Chapter 9: The Changing South

This chapter focuses on the history and present status of the Southern United States. As in the last post about Appalachia, although Washington D.C. is not technically a part of the South, it is very close to the southern states (Especially Virginia) and as a result, it has had a similar history. The textbook goes into detail about slavery's impact on the South, and in this post I will talk about slavery and the slave trade in D.C.

Prior to the Civil War, Alexandria (less than 10 miles away from D.C.) served as a major market in the American Slave Trade. Many Virginians and Alexandrians were pro-slavery because the trade helped sustain their already depressed economy. The Compromise of 1850 outlawed the slave trade in the district, but the act of slavery itself was not outlawed in Washington D.C. until 1862, when President Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which entirely ended slavery in the district and freed about 3, 100 slaved people nine months before the national Emancipation Proclamation.

A photo of slaves in Washington D.C.

Jesse J. Holland, Author of "Black Men Built the Capitol: Discovering American History in and around Washington D.C." recounts the role of slaves in the Capitol.
"Slaves helped construct the White House from the very beginning. Pierre L'Enfant, the person who designed Washington, D.C., contracted with slave owners to use their slaves to dig the foundation of the White House.

James Hoban, the architect of the White House, actually brought some of his own personal slaves up to Washington, D.C., from South Carolina to work on the White House.

What a lot of people don't know about the National Mall, Capitol, Supreme Court area is that African-American slaves were held in bondage in slave jails on some of these sites.

Here, on the site of the Supreme Court, was a building that was called the Old Brick Capitol. That's the building that Congress used after the Capitol was burned in the war of 1812.

Well, the slave market was so robust in the District of Columbia that slave owners ran out of space to hold their slaves. So, they would rent public jail space to use for storage for African-American slaves. And one of the places they did this was here, at the Old Brick Capitol, on the site of where the Supreme Court is right now."

It seems so ironic that men in chains built much of the monuments and the city that was to represent freedom and equality to all nations. How the white men who wrote our nation's documents couldn't see this hypocrisy is beyond me--just how I can't understand how the "Christian" whites in the South could justify the oppression and horrible treatment of a fellow human being. Both Washington D.C. and the South have a sordid and at times deplorable history in their treatment of African Americans in and outside of slavery.

Chapter 8: Appalachia and the Ozarks

Chapter 8 is all about Appalachia and the Ozarks. While Washington D.C. is not exactly in the specific area the book covers, D.C. is pretty close to the Appalachian area and mountains. In this post I will talk about the Appalachian Mountains, and more specifically, the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Image from Wikipedia

The Blue Ridge Mountains are on the Eastern side of the Appalachians and face Washington D.C. The mountains extend from Georgia all the way through Pennsylvania. The mountains are called "blue" because of the blue color you see from a distance caused by the isoprene released into the atmosphere. The organic compound causes the characteristic "blue haze" that appears around the mountains. The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to the largest mountains in Eastern North America. The range contains over 125 peaks that exceed 5, 000 feet. The tallest mountain in the Blue Ridge is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6, 684 feet.

Because the Blue Ridge Mountains are just West of Washington D.C., many D.C. tour companies offer day trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Many tourists of the city and Washington residents alike make trips to Shenandoah National Park, just 90 minutes West of the city center. Shenandoah National park contains over 197, 000 acres of land along with over 500 miles of trail, including 101 miles of the famous "Appalachian Trail". The park area is long and narrow and close to 40% of the land area has been designated as protected wilderness.

A peak view of the park at Sunset

Mountain climbers repelling down a cliff in the Park

The highest peak in the national park is Hawksbill Mountain at 4, 051 feet. Additionally, the park contains many waterfalls. The tallest falls, Overall Run, is the largest falls in the park at 93 feet. It is world renowned for it's natural beauty and many outdoor activities it offers.

Chapter 7: The Bypassed East

Chapter Seven goes into detail about the "Bypassed East" an area from Northern New York through Newfoundland. Washington D.C. is not included in this section, so I am focusing on relating the agriculture problems in the Bypassed East to the Farming Bureau in Washington D.C., which handles all things agriculture and tries to help farms and farmers with their land and production.

The textbook writes, "Since the farm family exodus during the nineteenth century, agriculture's regional importance has continued to decline across most of the Bypassed East. Today, less than 15 percent of the land in northern New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine) is in farms; 100 years ago, this was close to 50 percent."

