THE NORTH AMERICANMANUFACTURING CORE

(Chapter 5)

Introduction• Straddles the U.S.–Canadian boarder, but the

international boundary has little impact on the region's shape.

• Manufacturing concentrated– Ohio Valley – Megalopolis – Southern shores of the Great Lakes

• Overlaps the agricultural core, other regions • Manufacturing as definer of continental core

– Most important ports– Centers of communication– Primary financial centers

North America’s Manufacturing Core (page 91)

Agricultural Core

(page 209)

Overlap with Manufacturing Core

• Food processing industries in Manufacturing Core

• Manufacture of farm equipment

(page 210)

Figure 12-1

• Vegetation– Eastern Forests

• North: Oak-Hickory• South: Chesnut-Oak-Y. Poplar

– Western Tall Grass Prairie• Climate

– Humid Continental– Importance of location

• Major Microclimatic Variations– Hazards

• Usual: Tornadoes and Flooding• Unusual: Earthquakes

Physical Geography

Physical Geography: Climate

• Average precipitation > 75 centimeters (>30 inches), most during growing season (April-November)

• Limited variability, little risk of drought• Growing season

– Last killing frost from mid-April (south) to mid-May (north)

– First killing frost late September

• Continental climate: strong seasonal range

Average Annual Temperature Range

(page 212)

Beyond the Corn Belt

• Dairying– North of Corn Belt– Climate too cold for corn maturation– German, Scandinavian immigrants– Corn silage (cut before maturity), other grains for

dairy cows– Surplus milk: Cheese, butter (survive trip to market)

• Fruit belts– Lake Michigan, Lake Erie shorelines– Moderating effect of lakes

The Family Farm

• Family farm as part of American (and Canadian) folklore– Exaggerated images of farming– Fit until about World War II– In swift decline today

• Changes in ownership– Pressure for greater efficiency– Necessity for larger operations– Rental and leasing of additional land

Agricultural Development

Early settlers • Wheat

– High-value crop with reliable market– Hard on soils, therefore shifted west with settlement– Shipping dependent on water transport– Flour milling at break-in-bulk points (Cincinnati,

Buffalo)

• Meat from domestic livestock– Hogs and cattle– Mixed farming: raising grain to feed livestock– Rise of Cincinnati as “Porkopolis”

•1920s to 1970s

–Black migration to the North

–Diversification of agriculture

–Suburbia emerging into galactic cities

•1970s to Present

–Why the Rust Belt?

–Industrial Diversification

–Restoring the Rust Belt

Contemporary Human Geography

Figure 12-1

Advantages of Manufacturing Core• Mineral resources

– Metallic minerals (metamorphic rock)• Appalachians• Western mountains• Canadian Shield

– Mineral fuels (sedimentary lowlands)• West of Appalachians• Between Gulf of Mexico and Arctic

• Accessibility resources– Great Lakes (with canals)– Ohio River– Mississippi and tributaries

Canadian Shield

AppalachiansRockies

Interior Plains

Advantages of Manufacturing Core

Fuel ResourcesCoal Resources

Great Lakes

Coal: The Eastern Interior– Other Minerals

• Oil and Natural Gas• Limestone• Salt: Underground

Mining in the Heartland

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1996/of96-279/

Growth of Manufacturing Core

Product of late 19th century– Before 1830, urban/manufacturing development

along Atlantic Coast– Agricultural settlement between 1830 and Civil

War– Transportation growth:

• Erie Canal• Railroads

Growth of Railroads, 1850, 1860, 1880

(page 95)

Historical Growth: Transportation and Industrial Energy (John Borchert)

Sail-Wagon Epoch (1790-1830)• Slow, primitive overland and waterway

movement • Boston, New York, and Philadelphia most

important cities

(page 97)

Iron Horse Epoch (1830-1870)

• Arrival and spread of the steam-powered railroads and small-scale industry

• Expansion of hinterlands by rail transportation

• Growth of Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Detroit, other ports

(page 97)

Steel Rail Epoch (1870-1920)

• Replacement of iron rails with higher-capacity steel

• Major growth of the steel industry

• Demand for bituminous coal

• Spread of electricity(page 97)

Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-1960)

• Automobiles, trucks, and airplanes

• Minimized shipping costs

• Migration toward amenities

• Growth in large cities, but prospects for future decline

(page 97)

Information Technology Epoch (1960– ) extension

• Production and exchange of information, rather than manufacturing.

