87-847: The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest ) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau . It occupies the northern central part of the United States . It was officially named the North Central Region by the U.S. Census Bureau until 1984. It is between the Northeastern United States and the Western United States , with Canada to
174-562: A 2019 Pew Research Center poll, 72% of adults in Pacific states said that "climate change is affecting their local community at least some", higher than in any other region in the country. Since 1992 , the three states have voted for Democrats in presidential elections without interruption, but Oregon and Washington also voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in 1988 . In the 2010s, Democrats strengthened their political power along
261-624: A U.S. Army by Native Americans. The British demanded the establishment of a Native American barrier state at the Treaty of Ghent which ended the War of 1812 , but American negotiators rejected the idea because Britain had lost control of the region in the Battle of Lake Erie and the Battle of the Thames in 1813, where Tecumseh was killed by U.S. forces. The British then abandoned their Native American allies south of
348-455: A house, clearing the ground, and planting crops. A number of means facilitated the legal settlement of the territories in the Midwest: land speculation , federal public land auctions , bounty land grants in lieu of pay to military veterans, and, later, preemption rights for squatters. The "squatters" became "pioneers" and were increasingly able to purchase the lands on which they had settled for
435-534: A supernatural being who lived in the sky and was believed to have created the world and the Huron people. At death, Hurons thought the soul left the body to live in a village in the sky. Chippewas were a deeply religious people who believed in the Great Spirit. They worshiped the Great Spirit through all their seasonal activities, and viewed religion as a private matter: Each person's relation with his personal guardian spirit
522-536: A written form of language. In the 16th century, the natives of the area used projectiles and tools of stone, bone, and wood to hunt and farm. They made canoes for fishing. Most of them lived in oval or conical wigwams that could be easily moved away. Various tribes had different ways of living. The Ojibwas were primarily hunters and fishing was also important in the Ojibwas economy. Other tribes such as Sac, Fox, and Miami, both hunted and farmed. They were oriented toward
609-430: Is considered a Democratic stronghold. Before achieving statehood in 1959, Hawaii became a state favorable to Democrats to the point that they sought statehood for the territory. Southern Democrats opposed the move because it would mean additional votes against their region on several issues. Since achieving statehood, Hawaii consistently voted for Democrats in presidential elections, except in 1972 and 1984 . Unlike
696-470: Is not a regional circuit. Its jurisdiction is nationwide but based on the subject matter. In 1969, the Office of Management and Budget published a list of ten "Standard Federal Regions", to which federal agencies could be restructured as a means of standardizing government administration nationwide. Despite a finding in 1977 that this restructuring did not reduce administrative costs as initially expected, and
783-608: Is part of the West Coast, along with the other four states. Encyclopædia Britannica refers to the North American region as part of the Pacific Coast, including Alaska and British Columbia . Although the encyclopedia acknowledges the inclusion of Hawaii in some capacity as part of the region, the editors wrote that "it has little in common geologically with the mainland states." Several dictionaries offer different definitions of
870-488: Is the 13th largest city, and Alaska's largest city, Anchorage , is 17th on the West Coast. California's history first as a major Spanish colony, and later Mexican territory, has given the lower West Coast a distinctive Hispanic American tone, which it also shares with the rest of the Southwest. Similarly, two of the three cities in which Asian Americans have concentrated, San Francisco and Los Angeles, are located on
957-505: Is the area between the historical foreground of European invasion and occupation and the background of Indian defeat and retreat. White specifically designates "the lands bordering the rivers flowing into the northern Great Lakes and the lands south of the lakes to the Ohio" as the location of the middle ground. This includes the modern Midwestern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan as well as parts of Canada. The middle ground
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#17330945022111044-740: The Algonquian language family. Some tribes—such as the Stockbridge-Munsee and the Brothertown —are also Algonkian-speaking tribes who relocated from the eastern seaboard to the Great Lakes region in the 19th century. The Oneida belong to the Iroquois language group and the Ho-Chunk of Wisconsin are one of the few Great Lakes tribes to speak a Siouan language. American Indians in this area did not develop
