittsburgh also provided key water routes for transporting industrial resources.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, became important to the development of the United States in the twentieth century, due to the availability of resources used in the creation of steel.

The growth of American manufacturing during the late 19th and early 20th century was greatly affected by the growth of the steel industry. The Bessemer Process, a process to manufacture steel more cheaply, was brought to the United States where it increased steel manufacturing particularly in the Pittsburgh area. The steel industry grew here because of the region’s proximity to coal and waterways.

Kittyhawk, NC

Kitty Hawk, NC was the major transportation and industrial hub of the Midwest, located on Lake Michigan with easy access to the Mississippi River. Many immigrants settled here, causing its population to grow rapidly. This town on the Outer Banks, became famous as the site of the Wright brother’s first powered airplane flight in 1903.

Located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the tiny town of Kitty Hawk became famous following the Wright brothers’ successful powered, sustained, and controlled flight of an airplane in 1903. Taking advantage of the swift winds on the dunes of Kitty Hawk’s beaches, the Wright brothers successfully kept their craft in the air for a matter of seconds. Those seconds changed the world, as airplanes went from fantastical ideas to practical inventions.

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Pearl Harbor, HI lies in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between the U.S. mainland and Japan, it was thought to be too close to Japan and was the location for a surprise attack that was hoped to end the United States’ ability to stop Japanese expansion.

The Japanese attack on the United States’ naval fleet located in Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II. In this attack the American Navy at this port experienced massive destruction and casualties. Today, the harbor contains the wreckage of ships that were destroyed in the attack, as well as existing as an active memorial to the American military who lost their lives in Pearl Harbor and in the Pacific during World War II.

Montgomery, AL

Montgomery, AL is the site of a bus boycott that led to a US Supreme Court decision ending segregation on public buses, it also made Martin Luther King, Jr. a national figure and the recognized leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

This city is also known as the first capital of the Confederacy in the early Civil War period.

The capital of the state of Alabama, Montgomery, is well known as the site of Rosa Parks’ stand to end discrimination in public transportation. It is also known as an important location in the modern Civil Rights Movement because it was home to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the mid-1950’s. It was here where he began to spread his ideas about non-violent resistance to segregation.

SS5G2 Explain the reasons for the spatial patterns of economic activities.

a. Locate primary agricultural and industrial locations between the end of the Civil War and 1900 and explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have influenced these areas (e.g., Pittsburgh’s rapid growth in the late nineteenth century).

I can locate primary agricultural and industrial locations between the end of the Civil War and 1900. (Knowledge)
I can explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have influenced agricultural and industrial locations. (Knowledge)
I can explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources influenced Pittsburgh’s rapid growth in the late nineteenth century. (Knowledge)

Industrialization

After the Civil War, many factors affected this including available resources, large labor populations and accessibility to transportation. In the South, tobacco and cotton thrived. The North featured steel, railroad, textiles and oil. The Midwest farmers produced large amounts of corn, wheat and other products to be transported by train and sold to other parts of the country and overseas.

b. Locate primary agricultural and industrial locations since the turn of the 20th century and explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have influenced these areas (e.g., Chicago’s rapid growth at the turn of the century).

I can locate primary agricultural and industrial locations since the turn of the 20th century. (Knowledge)
I can explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources influenced primary agriculture and industrial locations at the turn of the 20th century. (Knowledge)
I can explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources influenced Chicago’s rapid growth at the turn of the 20th century. (Knowledge)

The Northeast region continued to develop as an urban industrialized region, while the South continued as a rural agricultural region. In the Midwest, the cattle industry grew with that region’s development while the discovery of gold and fertile farmland led to changes in the West.

Changes in technology led to mass production and assembly lines. These developments contributed to cars being mass produced and put their cost within the reach of more Americans. With cars, people could travel farther distances to work. Thus, this ease of mobility created modern suburbs. Public transportation also developed in cities and became important for urban mobility. Agricultural production shifted from small, family run farms to larger, more industrialized farms. With the invention of farm equipment, large modern farms developed that required fewer workers. The Midwest region, with its rich soil and accessible waterways, provided ideal environments for both agriculture and industries.

Population Increased

During the early 20th century, many regions of the United States experienced major changes in their economies and in their populations due to a decrease in agricultural opportunities and an increase in industrial opportunities in the United States.

THREE events caused people to move into cities during the early 1900s:

Farm work became industrialized.
There was steady employment in factories.
Transportation became cheaper and easier.

Chicago, IL

Large numbers of cattle were transported from Texas to Chicago after the Civil War. Transporting cattle from Texas to big cities was a very profitable business after the Civil War due to train transportation and the increased price of beef in big cities.

Chicago was first established as a city in 1837 and grew rapidly as a transportation and communication hub. It was a railroad and telegraph and telephone center, and grew rapidly as an industrial center at the turn of the century. The city had numerous stockyards, meatpacking plants, and railroad related factories, all of which needed laborers. It became a center of labor unrest too, since workers began demanding safer work conditions and fairer working hours and salaries, and owners resisted making such improvements. Department stores and catalog centers developed here, like Sears and Montgomery Ward, and sports stadiums were built to accommodate local teams. Because of huge numbers of immigrant laborers working in harsh conditions, many social problems arose related to the rapid population growth of the area. Jane Addams helped start the settlement house movement in the U.S. when she set up Hull House in Chicago to help her mostly immigrant neighbors navigate the perilous times.

The regions of the United States developed patterns of economic activities based on population, transportation, and resources. The south remained largely agricultural, while the North continued to develop as an industrial center. This industrial growth generated demand for faster and more economical methods of travel. Improved transportation, including the development of the Transcontinental Railroad, made it possible for natural resources to be shipped to eastern industrial sites, and for manufactured goods to be sent to where they were needed. In addition, transportation and economic changes led the American population to shift from being largely rural to more urban from the late 1800’s to the present. This change was significant because the increased populations in cities provided a workforce that was needed to increase manufacturing. Waterways remained an important method to transport goods and people. Rivers, canals, and seaports were essential to commerce and employment.

Industrial Cities

The northern region of the U.S. was where the majority of the industries and economic opportunities were available. from 1900-1969.

Pittsburgh’s rapid growth in the late nineteenth century is a good example of how population, transportation, and resources influenced urbanization. Pittsburgh has several easily navigable rivers and many natural resources such as coal, timber, natural gas, iron, and limestone, all of which contributed to its growth. It became known as a coal mining and steel producing center, and also was the site of labor unrest as workers pushed back to demand safer working conditions and fairer wages. Many immigrants moved here for work and established ethnic communities that are very diverse. Use this city (and others) as examples of why certain groups of people and certain forms of work and trade developed in specific places in our country.

Prior to the invention of the automobile, Americans had to live close to their work. With the development of the railroad, train travel made it possible to travel longer distances and spurred movement of people from crowded Eastern cities to the West. This westward movement created an increased demand for more goods and services in the West.

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