copyright Alan A. Lew, 2004, all rights reserved
Chapter 5 - THE EASTERN HIGHLANDS
PART 1. New England and the Maritime Provinces: the Northern Appalachian Cordillera
Virtual Field Trips to New England and Appalachia
Note: Links marked with an asterisk (*) are optional.Overview and Comparison
The Appalachian Mountain Region consists of two subregions. This is true both for the physical and the human geography of this eastern upland area. For most Americans, the term Appalachia, conjures images that are characteristic of the southern part of the mountain range. The Northern Appalachians, on the other hand, consist of most of upstate New York, New England, and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. A broad transition zone between these two subregions lies somewhere in Pennsylvania. (The region defined as "Appalachia" (no final "n") usually refers to the southern Appalachian Mountains.)
The Ozarks
One other region which this section discusses is the Ozarks. The Ozarks lie 400 miles to the west of southern Appalachia, across the Mississippi Valley. They are, however, part of the same mountain system and share many of the cultural adaptations found in the southern Appalachians.
All three areas (the Northern Appalachians, Southern Appalachia, and the Ozarks) have lower population densities, lower standards of living and incomes, and more subsistence lifestyles than in the lowland areas that surround them. They were initially settled by English and Scots-Irish.
PART
1. NEW ENGLAND AND THE MARITIME PROVINCES: the Northern Appalachian Cordillera
Distinct Characteristics of the Northern Appalachians
The Northern Appalachian Mountains are distinctly different in both its physical and human geographies from its more southerly extension. Unlike the south, the Northern Appalachians have
The Maritime Provinces of Canada
The Canadian provinces this region comprises include Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. These provinces are known as the "Maritime Provinces" of Canada. They traditionally have had strong ties to Great Britain and were the last provinces to join the Canadian Federation. They all share low population densities, a heavy reliance on fishing, and difficult agricultural conditions.
New England: Location
In the US, most of the area comprising the northern extension of the Appalachian cordillera is located in the region known as New England. New England is usually defined as the states north and east of New York, all of which exhibit a considerable influence of early British culture. However, similar physical and cultural characteristics extend into the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains in the state of New York. Thus, the Pennsylvania Appalachians constitute the main transition zone between the northern and southern regions of the cordillera. The Allegheny range, for example, begins in central Pennsylvania and is both physically and culturally representative of the southern Appalachians.
Physical
Geography of New England
The northern extension of the Appalachian Mountains extends all the way through the island of Newfoundland. The St. Lawrence River forms the boundary between the Appalachian system and the flat Canadian Shield to the north. The one exception to this is the Adirondack Mountains, which are a bulging extension of the Canadian Shield south of the St. Lawrence River.
Major Rock Types
The Appalachian Mountains are primarily characterized by folded sedimentary rock. The mountains of New England are the northern extension of the Appalachian Mountains and contain a greater mix of ancient Canadian Shield metamorphic rock and intrusive igneous rock (e.g., granite) than does the southern portion of the mountain range. The north is, therefore, less linear in physical appearance.
The White Mountains
The White Mountains of New Hampshire and northern Maine constitute the tallest mountain range in the northeastern US, with the highest elevations over 6,000 ft (1,828 m) high. The peaks of this range were not completely covered by the deep blankets of continental glaciation during the ice ages. They remain sharp and steep, carved by smaller, local glaciers. Most of the northern border between Canada and New Hampshire/Maine follows the ridge line of the White Mountains. (The White Mountains become the Monts Knitter Dame in Canada.)
The Green Mountains
The Green Mountains of Vermont are the second major range in the northern Appalachians. This range trends in a north-south direction and has lower peaks (4,500 ft/1,400 m) than the White Mountains. In contrast to the White Mountains, glaciers completely covered the Green Mountains in the ice ages, giving them a smooth, rounded shape.
The Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains* form the third major mountain system in the northern Appalachians. As mentioned above, they are a southern extension of the Canadian Shield. The Adirondacks do not have a linear ridge line but, rather, resemble a large, uplifted bulge or plateau, which has been deeply eroded by glaciers.
