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How Did Geography Influence The Development Of The Colonies

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Over the course of the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, the geography and the environment of the Atlantic Coast impacted the development of the English colonies. These environmental and geographical factors can be separated into two groups: factors that were used to British or colonial advantage and factors that were influential but not specifically manipulated. Regardless of whether or not these factors were exploited, they were crucial to the development of the culture and economy of the colonies on a local and national scale. The geography and environment of the colonies was an influential element in several major political events for both the colonists and the British. For example, the French and Indian War, waged in a dispute over the Ohio River Valley, led to an influx of British soldiers and caused the overseas government in England to realize the need for increased protection and supervision of the colonies, which in turn gave rise to critical antagonistic sentiments between soldiers and colonists. Specifically, the British became convinced of the ineptitude of the colonial militias in war, …show more content…

As a founding aspect, the availability of rich, arable land attracted and supported many settlers from various ethnic backgrounds, producing a unique American culture that would eventually become known as a “melting pot,” though the diversity was less pronounced at this stage. In the southern colonies, the abundance of land allowed the more affluent settlers to run plantations, the organization of which contributed largely to the southern culture. This was one of several environmental causes for the distinction between northern and southern colonies, and the combined weight of these differences would ultimately isolate the North from the South in the Civil War and

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