1131-576: The Arikara , Hidatsa , Iowa , Kaw (or Kansa) , Kitsai , Mandan , Missouria , Nez Perce , Omaha , Osage , Otoe , Pawnee , Ponca , Quapaw , Santee , Wichita , and Yankton . The nomadic tribes of the Great Plains survived on hunting ; some of their major hunts centered on deer and buffalo. Some tribes are described as part of the "Buffalo Culture" (sometimes called, for the American bison ). Although
1218-480: The Blackfoot , Arapaho , Assiniboine , Cheyenne , Comanche , Crow , Gros Ventre , Kiowa , Lakota , Lipan , Plains Apache (or Kiowa Apache), Plains Cree , Plains Ojibwe , Sarsi , Shoshone , Stoney , and Tonkawa . The second group of Plains Indians (sometimes referred to as Prairie Indians) were the semi-sedentary tribes who, in addition to hunting buffalo, lived in villages and raised crops. These included
1305-629: The Great Lakes region . The West North Central Division includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, several of which are located, at least partly, within the Great Plains region. Chicago is the most populous city in the American Midwest and the third-most populous in the United States. Chicago and its suburbs , colloquially known as Chicagoland , form
1392-621: The Haitian Revolution and together with the fact that France could not effectively defend Louisiana from a possible British attack, he sold the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Meanwhile, the British maintained forts and trading posts in U.S. territory, refusing to give them up until 1796 by the Jay Treaty . American settlement began either via routes over
1479-538: The Kansas City metro area , the Columbus metro area , and Greater Cleveland . The region's economy is a mix of heavy industry and agriculture, with extensive areas forming part of the United States' Corn Belt . Finance and services such as medicine and education are becoming increasingly important. Its central location makes it a transportation crossroads for river boats, railroads, autos, trucks, and airplanes. Politically,
1566-563: The Louisiana Purchase , and establish trade and U.S. sovereignty over the native peoples along the Missouri River . The Lewis and Clark Expedition established relations with more than two dozen indigenous nations west of the Missouri River. The Expedition returned east to St. Louis in the spring of 1806. The Midwest has been a key swing district in national elections, with highly contested elections in closely divided states often deciding
1653-800: The Native Americans , Paleo-Americans cultures were the earliest in North America, with a presence in the Great Plains and Great Lakes areas from about 12,000 BCE to around 8,000 BCE. Following the Paleo-American period is the Archaic period (8,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE), the Woodland Tradition (1,000 BCE to 100 CE), and the Mississippian Period (900 to 1500 CE). Archeological evidence indicates that Mississippian culture traits probably began in
1740-636: The Pacific Northwest , Portland and Seattle are both considered among the coffee capitals of the world. While Starbucks originated in Seattle, both cities are known for small-scale coffee roasters and independent coffeeshops. The culture has also been significantly shaped by the environment, especially by its forests, mountains, and rain. This may account for the fact that the Northwest has many high-quality libraries and bookshops (most notably Powell's Books and
1827-591: The Pacific coast and valleys of North America and possibly by sea. Alaska Natives , Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast , and California indigenous peoples eventually descended from the Paleo-Indians . They developed various languages and established trade routes . Later, Spanish, British, French, Russian, and American explorers and settlers began colonizing the area . On May 10, 1869,
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#17330945022111914-670: The Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with their cessation of the majority of their holdings in North America to the Kingdom of Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris (1763) . In 1673 the Governor of New France sent Jacques Marquette , a Catholic priest and missionary, and Louis Jolliet , a fur trader , to map the way to the Northwest Passage to the Pacific. They traveled through Michigan's upper peninsula to
2001-523: The Seattle Central Library ) and a "bibliophile soul". The region also has a marginal, but growing independence movement based on bioregionalism and a Cascadian identity. The Cascadian flag has become a popular image at Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers games. Alaska is widely known for its outdoors and its inhabitants engage in a range of activities that are unique to the state. Some of these activities can be experienced through
2088-701: The St. Louis, Missouri area and spread northwest along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and entered the state along the Kankakee River system. It also spread northward into Indiana along the Wabash , Tippecanoe , and White Rivers. Mississippian peoples in the Midwest were mostly farmers who followed the rich, flat floodplains of Midwestern rivers. They brought with them a well-developed agricultural complex based on three major crops— maize , beans , and squash . Maize, or corn,