Lake Champlain
Located between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondacks of New York is Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain, also known as "New England's West Coast," is a 120-mile-long, glacially carved lake. It is situated at the northern end of the trough that forms the Hudson River Valley and drains northward into the St. Lawrence River. The states of Vermont and New York, and the Canadian province of Quebec, work together to maintain the lakes quality. Efforts have been underway to have Lake Champlain designated as the 6th Great Lake, which would make it eligible for federal programs designed to manage the Great Lakes.
Geologic Origins
The Appalachians were built up during the Caldonian and Hercynian Orogenies (570 to 136 million years B.P.). At that time, North America and Europe formed a single continent, and the Appalachians were as high as the Alps and Rocky Mountains. The mountains of Ireland, Scotland, and northern Scandinavia are actually an extension of the Appalachian Mountain System but have been separated by continental drift, which began about 200 million years ago. The entire chain on both sides of the Atlantic originated between 500 and 200 million years ago, at a time when North America and Eurasia were still connected as a single land mass.
(By contrast, the Canadian Shield, including Iceland, contains rock that is over 1 billion years old, while the Rockies and the Alps are both less than 136 million years old and are still growing. The last 136 million year period is known as the Alpine Orogeny.)
New England Coastline
The New England coastline is one of the more rugged, because the Appalachian Mountains come directly into contact with the sea just north of New York City. In addition, past periods of glaciation have heavily dissected the mountains, creating a very jagged coast with many bays and promontories. (Fjords are even found in Newfoundland, but only one exists in the US -- the Somes Sound on Mt. Desert Island in Maine.) As one moves farther south, the jagged coastline intermixes with sandy beaches. Most of the larger cities of this northern Appalachian region are located on the sandy lowlands in the southern part of New England.
Maine Coastline
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is one of the more pronounced sand features on the New England coastline. It is formed by the northward movement of ocean currents which gradually erode the southern portion of the cape. The southern part of this L-shaped peninsula (facing the southern currents) is a glacial moraine. A moraine is an area marking the end of a glacier where all the rocks and dirt carried in the glacial ice were deposited.
Cape Cod peninsula in an infrared satellite image, showing Boston in the upper left corner and the islands of Martha's Vineyard (left) and Nantucket Island (right) below the peninsula
Ice Ages
No one really knows what causes Ice
Ages. They tend to be a northern hemisphere phenomenon and happen on a periodic,
though not predictable, basis. One theory is that the northernmost part of the
Atlantic Ocean gets clogged by ice, possibly due to a period of global cooling,
which prevents the warm Gulf Stream from entering the Arctic Ocean. This causes
the Arctic Ocean to completely freeze over, affecting the northern parts of
Asia, Europe and N. America and throwing the entire planet's climate system
out of alignment. The current global warming that the earth is experiencing
will probably mitigate against an Ice Age in the short term. However, if the
warming causes enough gasses to be released into the atmosphere (through fires,
fossil fuel burning, and other changes), this could block the sun and cause
global cooling -- which could trigger at least a mini-ice age. This might happen
in your lifetime ... or maybe not.
The climate of New England is characterized by very cold winters and mild summers. The coastal areas have some moderating maritime influences, while the interior portions experience greater temperature variation due to continental climatic factors.
Continental Climate
Overall, the continental climatic influences affect New England much more than most of the other coastlines surrounding the US. This is due to the prevailing wind patterns across North America. In the winter, these winds push extremely cold, Arctic air out of Canada and the north-central US to New England. The mountainous terrain further contributes to the coldness. Snow in the coastal areas of Boston and even New York is caused by this wind pattern.
Comparison with Other Higher Latitude Locations
New England is at the same latitude as Spain, Italy, and southern France in Europe and is mostly south of Portland and Seattle in the US. These West Coast locations rarely receive snow, however, because global wind patterns bring them warmer maritime air throughout most of the year. New England is also at the same latitude as North Korea, northern Japan, and Vladivostock in Russia. These places are even colder than New England in winter because of the intense cold generated by the Siberian interior of the large Asian continent.
