Transcript America's Heartland - Arizona Geographic Alliance

North America’s Heartland
• Farms and
factories
• Dispersed,
rural, white,
Protestant
population
• Clustered,
urban, Black
and
immigrant
population
Physical Geography
• Topography (relief/elevation)
• Gently rolling
• Resists erosion
• Enhances proper drainage
• Very few unused areas
• Conducive to large-area mechanization
Physical Geography
• Climate
• > 30 inches of precip/year
• Rainy season = growing season (~April to Nov)
• Limited precip variability
• Amounts, frequency, and timing all beneficial
• Growing seasons ~five months long
• Mainly “Continental” climate (D)
Physical Geography
• Soils
• Two major types:
• Alfisols
• Formed under moderate moisture and
coniferous/mixed forests
• B horizon has not been leached
• Mollisols
• Formed under grasses
• Dark brown/black color rich in organic matter
• Deep surface horizon among most fertile soils in
the world
Soils
Physical Geography
• Hydrology
– Glaciation = Great
Lakes!
– Mississippi River and
Tributaries
– Chicago River reversal
Chicago River
Normally
On St. Patrick’s Day
Historical Settlement
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Pre-1600 Native Americans
French exploration
British & Treaty of Paris
American Government takes control
1812-1832, Tribal Lands ceded to US
Hydraulic engineering of Erie Canal &
Chicago River
Historical Settlement
• Late 19th – early 20th century = European
immigration to cities
– Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto,
Hamilton, Ottawa
– Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Ontario
• Post WWI = The Great Migration
– African American; later, Arab
Canada Historical Settlement by Ethnicity
Population
• Settled by the late 1800s
• Predominantly white culture originating
from Northwestern Europe
– Germany, The Netherlands, British Isles, and
Scandinavia
• Limited Black population
• Much of the agricultural core has declined
in population since the 1930s
Political Economy
• Primary Sector Activities
• Secondary Sector Activities
• Tertiary & Quaternary Activities
– Government centers, Indianapolis and
Columbus
– University communities: Ann Arbor, Iowa City,
Champaign-Urbana
– Mayo Clinic
Typical “Midwest” Farmscape
Agriculture: Corn Belt
• Feed grain & livestock farming
• Corn best suited for Midwest environment
and ensured a good economic return
• Crop rotation systems in use by 1820
• Advantages of corn
– High grain yields
– Can be grown closer together
– One word: silage
– Loves the Heartland climate and soil!
Agriculture: Dairy Belt
• Climate prevents
feed grain
maturation
• silage, oats,
barley, and hay
crops to support
large dairy herds
• Large part of the
country's dairy
products: e.g., ½
country’s cheese
Agriculture: Fruit Growing
• Cherries
• Apples
• Grapes
Agriculture: Soybean
• Soil
“reconditioner”
• Versatile crop
• Stable in world
market
Industry
• Straddles the U.S.- Canadian boarder
• Heavy manufacturing concentrated
throughout the Ohio Valley and along the
southern shores of the Great Lakes
– (Also around Megalopolis)
• The “agricultural” heartland (NW, W, & S)
blends with the “manufacturing core” (NE, E)
Core Area
• Portion of a country containing the
economic, political, intellectual, (and
cultural) foci
• Often the center of creativity and change
• Accessibility Network
Heavy Industry
Steel Production
• Convert large
volumes of raw
materials into
products of
higher value
• Small acreages
of HI = massive
percentages of
overall production
Automobiles
Honda manufacturing plant in Marysville, Ohio
A Manufacturing Core?
• Key advantages/needs of a
manufacturing core:
– Raw Materials
– Labor
– A Market
– Transportation
– Energy Availability
Contemporary Places: Canada
• Economic core, largest city, major industrial
centers, and prime agricultural land
• The Golden Horseshoe
– Toronto, Oshawa, Hamilton, St. Catherines-Niagra
Toronto, Canada
Contemporary Places: America
• Chicago
– An urban center which overcame unfavorable
characteristics of its site and evolved to prominence
based on its situation
– Site Disadvantages
• Established on the swampy margins = pest habitat & bad
water
• Chicago River too small to be effective transportation link
• Almost completely destroyed by fire, 1871 (Miss O’Leary)
– Site Advantages
• Optimum transportation hub
• Regional rail hub of western manufacturing core
Rust Belt
Contemporary Places: Corn Belt
Discussion
How is the fundamental economic transition
away from primary economic sector to
tertiary and quaternary economic sectors
impacting the Heartland?
Is the term “Heartland” an adequate
description of this North American
landscape?
Related Books
• Borchert, John R. 1987. America’s Northern Heartland: An
Economic and Historical Geography of the Upper Midwest.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
– Solid overview of the heartland
• Carney, George, ed. 1987. The Sounds of People and Places:
Readings in the Geography of American Folk and Popular Music.
Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
– One of the leaders in music Geography, this compilation edited by Dr.
Carney is the authoritative work.
• Hart, John Fraser. 1991. The Land that Feeds Us. New York: W.W.
Norton and Company.
– A classic work by a classically-trained geographer
• Lipset, S. 1990. Continental Divide: The Values and Institutions of
the United States and Canada. New York: Routledge.
– A work of comparative political economy between the US and Canada.
• McCann, Larry D. 1987. Heartland and Hinterland: A Geography of
Canada. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice Hall Canada.
– Older, but still valid look at Canada’s overall geography.
WebSources
• Great Lakes Information Network
www.great-lakes.net
• National Corn Growers Association
www.ncga.com
• Explore the Midwest
www.explorethemidwest.com