2175-457: The Treaty of Paris , Spain was given Louisiana ; the area west of the Mississippi. St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve in Missouri were the main towns, but there was little new settlement. France regained Louisiana from Spain in exchange for Tuscany by the terms of the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800. Napoleon had lost interest in re-establishing a French colonial empire in North America following
2262-466: The U.S. Census Bureau considers both states to be part of a larger U.S. geographic division. There are conflicting definitions of which states comprise the West Coast of the United States, but the West Coast always includes California , Oregon , and Washington as part of that definition. Under most circumstances, however, the term encompasses the three contiguous states and Alaska , as they are all located in North America. For census purposes, Hawaii
2349-586: The U.S. Census Bureau . The nine regions are: Some of Connecticut's informal regions include: Regions of Delaware include: "Slower Lower": Directional regions of Florida include: Local vernacular regions of Florida include: Regions of Georgia include: Physiographic regions of Georgia include: Regions of Guam include: Regions of Hawaii include: Regions of Idaho include: Regions of Illinois include: Regions of Indiana include: Regions of Iowa include: Regions of Kansas include: Regions of Kentucky include: West Coast of
2436-1489: The U.S. Virgin Islands Office location: Philadelphia States: Delaware , Maryland , Pennsylvania , Virginia , Washington, D.C. , and West Virginia Office location: Atlanta States: Alabama , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Mississippi , North Carolina , South Carolina , and Tennessee Office location: Chicago States: Illinois , Indiana , Minnesota , Michigan , Ohio , and Wisconsin Office location: Dallas States: Arkansas , Louisiana , New Mexico , Oklahoma , and Texas Office location: Kansas City States: Iowa , Kansas , Missouri , and Nebraska Office location: Denver States: Colorado , Montana , North Dakota , South Dakota , Utah , and Wyoming Office location: San Francisco States: Arizona , California , Hawaii , Nevada , Guam , Northern Mariana Islands , and American Samoa Office location: Seattle States: Alaska , Idaho , Oregon , and Washington The Bureau of Economic Analysis defines regions for comparison of economic data. Regions of Alabama include: Regions of Alaska include: Regions of American Samoa include: Regions of Arizona include: Regions of Arkansas include: Regions of Colorado include: Connecticut has nine official planning regions, which operate as councils of governments and are recognized as county equivalents by
2523-520: The first transcontinental railroad was completed joining the West Coast to the East of the United States. The West Coast of the United States has an oceanic climate in its Northwestern, Northern, and Eastern edge towards the U.S.-Canada border, but from Northern California, towards the U.S.-Mexico border the climate is Mediterranean . While the northern half of the west coast, particularly coastal Washington and Oregon has moderate rainfall, particularly during
2610-582: The 2020 United States Census, 16 of the 20 largest cities on the West Coast exist in California. Los Angeles , San Diego , and San Jose , all among the top 10 most populous cities in the country, lead the West Coast in population with more than a million people in each city, with Los Angeles being nearly three times the size of San Diego's population. Behind these three cities, San Francisco , Seattle and Portland are respectively fourth, fifth and sixth in population. Hawaii's capital and largest city, Honolulu ,
2697-709: The Appalachian Mountains or through the waterways of the Great Lakes. Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh ) at the source of the Ohio River became the main base for settlers moving into the Midwest. Marietta, Ohio in 1787 became the first settlement in Ohio, but not until the defeat of Native American tribes at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 was large-scale settlement possible. Large numbers also came north from Kentucky into southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The region's fertile soil produced corn and vegetables; most farmers were self-sufficient. They cut trees and claimed
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2784-611: The Endeavors of Government, or Fear of Indians has kept them properly within Bounds." The British had a long-standing goal of establishing a Native American buffer state in the American Midwest to resist American westward expansion. With victory in the American Revolution the new government considered evicting the squatters from areas that were now federally owned public lands. In 1785, soldiers under General Josiah Harmar were sent into
2871-574: The French and British, conflicts and treaties with the United States both during the Revolutionary War and after , and its ultimate clearing/erasure throughout the nineteenth century. European settlement of the area began in the 17th century following French exploration of the region and became known as New France , including the Illinois Country . The French period began with the exploration of