The Gulf Stream and Labrador Current
Atlantic Ocean currents also influence the climate of New England. The warm Gulf Stream leaves the US coast at Cape Hatteras (North Carolina), shooting across to warm the shores of Europe, but bypassing New England. Instead, the Labrador Current, coming down from Greenland, is sucked into the vacuum left by the Gulf Stream. This water is very cold, with an occasional iceberg, but it is also rich in oxygen. The high oxygen content provides New England (and Maritime Canada) with some of the best fishing grounds in North America.
Ice off the northeast coast of Newfoundland flowing south with the Labrador Current
Summer Fog
In the summer, winds often rise up
the coast from the south, following the jet stream. When these warm winds encounter
the cold waters of the Labrador Current, fog and clouds form. In some places
these are so common as to limit the region's summer agricultural potential.
Transportation Shadow
Some geographers have referred to New England as the "bypassed east" because it lies in a "transportation shadow." A transportation shadow is an area of limited transportation development lying near major transportation routes. New England and the Maritime Provinces lie between Megalopolis to the south and the St. Lawrence River to the north. The ports of Megalopolis are both warmer and have better access to the interior US than those of New England. The St. Lawrence River provides direct access to Montreal, Toronto, and the Great Lakes.
The New England Village
Early settlement in New England developed a distinct pattern which has influenced the modern landscape of the region. This pattern consisted of small, nucleated villages scattered through the countryside. Each village had a "town common" (used for pasture) located near its center. (Today, these are city parks.) Facing the town common were the church, school, cemetery, and first settlers' houses.
Clustering
The early seventeenth-century settlers were from England. They were granted "townships" ranging in size from 4 to 10 square miles. They came over as religious groups. Often either an entire congregation or urban neighborhood came together. This fostered mutual cooperation and hierarchical control through the development of clustered villages, rather than in isolated farmsteads.
Scattered Farm Fields
Usually, there was a single central village, which was the original settlement, and several satellite villages. Each of these villages was surrounded by farm fields. Each family owned several fields of different sizes and in scattered locations. This was to ensure that all villagers had access to both the best and the worst lands in the area.
Private Homes and Common Lands
Their first homes were simple dugouts in the sides of hills. Later they built wattle cottages, similar to those still seen in rural England. Finally, the log cabin came into use. The house parcel and farm lots were owned by the farmer fee simple (with no restriction). The town common, pasture lands, and woodlands were all owned communally.
Seventeenth-Century England Villages
The compactness of the villages and the presence of communal land were similar to villages in England in the seventeenth century. However, the lack of a feudal lord and his manor, and the presence of private land, made the New England village different. The villages were often based on religious utopian models and administered by church officials.
Satellite Villages
When the immediate physical resources could no longer support the population of a village, several of the younger families would move to a nearby location to establish a satellite village. Early New England laws even forbid individuals from building their individual homes too far from a village center.
Decline of the Clustered Village
Pressure to develop larger, consolidated farms for commercial purposes increased in the seventeenth century. The numerous roads leading to farms and the small, scattered lots made anything but subsistence farming impractical. In addition, established residents were not very open to accepting new immigrants. This furthered efforts to allow more isolated and unified farmsteads. The US Public Land Survey of 1785 resulted in the end of the clustered village pattern in the newly opened agricultural lands of the Midwest. This was because the USPLS forced people to live on separate farms at some distance from one another.
Settlement in the Northern Appalachians is concentrated along the narrow coastal plain and in major river valleys between the mountains, and most of the larger cities are located on the lowlands in the southern portion of the region. The moderating influence of the Atlantic Ocean, combined with a more southerly location, results in milder climates for Boston (Massachusetts), Providence (Rhode Island), and New Haven (Connecticut), which in turn has attracted larger populations and more diversified industry. In Canada, as well, Halifax, with a population of 277,727 (1981) is the largest city in the Maritime Province and is located on the southernmost coastal plain on Nova Scotia.
