The United States:

Location, Size, and Regions

Click graphic for video

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State CapitalsME AugustaNH ConcordVT MontpelierMA BostonRI ProvidenceCT HartfordNY AlbanyNJ TrentonPA HarrisburgDE DoverMD Annapolis

Postal Abbreviations

ME Maine NY New York

NHNew

HampshireNJ New Jersey

VT Vermont PAPennsylva

nia

MAMassachus

ettsDE Delaware

RIRhode Island

MD Maryland

CTConnecticu

t

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Northeastern United States

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Northeastern United States• There are 11 states in the

Northeast.• Of these states, 6 are

known together as the New England States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

• The other 5 states are known as the Middle Atlantic States: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

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Physical Features• Long ago glaciers covered much of

the land, and as they moved they wore down mountains and carried away the fertile soil. This part of the region has broad valleys and rolling hills, with a few low mountain ranges, including the Appalachian Mountains.

• Most of the land in the Middle Atlantic states are part of the Coastal Plain, the low land that stretches along the Atlantic Ocean.

• St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects many inland ports on the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.

• The Erie Canal connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are in the northeast.

• Key Rivers for transportation:Delaware River and Potomac River

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Climate/Weather

• Often have warm/humid summers and bitterly cold, snowy winters– Nor’easters

• 4 main seasons each year: winter, spring, summer, fall

• Colorful Fall Foliage brings many tourists to region http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhi-qkxIjFs&safe=active

• Rocky Soil – limits agriculture possibilities

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Economy of the North

Resources:• Fruit (Cranberries, apples, blueberries, etc)• Lumber/timber• Maple Syrup• Granite/Coal• Steel/Iron Ore• Mushrooms (Giorgio in Blandon!)• Vegetables (Potatoes, Corn, etc)• Fish/Seafood

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Economy of the North Industry: •Shortcomings in resources and agriculture … so economy relies on industry! •Factory machines were first used in in New England (US Industrial Revolution starts here)•Textile factories were built all over the Northeast.•People moved from rural farms to cities and towns to work in factories•Also: commercial fishing and commercial transportation (canals)

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Places of InterestThe Northeast has less land

than any other region, but about one in every six of the nation’s people lives there.Some of the largest cities

include:– Boston– New York City– Philadelphia– Pittsburgh– Washington, D.C.– Baltimore

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Places of InterestLandmarks

• Ivy League Universities (ex: Harvard, Yale & Princeton) http://videos.wisegeek.com/videos/517153279.htm

• Historical sites: Boston, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Baltimore, Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty

• New York City• Nation’s capital: Washington, D.C.• Ben and Jerry’s, TASTYKAKE, Crayola….all

produced in the Northeastern States!

Quick Tour of New England Vacations and Getaways

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HistoryPeople/Culture

• Native Americans• Pilgrims from England first settled

in 1620, to form Plymouth Colony. • Puritans settled north of Plymouth

Colony in Boston, forming Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639.

• Immigrants from many countries came through Ellis Island

• Four largest ancestries: African American, Italian, Irish, and Puerto Rican.

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Culture of the Northeast• The Boston area: is regarded

as the Irish capital of the United States.

• New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Jersey have long been known for their large populations of Italian-Americans.

• The New York City Borough of Brooklyn historically is a major center of the Jewish-American population (the city as a whole contained over 50 percent of the entire country's Jewish population at the time)

• Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is the center of the area settled by the Amish (who are of Swiss German descent), but now a large, vibrant Hispanic population lives there as well.

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• English settlers in 1620 to 1675 to the Northeastern coast of North America– New Netherlands (New York): 1613– Plymouth, MA: 1620 – Boston, MA: 1630– Providence, RI: 1636

• Declaration of Independence & Constitution written here (PA)

• American Revolution• Civil War Battles • September 11, 2001 (NYC, Washington

D.C, & PA)

HistoryEvents