C H A P T E R
Innisfree McKinnonUniversity of Oregon
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Lecture Outline
8The Great Lakes and Corn Belt
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Learning Objectives
• The Heartland• States & Provinces• Environmental Setting
– Glaciation
• Historical Settlement– Source areas for immigrants– Ethnic enclaves in Toronto & Chicago– The Old Northwest and the Northwest
Ordinance– The Great Migration
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Learning Objectives
• Political Economy– Family, corporate, cash-grain, & mixed farms– Industrialization & advantages of the region– Youngstown & postindustrialization
• Culture, People, Places– The Golden Horseshoe of southern Ontario– Chicago and globalization
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• Ohio, shaped similar to a heart called "the heart of it all"
• Often seen as having truly "American" values with fewer "foreign" influences
• Near the geographic center of North America
The Heartland
• Transportation hub• Area seen as
repository of stable, conservative, endearing ideas about the nature of life and society
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• Most areas not previously glaciated are hillier and less fertile
Heart of America's Lowland
• Most of region < 2000 ft. above sea level
• Mostly flat & gentle hills.
• Mostly shaped by periodic glaciation
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The Great Lakes & Waterways
• Extensive natural and man-made waterways
• Allowed water travel from Great Lakes to Mississippi River
• Chicago river reversed in early 20th century for new water route to Mississippi River.
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Climate
• Humid continental climate
• Cooler summers and milder winters on immediate east and south sides of the Great Lakes
• Occasional strong blizzards and snowstorms
• Tornadoes and strong thunderstorms in spring and summer
• Year round precipitation
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Invasive Species
• Often outbreed and outcompete native species
• Few local predators to cull numbers
• May attempt to spread to neighboring regions
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• Northwest Ordinance
• 1785
• Created township and range method of survey
• Land surveyed into square townships of 36 sq. miles
Historical Settlement
• Eastern Woodland Culture
• British control from 1763 to 1783
• 1783 Treaty of Paris formed Old Northwest
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Colonial Great Lakes & Corn Belt
• At Philadelphia Constitutional Convention
• Original 13 colonies gave up claims in Old Northwest
• New territories could apply for admission to United States
• Post ratification of Constitution, states could apply once population > 60,000 Euro-Americans
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• Part of region west of Mississippi obtained as result of Louisiana Purchase in 1803
• Most Native Americans pushed westward out of south-eastern U.S. across Mississippi between 1812 and 1832
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Population & Water
• Rapid population growth enhanced by easy access by water
• Great Lakes, Ohio River, Mississippi River
• Enhanced by construction of locks and dams in rivers and canals
• Enhanced by construction of Erie Canal in 1825
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• Scandinavia
• Canada
Antebellum Immigrants
• Appalachian natives
• New England, New York & Pennsylvania natives
• England & Wales
• Scotland & Ireland
• Germany
• The Netherlands
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– Poles– Greeks & Italians– Hungarians & Czechs– Dutch, Swedes,
Norwegians, Finns, Danes
• Great Migration– 500,000 African
Americans left rural South
– Settled in Chicago, New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Kansas City
– Impact on culture & heritage
– Many settled in Ontario & Nova Scotia
Postbellum Immigrants
• Europeans
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• Pull Factors• Jobs at much higher
wages• Call to freedom• Opportunity for equality
Push Factors & Pull Factors
• Push Factors• Institutionalized racism• Segregation• Lynchings• Beatings• Limited education and
economic opportunities
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Political Economy
• By end of 19th century, economy highly integrated mix of agriculture, industry, and services
• For two centuries the Great Lakes & Corn Belt was one of most productive farming areas in world
• Factors: fertile soil, adequate water, excellent transportation, favorable government policy, good work ethic, and experience
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Farming
• Family Farm – run by individual family instead of corporation.
• Corporate Farm
• Cash-grain Farm – raise cash crops that are sold directly to food-processing companies
• Mixed Farm – most crops are fed to livestock
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Major Agricultural Activities
• Corn (Iowa and Illinois are nation's lead corn producing states)
• Soybeans (U.S. produces over ¾ of world's soybean crop)
• Hogs (Iowa has about 5 hogs for every Iowan)
• Cattle ranching• Dairy farming
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Corn and Ethanol Production
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Industry Overview
• Historically agricultural sector complimented by equally important industrial sector
• Area was once most productive industrial region of N. America
• After exodus of steel mills & auto plants, area known as the "Rust Belt"
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Rise of Industrial Sector
• Region central for many industrial resources (e.g., coal, iron)
• Region transportation center, first water-based transportation, then rail
• Abundant labor from immigrants, and Americans moving from Appalachia & the Deep South
• Communities identified by primary industrial products produced
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Cost of Globalization
• Industrial production declining
• lower production costs outside the U.S.
• Diversified companies tend to survive
• Highly specialized industrial bases are harder hit
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Tertiary and Quaternary Activities in Great Lakes and Corn Belt
• Tourism and the military not a large part of the economy
• Other tertiary and quaternary activities have prospered in places
• Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
• Government centers
• University communities
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Canada
• This region includes part of Southern Ontario
• The Golden Horseshoe = Oshawa, Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catherine's-Niagara
• Toronto blossomed after World War II
• More than half Toronto's current population born outside Canada.
• London & Windsor are major industrial centers
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United States
• The Rust Belt
• Youngstown, OH = recent flourishing economic center
• Pittsburgh = strong postindustrial economy
• Chicago = transportation center
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• Transportation hub
• Now financial and commercial center
Chicago
• 1850 population ~29,000
• 1900 population ~1,000,000
• Once primary industrial center
• Changing and diverse cultural landscape
• Ethnic enclaves
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Industrial Cities in Economic Decline
• Detroit, MI – Automobile Production• Detroit Mayor proposed that 40 square miles of
city be abandoned due to population loss and abandoned houses.
• Milwaukee, MN• Cleveland, OH• Declining population• Little economic development• Problems transitioning from Industrial to Post-
Industrial
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Industrial Cities in Economic Decline (cont.)
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Detroit
• Problems in racial integration and urban diversity
• Detroit is 2/3 African-American
• Argument that dependence on manufacturing has impeded integration.
• Eminem and Eight Mile Road
• Prediction that integration will increase if quaternary sector expands
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The Future of the Great Lakes/Corn Belt Region
• Strong support as transportation center
• Challenges in economic revival and transition
• Likely still a significant agricultural and manufacturing core region
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End Chapter 8