Fishing
In colonial times, these cities benefited from the rich fishing grounds off the Atlantic Coast and access to mountain timber for shipbuilding. Although fishing was once the principal industry in coastal cities, today most of the old fishing grounds are experiencing steadily decreasing production. In 1977, the US extended its fishing zone from 12 to 200 miles. Despite this, and the imposition of quotas on cod, flounder, haddock and other fish, New England fishermen experienced a 50% to 60% decline in their catch in the 1980s. Fishermen blame urban areas for dumping sewage sludge into the oceans, but at the same time fishing boats also dump hazardous raw sewage, plastics, and chemicals from their ships.
Maine and the Maritime Provinces of Canada - The pink color in this image indicated higher levels of oxygen in the water brought down by the Labrador Current. More oxygen results in more fish.
Portland, Maine: a Coastal City
Portland (pop. 62,000) was the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and contains the oldest lighthouse in the US. It is still a major fishing, fish processing, and shipbuilding center, yet it now supplements much of that income as one of the busiest oil shipping centers on the Atlantic Coast, piping oil to Canada via Montreal. Meat processing, electronics industries, and leather products (a major industry in Maine) further diversify Portland's economy.
Lumber in Maine
Twenty years ago, much of Maine was inaccessible except by foot or plane. Today, paper milling companies have created the largest network of private roads in the US (10,000 miles) through central Maine. Eighty-six percent of the entire state is considered commercial forests. These private logging roads have opened up the Maine wilderness to large numbers of recreationists. This, combined with massive timber clear cutting has turned the former wilderness into one of the major working woodlots in the US. Most of Maine's virgin timber forests were already cut by 1900, although 6,800 protected acres still remain.
Inland Settlement Areas
Settlement further inland came later and was concentrated on the major river valleys: the Connecticut (Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut), the Merrimack (Concord and Manchester, New Hampshire), the Hudson (Albany, New York), and the Lake Champlain Lowland (Burlington, Vermont). Although growing seasons were short, settlement in the inland river valleys was primarily based on agriculture. Lumber- and river-based industries (in falls locations) also supported the development of early urban trading centers.
Burlington, Vermont: An Inland City
Burlington (pop. 38,000 in the city/115,000 in the area) is typical of inland, river valley cities. Located in the 48th largest state in the US, it is the largest of the inland cities of New England. Burlington is situated on the Lake Champlain Lowland, which extends from the headwaters of the Hudson River going south and northward into the St. Lawrence River Valley near Montreal. Today it is a major summer resort city for residents of Megalopolis. Its early growth, however, resulted from its water access to the St. Lawrence to the north and the agricultural products grown in its hinterland extending to the south.
Vermont
With a little over half a million people, Vermont has the second smallest population of any state in the US (after Wyoming). Most of the state is still composed of rural, clustered villages. Vermont, however, shared in the economic boom that hit New England in the 1980s, as well as the economic bust of the early 1990s. Pressures to urbanize and develop have been increasing, particularly as economic interests from Megalopolis have moved into the region. Part of the growth of New England in the 1980s was a result of its becoming a recreational "playground" for residents of the New York to Boston area. In order to maintain its rural lifestyle, the state has passed strong legislation requiring comprehensive regional planning to give local residents as much control over the development of their communities as possible.
Boston
Boston, the capital city of Massachusetts, was the largest colonial city in America until it was overtaken by Philadelphia in the 1750s. It was founded as a fishing and shipbuilding community at the mouth of the Charles and Mystic Rivers in 1630. The original site of Boston was a small peninsula narrowly connected to the mainland. Most of the Boston Harbor marshlands and inlets have been filled in, more than doubling the peninsula's size. As in nearby Salem, several witches were executed in Boston between 1648 and 1688. Despite early religious intolerance, education has always played a major role in the city. The first university in America was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1636 (across the Charles River from Boston) and the nation's first public school system was founded in Boston in 1647.