• Not necessarily served by the same developmental advantages as earlier eras

(page 97)

Historical Cultural Geography

• Indigenous Population– Connection to fur trade

• 1780s to 1860s– Importance of land surveys– Removal of First Nations– Impact of Civil War

• 1860s to 1920s– Rise of mechanized farming,

industrialization and railways

Figure 12-10

Township and Range Survey System

• Metes and bounds (east coast)– Used visible landscape features, directions,

measurements– Unsystematic– Subject to conflict

• Land Ordinance of 1785– North of Ohio River, west of Pennsylvania– Used system of east-west base lines and north-south

principal meridians– Regular, rectangular– Surveyed before settlement

Township and Range Survey System

(page 217)

Economic Character of Eastern Cities

• Part of Megalopolis• Founded on commerce and finance, before

manufacturing• Manufacturing hearth: New England• Specialization in light industry

– Moderate amounts of partially processed materials– High value per unit weight (consumer goods)

• Importance of services, especially finance, education, culture

• Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore

Economic Character of Interior Core Cities• Location near rich mineral, agricultural resources• Almost all large cities along

– Great Lakes– Ohio River

• Metallic minerals from Canadian Shield– Mesabi Range, Minnesota– Steep Rock deposit, western Ontario– Gogebic, Marquette, Menominee Ranges, northern

Michigan and Wisconsin• Coal from Appalachians (Pennsylvania, West

Virginia)• Concentration in heavy industry (metal smelting,

machinery)

Major Coal and Iron Ore Movements

(page 102)

Cities of the Interior Core

Pittsburgh• River junction (Monongahela and Allegheny,

forming Ohio)• Access to raw materials and down-river

market• Suppliers and users of steel

Changes in Steelmaking Capacity, 1960-1989

(page 103)

Iron and Steel Mills, 1997

(page 104)

Focus upon Central Places• GATEWAY CITY: Chicago• SECONDARY REGIONALS

– Toronto– Detroit– St. Louis

• TERTIARY REGIONALS– Cleveland-Buffalo Zone – Cincinnati– Milwaukee– Twin Cities– Kansas City

Figure 12-22

Lake Ports

• Transfer of iron ore shipped on Great Lakes to rail cars at Great Lakes ports: break-in-bulk

• Return rail cars carrying coal• Development of steel and other industries at

ports• Cleveland

– Largest Lake Erie port city– Canal linkage to Ohio River

• Buffalo (flour milling)

Lake Ports

• Canadian cities:– Hamilton (iron and steel)– Toronto (diversified)

• Detroit–Windsor– Off main New York–Chicago route– Center of automobile manufacture

Importance of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway

Figure 12-20

Chicago

• Dominant city in interior core• Inauspicious site

– Swampy– Poor-quality drinking water– Non-navigable river– Major fire in 1871

• Situational advantages– Transfer of goods and people from west and southwest – Focus of inland water transportation (Illinois and

Michigan Canal, 1848)– Railroad center

Broad Shifts in Economic Activity

• Decline in agricultural and manufacturing labor force– Greater efficiency– Fewer workers needed

• Rise in service industries– More widespread income distribution– Workers no longer needed in manufacturing,

agriculture

Relocation of Industry

• Population shifts• Computers and telecommunications• Competition from foreign manufacturers• Importance of educated workforce• Growth of Sunbelt (southeastern and southwestern

U.S., western Canada)• Industrial inertia still important• Changes in concentration

– Pre-1920: Atlantic Coast states more heavily manufacturing

– Post-1920: Growth of interior states at coastal states’ expense

(page 109)

Figure 12-A