The United States, the most influential country and with the largest economy in the world, but this was only possible thanks to its almost perfect geography, with the first geographical factor being access to two oceans. To the East we have the Atlantic Ocean, which commercially is one of the most important in the world, and to the West the Pacific Ocean, the largest in the world.
For it is exactly in the Pacific Ocean that the United States has major trading partners, with China being the largest, with $452 Billion traded annually, then Japan with $144 Billion.
The Advantage of Maritime Trade
On the Atlantic Ocean, the country has access to all the western consumer markets, mainly with Europe, which, being almost on the same latitude, the commercial trips are shorter. For example, a ship sailing from the port of Rotterdam to the United States would travel 6,200 km, but if we compare this with the distance between Brazil and Europe, the same ship would travel almost 10,000 km to the port of Santos.
Besides the logistical advantage that the oceans provide, they end up isolating the territory from much of the world, with the United States bordering only two countries, Mexico and Canada, which currently pose no real threat to its insistence.
Territorial Advantage in the Face of World Wars
Being surrounded by two oceans, during the Second World War its continental territory suffered almost no threats, while other countries that have many borders, like France, suffered hundreds of attacks in Europe. The United States was almost unconcerned, attacked only a few times, most notably in 1942 with Japanese submarine attacks on refineries in Santa Barbara and later attacks near the Columbia River in Oregon.
What is agriculture like in the United States?
The country’s arable area is very large, especially in the Great American Plain.
Which States Does the Great Plain of the United States Extend Across?
This region is an immense flat area that follows the states of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota.
This plain is an important cultivation region for the United States and because it is a semi-arid region, the climate does not allow large forests to grow, making cultivation even easier without the need for large-scale deforestation that would end up causing soil erosion, and everything is improved by the existence of the aquifer of the great plains.
The Great Plains Aquifer of the United States
This is a long source of water that is present in much of the plain, to get a sense about thirty percent (30%) of the groundwater used in the country for irrigation is taken from this aquifer.
Which states in the United States have the most cattle?
Below we have the map with the areas marked in brown which show the regions with a bovine population larger than the human population:
- Texas has 13 million head of cattle;
- Nebraska gets almost 7 million;
- Kansas with 6 million head.
This makes the United States the third largest beef exporter in the world.
Despite its gigantic size its beginnings were completely different.
The British Colonies in the United States
During the 18th century this country was considered a colony of the English crown, with a much smaller territory than we know, and like Brazil, the United States also had its territory divided into smaller parts, but in their case into 13 colonies which were later divided into three main regions.
The first of these is about New England with the colonies of:
- Connecticut;
- Rhode Island;
- New Hampshire and;
- Massachusetts.
This colony had a rocky landscape that made agriculture difficult, so they focused more on shipbuilding and fishing, as it had great natural harbours. To get food they traded with the central colonies, being:
- New York;
- Pennsylvania;
- New Jersey and;
- Delaware
These were part of the connection routes between the north and south. Unlike the 1st region, this one had a long, warm growing season and arable soils, besides having navigable rivers that facilitated the transport of goods, and it was not by chance that the port cities connected to these rivers developed a lot, being New York and Philadelphia.
Finally the colonies of;
- Virginia;
- Maryland;
- South Carolina;
- North Carolina and;
- Georgia.
Perhaps this is one of the most famous territories of the colonial period because of the cotton and tobacco plantations, but mainly because it received most of the slaves during this period.
What was the economic organisation of the colonies like in the United States?
The economic organization of these regions was based on what is called triangular trade, which in turn worked in the following way: while the New England colonies traded with the foreign market products produced by the southern colonies, there was a large influx of slaves to work the plantations in that region and the advance into the rest of the territory took place mainly during the 19th century.
What Was the United States Territory Like During Colonial Times?
In 1800, the territory of the United States as we know it today was divided into three regions dominated by different countries: the United States itself in the east, France in the central region and Spain in the west.
It was in the interest of the United States (region in red) to dominate the region of France (region in blue) for logistical reasons. For example, to transport something from Pittsburgh to New York, it was easier to send it by boat, pass through the Ohio River, the Mississippi River and bypass the entire Atlantic instead of making the 300-mile journey overland, all because there were almost no roads from east to west, and without access to the Mississippi River the United States had almost no way to transport the crops to the rest of the world.
But France agreed to sell its entire territory to the United States in 1803 for just $250 Million in the present day, and is probably one of the best purchases in history, as the area is currently valued at $1.2 Trillion.
United States Post-Mexico War
After that and the war with Mexico in 1848, the United States took over the rest of the territory, now possessing access to both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It is after this period that yet another geographical factor revolutionises the country’s history: diversity in natural resources.
The Discovery of Gold in the Old West and Oil
The occupation of the American West coincided with the discovery of gold in places like California and South Dakota, this event started a real gold rush and thousands of people moved in search of enrichment through mining.
In the same period of expansion oil became the focus of the American economy and for the next few decades served as the fuel of US industry, and is currently being extracted mainly in Texas, Alaska Oklahoma and California.
But it was not only oil that changed the country’s history, other natural resources were and still are extremely important, such as natural gas that corresponds to 23% of world production and finally, coal, where the United States has about twenty-two percent (22%) of world reserves, being extracted mainly in Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. This ore was extremely important during its history, but in 2019, after 134 years of coal’s reign as the country’s main energy source, it lost its place to renewable energy. Obviously economic and political factors also contributed to the development of this country, but a good location, a fertile territory full of natural resources and strong links with Europe were certainly prime factors in the construction of the United States of America.