Boston Today
Today, over 400 post-secondary institutions
are found in the Boston area. These educational institutions have been a major
factor in the growth of high-technology industries in the region, which in turn
have generated economic growth throughout New England. Development pressures
have brought architectural contrasts to downtown Boston, where many of the most
historic pre-Revolutionary buildings in the US adjoin modern skyscrapers. Faneuil
Hall, an important center of revolutionary activity, is today part of the very
popular Quincy Market boutique and restaurant marketplace. As with other Megalopolis
and industrial cities of the northeastern US, Boston has received a large number
of immigrants over the years. The largely low- and middle-income South Boston
is predominantly Irish, the North End is the Italian neighborhood, while Roxbury
is predominantly Black. These neighborhoods occasionally experience ethnic tensions
and violence.
Table 5-1. Founding of Early American
Cities
| YEAR | CITY | COUNTRY | NOTES | |
| 1565 | St. Augustine (FL) | Spain | ||
| 1587 | Roanoke (VA) | England | 1 | |
| 1607 | Jamestown* (VA) | England | 2 | |
| 1608 | Quebec (Canada) | France | ||
| 1610 | Santa Fe (NM) | Spain | ||
| 1620 | Provincetown & Plymouth (MA) | England | 3 | |
| 1624 | Albany (NY) | Holland | 4 | |
| 1625 | New York (NY) | Holland | 5 | |
| 1630 | Boston (MA) | England | ||
| 1638 | Wilmington (DE) | Sweden | 6 | |
| 1642 | Montreal (Canada) | France | 7 | |
| 1670 | Charleston (SC) | England | 8 | |
| 1682 | Philadelphia (PA) | England |
Notes: (1) Roanoke colony mysteriously disappeared by 1590. (2) Jamestown was abandoned in 1699 when capital of VA was moved to Williamsburg. (3) Provincetown was founded by the Pilgrims as the first colony in New England, though a month later most of them decided to settle in nearby Plymouth. (4) Originally called Ft. Orange. (5) Originally called New Amsterdam. (6) Originally called Ft. Christina. (7) Originally called Ville-Marie. (8) First English colony in the American South.
Extra Reading: Life in the late 1500's
The region defined as "Appalachia" (no final n) usually refers to the southern Appalachian Mountains. The Ozarks lie 400 miles to the west, across the Mississippi Valley in southern Missouri, northwest Arkansas, and eastern Oklahoma. They were, however, formed at about the same time as the Appalachian Mountains and share many characteristics, both in terms of physical geography and human geography. They are both quite distinct from the lowland South and Great Plains that surround them.
Physiographic Regions of Appalachia
The Southern Appalachian Mountains are more curvilinear in structure, clearly indicating different layers of folded sedimentary rock, than the portion in New England. There are three distinct physiographic regions with three transition zones. Moving from the East Coast side inland, these are
1. The Piedmont transition from the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This area of hard, rolling hills is much lower than the main part of the Appalachians and is sometimes not included as part of the mountain system.
2. The Blue Ridge Mountains. These mountains, the tallest in the Appalachian Range, rise above the Piedmont and mark the beginning of Appalachia proper. The northern section in Pennsylvania is relatively low and narrow, but in the south they are almost 100 miles wide at the Tennessee/North Carolina border (where they are known as the Great Smoky Mountains) and reach heights over 6,500 feet.
3. The Great Valley provides a transition zone between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Ridge and Valley section. The Great Valley runs the entire length of the mountains through Appalachia and continues as the Hudson/Lake Champlain Valley in New England. It is clearly distinguished in the northern portion but is more broad and less well defined in the southern. Historically, it has been the most important transportation route from the Megalopolis region into Appalachia and the South. In Pennsylvania, it is also known as the Lebanon Valley and the Cumberland Valley; in Virginia, it is the Shenandoah Valley; and, in Tennessee, it is known as the Tennessee Valley.