Headquartered in Washington D.C., according to their website, the Farm Bureau is an independent, non-governmental, voluntary organization governed by and representing farm and ranch families united for the problems and formulating action to achieve educational improvement, economic opportunity and social advancement and, hereby to promote the national well-being. Farm Bureau is local, county, state, national and international in its scope and influence and is non-partisan, non-sectarian and non-secret in character. Farm Bureau is the voice of agricultural producers at all levels.

The Farm Bureau has sections all across the nation, including the states in the Bypassed East, (New York Vermont and Maine).

Chapter 5: The North American Manufacturing Core

Manufacturing is found throughout the more populated regions of North America, but its distribution is not even. Excluding Northern New England, the northeastern United States and southern Ontario together comprise the continent's single most important manufacturing region. According to figure 5.1, Washington D.C. lies just south of the true manufacturing core and is inside the transitional area that stretches to the south eastern border of Virginia.

While D.C. is not in the Manufacturing Core, Washington is does have certain major industries in the city.

1. Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin employs over 22, 000 people in the D.C. area. Lockheed Martin is a U.S. global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is the world's largest defense contractor. Due to the companies' large amount of government contracts, the D.C. office is an integral part of the cooperation's operations.

The Lockheed Martin F/A-22 "Raptor"

2. Northrop Grumman

Northrup Grumman employs over 20, 000 people in the Washington D.C. area, the second largest employer in the district. Northrop Grumman is also an American aerospace and defense technology company. As of 2010 it was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world and the largest builder of naval vessels.

The Northrop Grumman X-47

Chapter 4: Megalopolis

The textbook recounts the story of geographer Jean Gottmann's "monumental study" of what he called a "very special region" located in the northeastern United States. He argued that the massive and complex urban region stemming from southern New Hampshire to Washington D.C., and its northern Virginia suburbs differed from any region that had existed in the world before.

The textbook says that megalopolis formed along the northeastern coast of the United States by the "gradual coalescence of large, independent metropolitan areas such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C."

The book lists Washington D.C. as an example of a megalopolis. In this post I will discuss the characteristics of a megalopolis and analyze why D.C. is considered part of it.

Site Characteristics of Megalopolis
The book defines site characteristics as, "the physical features that make up the immediate environment of that places' location."

An arial view of Washington D.C. and it's rivers, with the main and largest river, the Potomac running through the center of the image.

One of the characteristics of a megalopolis is the presence of water. "Throughout the region, bays and river estuaries penetrate the landmass in a mirror image of the land's penetration of the ocean. This interpenetrated coastline brings more opportunities to take advantage of cheap water transportation than if the coast were straight." This is true of Washington D.C.--as it has 3 rivers that have contributed to it's megalopolis status. The Potomac, the Anacostia River, and Rock Creek River (tributary of the Potomac River) provide access and natural resources to the D.C. area.

The Potomac River

The Anacostia River

Rock Creek River

Chapter 3: Foundations of Human Activity

This chapter outlines the different peoples who settled in the U.S. and made the vast landscape their own.

In this post I will talk about:
1. The history/settlers in Washington D.C.
2. Demographics/population of Washington D.C. at present
3. Prominent religions in Washington D.C.


History/Settlers in Washington D.C.
Before the Europeans came to America in the 17th century, Washington D.C. was inhabited by an Algonquian-speaking people known as the Nacotchtank. They lived around the Anacosta River when the Europeans arrived in the 1600s, but the native American people had largely left the area by the early 1700s.

Aerial Photo of Washington D.C. 1919

In 1788, James Madison declared his belief in a need for a federal district--a national capital. He believed the capital needed to be separate and distinct from states in order to provide for it's own well-being and safety. The Constitution does not, however, specify a location for a new capital. On July 16, 1790, the Residence Act established the new permanent capital to be located on the Potomac River, and left the exact area to be selected by President George Washington. The Organic Act of 1802 officially organized the District of Columbia and put the federal territory, including Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria under exclusive control of Congress.

Although the slave trade was banned in the city, slavery technically wasn't and by 1860, approximately 80% of the city's African American citizens were free, mainly due to a surge of freed slaves coming Northward at the end of the Civil War. From 1800 to 1900 the population increased by 270,000 people, starting the trend of the continuously growing city.


Demographics/population of Washington D.C. at present
As of 2010, 601, 723 people live in the District of Columbia. As in most American cities, the majority of the population is white, but as mentioned above, Washington had a large black population and still continues to have one this day, with blacks making up 36.3% of the population. Additionally, many foreign immigrants make their homes in D.C., with an estimated 74, 000 living in the city as of 2007. The most common countries the immigrants migrate from are El Salvador, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.