2958-530: The French and the British into competition with each other to their own benefit. The Indian demand for certain kinds of cloth in particular fueled this competition. This, however, changed following the Seven Years' War with Britain's victory over France and the cession of New France to Great Britain. The British attempted to establish a more assertive relationship with the Indians of the pays d'en haut , eliminating
3045-469: The Ohio country to destroy the crops and burn down the homes of any squatters they found living there. But overall the federal policy was to move Indians to western lands (such as the Indian Territory in modern Oklahoma) and allow a very large numbers of farmers to replace a small number of hunters. Congress repeatedly debated how to legalize settlements. On the one hand, Whigs such as Henry Clay wanted
3132-524: The Plains Indians hunted other animals, such as elk or antelope , bison was their primary game food source. Bison flesh, hide, and bones from bison hunting provided the chief source of raw materials for items that Plains Indians made, including food, cups, decorations, crafting tools, knives, and clothing. The tribes followed the bison's seasonal grazing and migration. The Plains Indians lived in teepees because they were easily disassembled and allowed
3219-613: The United States in the United States (tan) The West Coast of the United States , also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard , is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean . The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of California , Oregon , and Washington , but it occasionally includes Alaska and Hawaii in bureaucratic usage. For example,
3306-583: The West Coast begins with the arrival of the earliest known humans of the Americas, Paleo-Indians , crossing the Bering Strait from Eurasia into North America over a land bridge, Beringia , that existed between 45,000 BCE and 12,000 BCE (47,000–14,000 years ago). Small isolated groups of hunter-gatherers migrated alongside herds of large herbivores far into Alaska . Between 16,500 BCE and 13,500 BCE (18,500–15,500 years ago), ice-free corridors developed along
3393-434: The West Coast usually refers to the contiguous coastal states of California, Oregon, and Washington because of their similar political leanings. In 2017, The Oregonian columnist David Sarasohn described the West Coast as a " blue wall " of shared values on immigration , abortion , climate change , and civil liberties . By 2016, the West Coast states legalized marijuana after California voted to do so. According to
3480-428: The West Coast, with significant populations in other West Coast cities. San Francisco's Chinatown , the oldest in North America, is a noted cultural center. The West Coast also has a proportionally large share of green cities within the United States, which manifests itself in different cultural practices such as bicycling and organic gardening. Greater Los Angeles, in particular, has immense global influence due to
3567-523: The West Coast. Lexico restricts the West Coast's definition to "the western seaboard of the U.S. from Washington to California." However, Macmillan Dictionary provides a less specific definition as "the western coast of the U.S., along the Pacific Ocean ." As for the Cambridge Dictionary , the West Coast is "the area of the Pacific coast in the U.S. that includes California." The history of
Midwestern United States - Misplaced Pages Continue
3654-454: The West Coast. After winning a special election for a seat in the Washington state senate in 2017, Democrats built a government trifecta in all three West Coast states. After the 2022 U.S. House of Representatives elections , Democrats controlled all congressional districts touching the Pacific. Hawaii is not usually considered part of the West Coast in the political definition, though it
3741-716: The alliance it created. In the meshed French and Algonquian system of trade, the Algonquian familial metaphor of a father and his children shaped the political relationship between the French and the Natives in this region. The French, regarded as the metaphoric father, were expected to provide for the needs of the Algonquians and, in return, the Algonquians, the metaphoric children, would be obligated to assist and obey them. Traders coming into Indian villages facilitated this system of symbolic exchange to establish or maintain alliances and friendships. Marriage also became an important aspect of
3828-432: The coast. Interstate travel is also served by roads such as Interstate 5 , the main high-speed north–south freeway along the West Coast. Interstate 5 follows the coast only as far north as Dana Point, California , before turning inland for much of its route. The main coastal scenic route throughout most of California is California State Route 1 . From the end of SR 1 at Leggett, California , U.S. Route 101 serves as
3915-987: The coastline, and could partially be explained by the cold currents in the Pacific Ocean moderating coastal temperatures and the mountain ranges blocking the maritime air from moving farther inland than its foothills during summer. Coastal fog is also prevalent in keeping shoreline temperatures cool. While famous in the San Francisco Bay Area , coastal fog also affects Santa Monica in Los Angeles , Southern California , leading to May gray and June gloom conditions. Coastal California has very little yearly temperature differences with cool summers similar to those expected in parts of Northern Europe in San Francisco but warmer temperatures year-round further south. A short journey inland and summer temperatures are comparable with
