Lesson 23: The New Millennium and Modern American Geography

Recent Events: A Quick Look Less than a year into George W. Bush's presidency, a tragedy struck that made the conflicts over the 2000 election seem pale by comparison. On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States. Four planes were hijacked by fundamentalist Muslims who were part of Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization led by Osama Bin Laden, a member of a prominent family in Saudi Arabia. Two planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York causing the buildings to collapse within a few hours. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers revolted. The World Trade Center was completely demolished and one side of the Pentagon was severely damaged (the side closest to the highway at left in the photo below). More than 3000 people died in the attacks. September 11th was the first time the United States had been attacked on its own soil since Pearl Harbor. For the first time in a long time, Americans felt truly vulnerable. The event led to a shift in foreign policy as America declared a "War on Terror." The Pentagon from above Before September 11, the economy had slipped into a recession, ending the period of prosperity under Clinton. Almost immediately following the attacks, Congress passed legislation called the USA PATRIOT Act - which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. The legislation was designed to help the "war on terror" and bring terrorists to justice, but to achieve the level of protection desired by American citizens, it also had the unfortunate side effect of limiting some civil liberties of American citizens. The World Trade Center Towers One of accompanying tragedies of the September 11 attacks was the response by some Americans to turn their anger on Muslims in the United States. Muslims--American citizens and non-citizens alike--have been subjected to discrimination and acts of violence by some who claim to be patriots. The United States and President Bush have tried hard to limit the persecution of Muslims across the country , but incidents of harassment and attacks occur as the U.S. continues to look for Osama bin Laden and those responsible for the September 11 attacks. Soon after September 11, the United States went to war in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden was reported to be hiding. As of the third anniversary of 9/11, he has not been found, but the repressive Taliban regime that was in power at the time of the attacks and that had provided support and refuge to Al Qaeda has been replaced by a democratic government. In March, 2003, the United States went to war again with Iraq, under the suspicion that Saddam Hussein was in collaboration with Osama bin Laden and that he was preparing to attack the United States. Operation Iraqi Freedom, as this war was called, represented a shift in previous American military policy because the U.S. declared war on another country that was seen as a threat, before it attacked the U.S. first.; this new policy is called "preemptive strike." The administration presented evidence to Congress that said Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, and was developing nuclear weapons with the intent of attacking its neighbors as well as the U.S. Without United Nations backing and with very few allies, the United States carried out its first bombing on March 19, 2003. The collapse of Saddam Hussein's tyrannical government came swiftly, and soon after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein went into hiding. President Bush proclaimed "Mission Accomplished" just six weeks Though proven to be an oppressive and violent dictator, Saddam Hussein has not been directly linked to Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda, even though it is likely that members of Al Qaeda lived in Iraq. Hussein was captured in December 2003 and is currently awaiting trial for war crimes, but the weapons that triggered the invasion have been found not to exist. Still, the fight for Iraqi freedom continues. As that country struggles to define itself as a new nation without the repressive Hussein dictatorship, violence racks the country. A year and a half following the president's victory announcement, the number of American lives lost had risen to nearly 1,100 while coalition deaths stood at nearly 200. Almost 8,000 additional U.S. troops had been wounded. The Iraqi death toll in October 2004 was estimated between 13,000 and 15,000. History will judge the wisdom of the policy leading to the second war with Iraq.

The map of the United States is, of course, familiar to all students; however, the details and placement of states often get confused. The ability to identify regional characteristics adds greater understanding to both historical and current events so it is important that you have a sense of how the country is laid out. There are many ways to approach the geography of the United States. One map might mark off sections of the nation based upon its climate or physical traits, including time zones; another might outline common economic interests or population compositions; and still another might identify the political tendencies of various sections or states. For statistical purposes, the government, typically, divides the nation into four major regions. These are the Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. Looking at the map above, you can trace a general outline of these divisions. The Northeast, the smallest geographic section, uses Pennsylvania as the southern and western border and runs north and east up through Maine. The South begins with Maryland and the District of Columbia, goes southward along the Atlantic coast to Florida, and westward to include Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and all of the states within that cluster. Ohio and Michigan represent the beginning of the Midwest, which dips as far south as Missouri, west to Kansas, and north to the Dakotas. The West starts with Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico and sweeps across the continent to the Pacific Coast. Hawaii and Alaska are also part of the West. The vast continental U.S. (that is, all of the states excluding Hawaii and Alaska) extends nearly 3,000 miles from east to west and nearly 2,000 miles from north to south. While a thorough study of United States geography would require a full course, there are a few key points that you should understand about the major regions: The Northeast has served as the hub of industry over the course of the nation's history and remains the region most densely populated. The region's many rivers and waterways made it a good place to set up factories and then transport the goods to other locations. Because manufacturing requires a large labor force, from the mid-1800s the Northeast has drawn thousands of workers from other parts of the United states and other countries. As a result of that increased population and the outward growth of the cities, the Northeast has been called a megalopolis, or "very large city." Both the climate and the soil in the South made it much better suited to agriculture than its Northeast counterpart. The warmer temperatures and the greater rainfall provide longer and more productive growing periods for many different crops. The South has a wide variety of plant and animal life because of the subtropical climate and the rich soils of the coastal plain. Early Native Americans grew corn; early settlers grew cotton and rice; and modern-day farmers grow citrus fruits, like oranges. Industry, although coming to the South later than other regions, has transformed many aspects of southern society, as more and more people move there. The American Midwest, also called the country's heartland, provides a great place to grow crops. The climate, soil quality, and length of the growing season all affect the number of days per year that different regions can grow crops. Throughout the Midwest, a variety of crops are grown: oats, wheat, corn, and soybeans. Many farmers raise livestock, too, such as hogs and cattle. The Midwest provides an abundance of food for the United States, with more than enough to export to other countries around the world. There are extensive railroad lines and super highways sprawling the Midwest to get food to the markets. The West, a long time symbol of freedom and beauty, is made of tall mountains, large deserts, and other various types of climate. One major problem in living in the West is the scarcity of water, but because of its other attractions, in recent decades there has been a rapid rise in the population of states like Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. To serve this growing population, many dams have been constructed along the major rivers in the West to create reservoirs of water, such as Lake Meade, just outside of Las Vega, Nevada. The reservoirs satisfy the immediate need but also jeopardize the delicate ecosystem of those arid territories. In contrast to the desert states, the far western states offer two of the country's most valuable resources: forestry and fishing. The Pacific Northwest supplies almost half of the lumber needed by the nation, and the commercial fishing off the Pacific Coast represents billions of dollars annually. The diversity of the land contributes in large part to the uniqueness of the United States' prosperity and national character.