An LGBT Demonstrator in Washington D.C.

Additionally, Washington D.C. has a large and vibrant LGBT community. A report in 2007 found that approximately 33,000 adult residents in D.C. identify themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. This amounts to about 8.1% of the city's population--a sizable amount compared to most cities in America.

And finally, D.C. host a strongly educated population, as 46% of D.C. residents have at least a four year degree.




Prominent religions in Washington D.C.


Consistent with most of America, the largest religion in D.C. is Christian. In 2000, more than half the D.C. population identified themselves as Christian. Within Christianity are many different denominations, and as also consistent with what the textbook said (that the majority of Americans are Roman Catholic) the same applies in Washington. Close to 28% of D.C. citizens are Roman Catholic, 9.1% are American Baptist, 1.3% are Easter or Oriental Orthodox, and 13% are members of other Christian denominations.

The Pope--The leader of the Roman Catholic Church

Islamic residents make up 10% of the population, disciples of Judaism make up 4.5%, and a very large number (26.8%) do not practice a religion.

AND.....A quick tour of Modern Washington D.C.

Chapter 2: Geographic Patterns of the Physical Environment

"The physical environment, modified by human effort, impinges on our lives regardless of where we live."--Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada.

This chapter focuses on the physical features of the United States including:
1. Topography
2. Mountains
3. Climate
4. Natural/Mineral Resources

In the post below I will delve into Washington D.C.'s physical environment in regards to these specific topics.


Here's a quick video overview of D.C.

Topography and Mountains
Geographers find the topography of Washington D.C. to be very similar to its neighboring Maryland. The highest point in D.C. is 410 feet above sea level at Fort Reno in Tenleytown. Washington D.C. doesn't have any major mountain ranges running through it, but rather have mountains surrounding it. According to weather forcast.com, the closest mountain peak is 56 km away in Maryland, called Sugarloaf Mountain.

Fort Reno in D.C.

Sugarloaf Mountain 

in Maryland

The district has three natural rivers: The Potomac River, the Anacostia River, and Rock Creek. The coming together of the Anacostia and the Potomac is called Arsenal Point. Also in the District is the Washinton Channel, which flows into the junction of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. D.C. has three man-made reservoirs: Dalecarlia Reservoir, the McMillan Reservoir, and Georgetown Reservoir.

The Potomac running through D.C.

The lowest point in D.C. is sea level at the shore of the Anacostia and Potomac river shores. Additionally, Washington D.C. also features some great geographical features including Theodore Roosevelt Island--an island turned national park in the Potomac River, Columbia Island--another island in the Potomac and recently renamed Lady Bird Johnson Park, The Three Sisters--three rocky islands in the Potomac west of the Key Bridge, and Hains Point--the peninsula looking but truly island part of land on the southern tip of East Potomac Park.

Surprisingly, it was very hard to find topographic maps of Washington D.C.

Climate
Washington D.C. is located in the Humid Subtropical Zone on the Koppen classification scale. It's climate is very similar to Mid-Atlantic U.S. areas that are removed from a body of water.
Unlike California, Washington D.C.'s weather varies greatly within the seasons. The city typically experiences extreme variations between summer and winter.

A D.C. Climagraph

Summers tend to be very hot and humid, with the heat made even worse in the heart of the city because of its vast area of concrete and steel. Daily temperatures in the summer average 79.2 with 66% humidity. The coalition of humidity and heat brings together frequent summer thunderstorms which can occasionally cause tornados.

A cold winter's day in Washington D.C.

The winters are typically pretty cold, and the city is often subject to heavy snowfalls with up 17 inches a year. Winter temperatures from December to February average 38 degrees. During winter the D.C. is also subject to sudden arctic blasts, frozen rain storms, or blizzards.

July is typically the warmest month and January is typically the coldest. The highest recorded temperature in the city was 106 degrees Fahrenheit on July 20, 1930 and the coldest recorded temperature was -15 degrees Fahrenheit  February 11, 1899.

Natural/Mineral Resources

Much of Washington D.C's natural resources and vegetation has been preserved in national parks.

Rock Creek Park      

Rock Creek Park--located in Northwestern D.C. It is one of the oldest national parks and is twice as big as New York's Central park, with its acreage totaling 1,755 acres. Not only does the park protect the area's ancient beauty and plants, it also has the only surviving water-powered grist mill on the Potomac, the Pierce Mill, and two Civil War Forts.

The U.S. National