4002-557: The complete rescinding of the standard region system in 1995, several agencies continue to follow the system, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development . Office location: Boston States: Connecticut , Maine , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Rhode Island , and Vermont Office location: New York City States: New York , New Jersey , Puerto Rico , and
4089-524: The conflict, the British government was forced to compromise and loosely re-created a trade system that was an echo of the French one. While French control ended in 1763 after their defeat in the Seven Years' War, most of the several hundred French settlers in small villages along the Mississippi River and its tributaries remained, and were not disturbed by the new British administration. By the terms of
4176-426: The country into twelve districts with a central Federal Reserve Bank in each district. These twelve Federal Reserve Banks together form a major part of the Federal Reserve System , the central banking system of the United States. Missouri is the only U.S. state to have two Federal Reserve locations within its borders, but several other states are also divided between more than one district. The Federal Circuit
4263-485: The federal government; others by shared culture and history, and others by economic factors. Since 1950, the United States Census Bureau defines four statistical regions, with nine divisions. The Census Bureau region definition is "widely used ... for data collection and analysis", and is the most commonly used classification system. Puerto Rico and other US territories are not part of any census region or census division. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 divided
4350-451: The female line, while the others favored the patrilineal method. All tribes were governed under chiefdoms or complex chiefdoms. For example, Hurons were divided into matrilineal clans, each represented by a chief in the town council, where they met with a town chief on civic matters. But Chippewa people's social and political life was simpler than that of settled tribes. The religious beliefs varied among tribes. Hurons believed in Yoscaha ,
4437-415: The global climate change of the Little Ice Age . Their culture effectively ended before 1492. The major tribes of the Great Lakes region included the Huron , Ottawa , Ojibwe , Potawatomi , Ho-Chunk , Menominee , Sauk , Meskwaki , Neutrals , and the Miami . Most numerous were the Huron and Ho-Chunk. Fighting and battle were often launched between tribes, with the losers forced to flee. Most are of
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#17330945022114524-566: The government to get maximum revenue and also wanted stable middle-class law-abiding settlements of the sort that supported towns (and bankers). Jacksonian Democrats such as Thomas Hart Benton wanted the support of poor farmers, who reproduced rapidly, had little cash, and were eager to acquire cheap land in the West. Democrats did not want a big government, and keeping revenues low helped that cause. Democrats avoided words like "squatter" and regarded "actual settlers" as those who gained title to land, settled on it, and then improved upon it by building
4611-459: The growing influence of women in the fur trade also came the increasing demand of cloth which very quickly grew to be the most desired trade good. English traders entered the Ohio country as a serious competitor to the French in the fur trade around the 1690s. English (and later British) traders almost consistently offered the Indians better goods and better rates than the French, with the Indians being able to play that to their advantage, thrusting
4698-410: The lakes. The Native Americans ended being the main losers in the War of 1812 . Apart from the short Black Hawk War of 1832, the days of Native American warfare east of the Mississippi River had ended. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition that took place between May 1804 and September 1806. Launching from Camp Dubois in Illinois, the goal was to explore
4785-579: The land, then sold it to newcomers and then moved further west to repeat the process. Settlers without legal claims, called "squatters", had been moving into the Midwest for years before 1776. They pushed further and further down the Ohio River during the 1760s and 1770s and sometimes engaged in conflict with the Native Americans. British officials were outraged. These squatters were characterized by British General Thomas Gage as "too Numerous, too Lawless, and Licentious ever to be restrained", and regarded them as "almost out of Reach of Law and government; Neither
4872-550: The largest metropolitan area with 10 million people, making it the fourth-largest metropolitan area in North America , after Greater Mexico City , the New York metropolitan area , and Greater Los Angeles . Other large Midwestern cities include Columbus , Indianapolis , Detroit , Milwaukee , Kansas City , Omaha , Minneapolis , Wichita , Cleveland , Cincinnati , St. Paul , St. Louis , and Des Moines . Large midwestern metropolitan areas include Metro Detroit , Minneapolis–St. Paul , Greater St. Louis , Greater Cincinnati ,