4. The Ridge and Valley section of the Appalachians consists of a series of mountainous ridgelines separating narrow valleys that are usually under 2 miles in width. The entire Ridge and Valley section is about 50 miles wide. The ridges are primarily resistant shale and sandstone (sedimentary rock) and rise between 300 and 600 feet above the valley floors. The valley floors are primarily made up of soft and eroded limestone.
5. The Allegheny Front provides an abrupt transitional border between the Ridge and Valley section and the Appalachian Plateau. The Front is a steep escarpment (cliff) located primarily in the northern portion.
6. The Appalachian Plateau is the third major section of the mountain system. It is a broad, uplifted area of rolling hills heavily dissected by steep river valleys. The northern portion, in Pennsylvania, is known as the Allegheny Plateau, while the southern portion, around Tennessee, is known as the Cumberland Plateau.
Physiography of the Ozarks
The Ozarks region consists of three east-west trending mountain systems. Other than aligning east-west, they are very similar to the Appalachian Mountains.
1. Ouachita Mountains - The Ouachitas are to the south of the Arkansas River and consist of several ridgelines and valleys, as in the Ridge and Valley section of the Appalachians, though not as broad.
2. Boston Mountains - The Boston Mountains lie to the north of the Arkansas River and are slightly taller than the Ouachitas, though both are under 3,000 feet.
3. Ozarks - The Ozarks are a plateau, very similar to the two Appalachian plateaus. They are located north of the Boston Mountains.
Geology of Appalachian Range near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
US Geology map (patterns, no text)
Eastern Highlands physiographic map (no text)
HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN APPALACHIA
Barrier to Travel and Settlement
Early European settlers were generally discouraged from migrating into the southern Appalachians because of the ruggedness of the terrain. The relative relief (differences between highest and lowest elevation in a given area) of the Southern Appalachians reaches 3,000 ft. in many areas. The easiest access to the region was through the lower Blue Ridge Mountains in Pennsylvania and then down the Great Valley to Virginia. Railway development in the South in general was inhibited by the Appalachian mountains. The city of Atlanta, Georgia, is situated just below the southern end of the Appalachian range and was founded as a major transportation terminus for people trying to move goods around the mountains.
Scots-Irish
The earliest immigrants to make this journey were the Scots-Irish (Scots who migrated to Northern Ireland under the British) and Germans. By 1700, the Scots-Irish had become the main group to settle into the Ridge and Valley section of the Appalachian Mountains.
Agricultural Potential
The agricultural potential of this area was marginal. Soils were poor and the diverse microclimates caused by the terrain presented difficulties. Narrow valleys between the hills kept farm sizes small (between 25 and 50 acres). While this was initially sufficient to support subsistence farming, such farms could not compete with the large, commercial plantations which later developed on the more moderate slopes of the coastal plains and inland plateaus (located, respectively, to the east and west of the Appalachian Mountain Ranges).
The Ozarks
The Ozarks, farther to the east, were settled in a similar manner as Southern Appalachia, though a few decades later. Scots-Irish, English, and Germans were the major settlers here as well.
The Essence of the Ozarks* from the Ozark's Sense of Place* website
Low Population Densities and Poor Whites
Lack of access, mountainous terrain, and small agricultural farmsteads have shaped the subsequent history and development of the two mountain regions. Once the narrow valley low lands were claimed, very few new immigrants went into Southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. Since this occurred early in the regions' histories, most of the people today are descendants of Scots-Irish, English, and Germans. Most of the population is rural, traditional, and relatively poor. Southern Appalachia contains the largest concentration of poor-white people in the US. A poor area extending from eastern Kentucky and Tennessee to Northern Georgia and Alabama has poverty levels exceeding 15%. (February 1990 official US poverty level was $12,700-year income for a family of four people.)
Open-pit surface coal mining in the Appalachian Range impoverished both the land and people in earlier decades
Attachment to Place
Many families in Southern Appalachia and the Ozarks have lived for several generations in the same community. Even today, Southern Appalachia states have the lowest rates of immigration (from other states) than anywhere else in the US. Because many of the families have lived in the region for several generations, they have a strong attachment to place and very traditional attitudes about proper social roles.
