Socratic Seminar Group Essay Discussion: Geography Period 3

Theme: Geography — Development of the United States

            Many important events in United States history have been influenced by
            geography. Geographic factors or conditions include location, size, climate,
            natural resources, and physical features. These events in turn have had political,
            social, and economic impacts on the development of the United States.



Task:

          Identify two important events in United States history and for each
         
          • Describe how a geographic factor or condition influenced the event
          • Discuss the political, social, and/or economic impacts of this event on the
            development of the United States


You may use any important event that was influenced by geographic factors or conditions.
Some suggestions you might wish to consider include the Louisiana Purchase, the
construction of the Erie Canal, migration to California in the late 1840s, the Civil War, the
purchase of Alaska, the building of the transcontinental railroad, the acquisition of the
Philippines, the building of the Panama Canal, the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA), and the construction of the interstate highway system.
You are not limited to these suggestions.


Guidelines:
In your essay, be sure to
• Develop all aspects of the task
• Support the theme with relevant facts, examples, and details
• Use a logical and clear plan of organization, including an introduction and a conclusion that
are beyond a restatement of the theme
In developing your answer to Part II, be sure to keep these general definitions in mind:
(a) describe means “to illustrate something in words or tell about it”
(b) discuss means “to make observations about something using facts, reasoning,
and argument; to present in some detail”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    Throughout past events in US History many major activities in the US have been influenced by geographic features.  Geographic factors or conditions involve location, mass, size, climate, natural resource, and physical features. Geographic features have many examples, such giant plains that are warm and great for growing crops.  These events in turn in history have had political, economic, or social impacts on the movement and creation of the United States.  Two events that had a major influence in history and geographic features are the Erie Canal  and the Louisiana Purchase. 

    One of the major influenced events in history is the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase began in 1803 which was a purchase that the United States made from France for over 828,000 miles of land.   the purchase was made because President Thomas Jefferson was worried about a strong presence from the French and Spanish.  Jefferson also wanted american control over New Orleans because he knew that port was most convenient, easy to trade and transport goods.