4959-399: The location of Native American settlements near the headwaters of the Wabash River , but on November 4 they were routed in battle by a tribal confederation led by Miami Chief Little Turtle and Shawnee chief Blue Jacket . More than 600 soldiers and scores of women and children were killed in the battle, which has since borne the name " St. Clair's Defeat ". It remains the greatest defeat of
5046-469: The main scenic route along the coast in far Northern California, Oregon, and Washington state. Sierra High Route is a popular trekking route. Several of the most important international airports in the United States are located along the West Coast, including Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , San Francisco International Airport , and Los Angeles International Airport . Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles all connect numerous destinations around
5133-437: The middle ground was introduced in Richard White's seminal work: The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815 originally published in 1991. White defines the middle ground like so: The middle ground is the place in between cultures, peoples, and in between empires and the non state world of villages. It is a place where many of the North American subjects and allies of empires lived. It
5220-442: The minimum price thanks to various preemption acts and laws passed throughout the 1810s-1840s. In Washington, Jacksonian Democrats favored squatter rights while banker-oriented Whigs were opposed; the Democrats prevailed. In 1791, General Arthur St. Clair became commander of the United States Army and led a punitive expedition with two Regular Army regiments and some militia. Near modern-day Fort Recovery , his force advanced to
5307-503: The most powerful and dominant tribes were the Dakota or Sioux , who occupied large amounts of territory in the Great Plains of the Midwest. The area of the Great Sioux Nation spread throughout the South and Midwest, up into the areas of Minnesota and stretching out west into the Rocky Mountains. At the same time, they occupied the heart of prime buffalo range, and also an excellent region for furs they could sell to French and American traders for goods such as guns. The Sioux (Dakota) became
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#17330945022115394-442: The most powerful of the Plains tribes and the greatest threat to American expansion. The Sioux comprise three major divisions based on Siouan dialect and subculture: Today, the Sioux maintain many separate tribal governments scattered across several reservations, communities, and reserves in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Montana in the United States, as well as Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan in Canada. The theory of
5481-474: The national result. From 1860 to 1920, both parties tried to find their presidential and vice presidential candidates from the region. One of the two major political parties in the United States, the Republican Party , originated in the Midwest in the 1850s; Ripon, Wisconsin , had the first local meeting while Jackson, Michigan , had the first statewide meeting of the new party. Its membership included many Yankees out of New England and New York who had settled
5568-409: The native peoples who lived along the route were generally friendly, and that the natural resources of the lands in between were extraordinary. New France officials led by LaSalle followed up and erected a 4,000-mile (6,400 km) network of fur trading posts. The fur trade was an integral part of early European and Indian relations. It was the foundation upon which their interactions were built and
5655-433: The nomadic life of following game. When Spanish horses were obtained, the Plains tribes rapidly integrated them into their daily lives. By the early 18th century, many tribes had fully adopted a horse culture . Before their adoption of guns, the Plains Indians hunted with spears , bows , and bows and arrows , and various forms of clubs . The use of horses by the Plains Indians made hunting (and warfare) much easier. Among
5742-421: The north and the Southern United States to the south. The U.S. Census Bureau's definition consists of 12 states in the north central United States: Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Kansas , Michigan , Minnesota , Missouri , Nebraska , North Dakota , Ohio , South Dakota , and Wisconsin . The region generally lies on the broad Interior Plain between the states occupying the Appalachian Mountain range and
5829-413: The northern tip of Lake Michigan. On canoes, they crossed the massive lake and landed at present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin . They entered the Mississippi River on 17 June 1673. Marquette and Jolliet were the first to map the northern portion of the Mississippi River. They confirmed that it was easy to travel from the St. Lawrence River through the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico by water, that
5916-452: The open prairies where they engaged in communal hunts for buffalo (bison) . In the northern forests, the Ottawas and Potawatomis separated into small family groups for hunting. The Winnebagos and Menominees used both hunting methods interchangeably and built up widespread trade networks extending as far west as the Rockies, north to the Great Lakes, south to the Gulf of Mexico , and east to the Atlantic Ocean. The Hurons reckoned descent through
