Imagining Liberty - Module 4 Geography

Imagining Liberty - Module 4 Geography

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Module Overview

• 13 British colonies, stretching over 1,500 miles along the Atlantic with many differences in climate, economy, and culture.
• Despite the physical distance, these colonists found themselves united (at least in part) by ideas against the Crown.

• This module explores differences in geography, communication, and ideas as debates of interconnection and interdependence intensified in the 1770s

Learning Objectives:

• How did differences in geography influence differences in ideology?
• How were the colonies able to overcome this distance to create something that claimed to be united?

• What was communication like between the colonies, the Crown, and Native nations?

Context Builder: Geography Overview

Before continuing, click on each landscape to learn about the geography of these regions.

Colonial Settlements Coastal plains and tidewater; major port cities (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Charleston); heavy European presence

Native American Lands Large forests; rivers and estuaries rich for fishing; forced west towards the Appalachians by colonial expansion

The "Near West" Backcountry, Frontier, and Appalachian barrier between colonial settlements and interior with Native nations

Native American Geography

• Large forests in the Northeast and Southeast covered the East Coast.
• Rivers, estuaries, salt marshes, bays threaded throughout most rich in fish.
• Appalachian Mountains splitting the East from the Middle

• Temperate climate, allowing for seasonal industries like hunting, fishing, gathering, and agriculture

• Mix of nomadic tribes and Native American settlements

˝They told us they must have the whole... our chiefs were unable to contend at that time, and therefore they sold the lands...where is the land which our children and their children after them are to lie down on?" -Chiefs of the Seneca nation in an address to George Washington, 1790

"[Long] before one hundred years our ancestors came out of this very ground, and their children have remained here ever since" - Onondaga leader Canassatego at the 1744 Treaty of Lancaster

Coastal Geography

Before continuing, click on each landscape to learn about the geography of these regions.

Jamestown, Virginia

Chesapeake Bay (Maryland, Virginia, Delaware

Precolonoal South Carolina

Mid-Atlantic Bays, Rivers, Forests, Mountains Temperate

New England Bays, Rivers, Forests, Mountains Cold

The South Forests, Plains, Rivers Warm

The"Near West"Geography

Before continuing, click on each landscape to learn about the geography of these regions.

The Backcountry Inland zone of small European settlements between the coast and Native-controlled interior

Appalachian Mountains Nearly 2,000 miles of mountains going from Georgia to Newfoundland, Canada Serves a political and mental border for Colonists

The Frontier The area where colonial settlements and authority met Native lands and power. Active conflict & negotiation common.

How Far Apart Were the Colonies?

By 1775:

• Population: 2.4-2.5m people
• Rural/Urban: 90% rural
• Demographics: 48% English 20% African (enslaved) 32% other
• European minorities Age: Avg. 16 years old
• How does this spread, unite?

"The Northern Colonies having few Slaves increase in Whites...The Whites who have Slaves, not labouring, are enfeebled, and therefore not so generally prolific; the Slaves being work'd too hard, and ill fed...so that a continual supply is needed from Africa" -Benjamin Franklin

"Those who live near the sea, must be very different from those who live in the woods; the intermediate space will afford a separate and distinct class" -J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, French observer

Travel Methods

By Land:

• Horseback
• Horse & Carriage
• On Foot By

Water:

• Coastal Ships
• River Boats
• Ocean Vessels

Where Can These Methods of Transportation Take You? How Long Would it Take to Get There?

Philadelphia played a significant role in establishing and innovating postal services in the British colonies in North America and across the expanding United States.

Welcome to Philadelphia! Where Would You Like to Go?

“We set the rates, you take the risk!”

Many couldn't afford this (in terms of time and money), leading to an expanding postal service...

"Remember that time is money" -Benjamin Franklin, American Postmaster

Reflection: What About Great Britain?

Great Britain

• small, densely populated island
• highly urban
• 8 million people
• easy to travel many colonies to manage

How does this compare to the Colonists outlook on geography?