The Southern States
Jessie Strode
Summary
The South includes the states of the Old Confederacy, plus Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Together they make up a region rich in resources and culture that has become an increasingly popular place in which to live and work.
The Southern States
Physical Characteristics
The South has a humid, subtropical climate and the lush, mixed forests that are common to most of its areas. The South is also close to the equator which makes it warmer than the other regions in the United States farther north. The South has a warm, wet climate which produces thick, mixed forests of pine and other trees, or marshy stands of Mangrove trees. It also has bayous.
Mangrove trees
The South has mangroves which are tropical trees that grow in swampy ground along coastal areas.
Bayous
Louisiana has bayous which are marshy inlets of lakes and rivers.
The Everglades
In Florida, the Everglades, which are a large area of swampyland covered in places with tall grass, providing a refuge for a wide variety of plants and animals.
Culture
Slavery in the U.S., the South's Agricultural practices, the American civil war, and segregation in the U.S. all played a major role in shaping the South. The presence of Native Americans, their practices and the land also played a role in Southern culture. Their climate allowed them to grow tobacco, cotton, and other crops. In many areas, the red clay was used for the distinctive red brick architecture of many commercial buildings. Native American groups such as the Natchez, Creek, and Cherokee, grew maize, melons, squash, beans, tobacco, and other crops. Some Europeans built huge plantations and used enslaved people from Africa and the West Indies to do the work of raising tobacco, rice, or cotton. The South's population has increased and as of last year it was 119,771,934 million. Also, lots of Europeans migrated to this region in the past. The South has a variety of languages.
Economics
During the Civil War thousands of African Americans migrated to the Northeast from the South in search of jobs, but now the South offers around 69,360 jobs. The South has a major railroad center, NASA, a major airline hub, cars, and steamboats. The South has a variety of urban and rural population, but Texas is one of the nation's largest cities.
NASA
NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration and this is one of its logo.
A Steamboat
Texas
South Carolina
The population of South Carolina was 4.832 million in 2014. South Carolina's Grand Strand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the U.S.. On May 23rd, 1788, South Carolina entered the Union and became the eighth state. The governor of South Carolina is Nikki Haley and the senate is composed of 46 members.
Their flag
South Carolina
South Carolina is the red state.
Nikki Haley
Oklahoma
Last year Oklahoma's population was 3.878 million people. Oklahoma has about 55,946 thousand miles of shoreline. Oklahoma was also once found toward the equator. The governor of Oklahoma is Mary Fallin and the senate is composed of 48 members.
Reading Focus Questions
How have warm climates and rich soils affected vegetation in the South?
The South's wide variety of plant and animal life is due not only to the subtropical climate of most of the region, but also the rich soils of the wide coastal plains. The warm, wet climate produces thick, mixed forests of pine and other trees, or marshy stands of Mangrove trees. Such a climate supports the temperate grasslands called prairies.
What key natural resources have influenced industrial development?
In the 1840's, entrepreneurs built textile mills powered by the fast-moving streams of the Piedmont section of the Carolinas. Since some of the United States' largest oil reserves are located in Texas, this caused The oil industry of the South to begin in eastern Texas in 1901.
How have changes in the South led to the growth of cities?
Textile mills were built on the Fall Line which was where many cities sprang up. Many industries moved south from northeastern cities and within several years, this migration of businesses became a steady wave. Looking for job opportunities caused thousands to move to the South. During the 1970's the South's population increased more than that any other region in the country and by 1990, three of the largest cities in the nation were located in the South-Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. By 1995, Texas was second only to California as the most populous state in the U.S..
Sources
Google images, Wikipedia, allcountries.org, Google, Ballotpedia, glassdoor, robertspage.org, Newsok, 50states.com, www.scstate.gov, World Geography textbook...