Protestant Faiths
The English and Scottish origins of the people result in most of them being Protestant. The form of Protestantism is usually Conservative Baptist. The region is part of the Bible Belt, which also includes the Black Baptist population in the lowland areas of the South.
Regional Planning and Development in Appalachia
The Southern Appalachian Mountain region presents some of the best examples of regional planning efforts in US history. The 1929 worldwide stock market crash brought about a major shift in attitudes toward regional planning, and the role of the federal government in promoting regional development efforts.
New Deal Policies
Prior to the 1930s economic depression, the federal government had an essentially laissez-faire, free market policy toward the US economy. The stock market crash resulted from the failure of the free market system. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the US. His New Deal policies represented the first effort by the federal government to regulate and manage the nation's economy.
Tennessee Valley Authority
At the time, the Tennessee River Valley was one of the poorest and least developed regions in the country. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was established to rectify this situation. The TVA's initial task was to develop the river as an economic entity by constructing dams for hydroelectric power and industrial development. In this way, the agency essentially did what the US Army Corps of Engineers did in most other parts of the country.
TVA Organization
In addition to water conservation and power generation, however, the TVA is involved in coal and nuclear power plants, timber, agriculture, and resource development within the Tennessee River's watershed. The agency has exclusive rights to develop the Tennessee River. It is headed by three board members, each of whom serves a nine-year term. The TVA's funding comes entirely from earnings made through the sale of energy. At the same time, it relies on considerable cooperation from other local, state, and federal agencies in its planning efforts.
Nuclear Power Bankruptcy
In the 1980s, the TVA, like many other regional power companies, faced bankruptcy due to the escalating cost of nuclear power plant construction. Hydroelectric power is the cheapest available, but the TVA's nuclear investment has resulted in rising energy costs for the people it serves.
The TVA Compared to Other Regional Planning Agencies
The TVA is not the only multi-state agency in the US. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) was also established in the 1930s to manage energy developed on the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. Similarly, there is the Susquehanna and Delaware River Commission (SDRC). Neither of these, however, is as wholly independent from either federal (as with the BPA) or state (SDRC) control as is the TVA.
The Tennessee River, in Alabama
Post-Depression Changes
With the gradual recovery from the depression, regional planning by the federal government declined, and the country's energy increasingly turned to the war in Europe. The period after World War II was one of considerable prosperity for many Americans. At the same time, however, some disadvantaged groups were being left behind. The race protests and riots of the 1960s were in response to the inequities of post-World War II America.
LBJ's Great Society
President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" programs were a conscious effort by the federal government to create greater social equity in the US. One of the major programs which LBJ instituted was the Federal Public Works and Economic Development (PWED) Act of 1965.
Regional Development Commissions
The PWED Act allowed the establishment of Regional Development Commissions, which included the governors of all the states in a region plus one person appointed by the president of the US. The commissions were funded by the US Congress and were supposed to establish goals, policies, plans, and programs to enhance the economic and social conditions of an economically depressed region.
The Appalachia Regional Commission
The Appalachia Regional Commission (ARC) was the largest and most successful of the six commissions originally established. The primary emphasis of the ARC's planning was to develop the interstate highway system in order to encourage industrialization and urban growth in Appalachia. The Ozark Regional Commission was more typical of the others (Four Corners, Upper Great Lakes, New England, and Southern Atlantic Coastal Plan) in that it was primarily used by the governors to finance "pork barrel" and "pet" projects for election purposes.
Appalachia Today
The Regional Commissions program
was abandoned by the federal government in 1981. The benefits to Southern Appalachia,
however, remain. Technology has overcome the environmental barriers of the region.
Appalachia is still a largely rural, relatively poor, and very traditional society.
However, life in Appalachia and the Ozarks today offers as many opportunities
and challenges as in most of the rest of the US.
Question 1: Looking at the maps, how is this region, which is representative of southern Appalachia, similar to and different from the rest of Kentucky?
Question 2: What accounts for these differences, according to the geography and history discussion?
