Cultural Features of the US

Northeast Region

100

These are Native Americans and they were the first people to live in Rhode Island in the Northeast and they traded goods with the Europeans.

What are the Narragansett People?

200

This event, which was the war where the American colonies gained independence from England, started in the Northeast.

What is the American Revolution?

300

The Northeast was opposed to slavery and fought against the South in the Civil War. The North was full of abolitionists, or people who wanted to end slavery.

What is Abolition?

400

The major cities of the Northeast included New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia, which were all major sea ports where ships would travel to bring products to and from the Northeast to the rest of the world.

What are Cities and Industry?

Southeast Region

100

These people lived in the Southeast, but were forced to move West by American soldiers because the government wanted to take their land.

What are the Cherokee People?

200

These people include George Washington, the first President, Father of His Country, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, which stated that the United States was independent of England, James Madison, author of the Constitution, which is a document that describes how the United States government is organized, Andrew Jackson, first President to be born into poverty, which means his family had very little money.

What are the Early Presidents?

300

The Southeast supported slavery, which led to the Civil War against the North. The Southeast lost that war and entered a period of time called Reconstruction, where they rebuilt their cities after the destruction of the Civil War. For a hundred more years after slavery ended, these people were still not free but were segregated, or separated from whites in parks, buses, and bathrooms. Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders fought to end segregation by using nonviolence to pass the Civil Rights Act, which finally granted African-Americans equality under the law.

What are African-Americans in the South?

Midwest Region

100

These people were a Native American tribe in the Midwest whose culture changed when the Europeans arrived. The Europeans forced them onto reservations, or small pieces of land away from their homes, and made them hunt animals to trade their fur instead of using it as food for themselves.

Who are the Ojibwa People?

200

This industry was important to Europeans, because it could be used to make expensive coats, and it allowed them to build cities like Chicago in the Midwest with the money they made from the trade.

What is the Fur Trade?

300

This feature kept improving to travel faster across the United States. The steamboat was invented to carry goods fast over water. The transcontinental railroad moved goods fast over land. And finally, the Interstate Highway System created roads that cars and trucks could use to drive people and goods across the nation.

What is Transporting Goods and People?

Southwest Region

100

These people were a Native American tribe in the Southwest that were forced to move to a US Army post and then forced them to move to Bosque Redondo, on a deadly journey known as the Long Walk.

Who are the Navajo People?

200

The Spanish settlers moved into the Southwest and created missions, religious headquarters that tried to spread Christian beliefs to the Native Americans of the Southwest. The Southwest is heavily influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture, food, and music.

What is Spanish Influence?

300

Irrigation (bringing water from far away using pipes) and air conditioning (which cools the air) were invented and allowed people to move and live in the Southwest, which is very hot and dry.

What is Water and Cool Air?

West Region

100

These people, Native Americans of the West, had plenty of food available to them, which allowed them to spend time developing their traditions and trading with other Native Americans.

Who are the Tlingit People?

200

Alaska and Hawaii were both territories that the United States controlled because of their natural resources, and then the United States used both places as military bases before giving them statehood.

What is Statehood for Alaska and Hawaii?

300

The United States trades goods, like computer software and movies, from the Western states with other countries around the Pacific Ocean. The United States makes a lot of money from buying imports and selling exports across the Pacific.

What is International Trade in the Pacific?