6003-399: The other West Coast states, Alaska has been a reliable state for Republicans in presidential elections. Since achieving statehood, Alaska has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate only once in 1964 . In 1960 , the state narrowly voted for Republican Richard Nixon over Democrat John F. Kennedy and had voted for Republicans uninterrupted since 1968 . According to the results of
6090-521: The plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and famous conflicts with settlers and the US Army have made the Plains Indians archetypical in literature and art for American Indians everywhere. Plains Indians are usually divided into two broad classifications, with some degree of overlap. The first group were fully nomadic, following the vast herds of buffalo . Some tribes occasionally engaged in agriculture, growing tobacco and corn primarily. These included
6177-499: The practise of gift giving which they now saw as unnecessary. This, in combination with an underwhelming trade relationship with a surplus of whiskey, increase in prices generally, and a shortage of other goods led to unrest among the Indians that was exacerbated by the decision to significantly reduce the amount of rum being traded, a product that British merchants had been including in the trade for years. This would eventually culminate in Pontiac's War , which broke out in 1763. Following
6264-450: The presence of the Hollywood film industry , and is considered the creative capital of the world due to the proportion of its population involved in the entertainment industry. Meanwhile, parts of the San Francisco Bay Area are also known as Silicon Valley , due to the tremendous presence of software companies in the area, including tech giants like Apple , Meta , and Alphabet Inc . In
6351-445: The processing of the pelts necessary to the fur trade. Women were integral to the fur trade and their contributions were lauded, so much so that the absence of the involvement of an Indian Woman was once cited as the cause for a trader's failure. When the French fur trade re-opened in 1716 upon the discovery that their overstock of pelts had been ruined, legal French traders continued to marry Indian women and remain in their villages. With
6438-601: The region (as it was in other regions), with Wisconsin a major center. Under the La Follettes , Wisconsin fought against the Republican bosses and for efficiency, modernization, and the use of experts to solve social, economic, and political problems. List of regions of the United States This is a list of some of the ways regions are defined in the United States . Many regions are defined in law or regulations by
6525-508: The region is composed of swing states , and therefore is heavily contested and often decisive in elections. The term West was applied to the region in British America and in the early years of the United States, when the colonial territories had not extended far from the Atlantic coast and the Pacific seaboard was generally unknown. By the early 19th century, anything west of Appalachia
6612-609: The rest of the United States on the same latitudes, sometimes warmer due to prevailing winds from the Nevada and Arizona hot desert climate . With the exception of Alaska , the Democratic Party has dominated West Coast politics in contemporary history, with the states consistently voting for Democrats in elections at various levels. Four out of five West Coast states have voted for Democrats in presidential elections since 1992 , three of which have done so since 1988 . In politics,
6699-668: The state's annual events, such as the Iron Dog snowmobile race from Anchorage to Nome and on to Fairbanks . Other events include the World Ice Art Championships (Fairbanks) and the Sitka Whalefest ( Sitka ). The Coast Starlight is the main interstate passenger railroad route provided by Amtrak along the coast. BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad own and operate railroads that connect cities on
6786-625: The states occupying the Rocky Mountain range . Major rivers in the region include, from east to west, the Ohio River , the Upper Mississippi River , and the Missouri River . The 2020 United States census put the population of the Midwest at 68,995,685. The Midwest is divided by the U.S. Census Bureau into two divisions. The East North Central Division includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, all of which are also part of
6873-477: The trade in both the Ohio River valley and the French pays d'en haut with the temporary closing of the French fur trade from 1690 to 1716 and beyond. French fur traders were forced to abandon most posts and those remaining in the region became illegal traders who potentially sought these marriages to secure their safety. Another benefit for French traders marrying Indian women was that the Indian women were in charge of
6960-515: The upper Midwest. The party opposed the expansion of slavery and stressed the Protestant ideals of thrift, a hard work ethic, self-reliance, democratic decision making, and religious tolerance. In the early 1890s, the wheat-growing regions were strongholds of the short-lived Populist movement in the Plains states. Starting in the 1890s, the middle class urban Progressive movement became influential in
7047-466: The winter months, much of coastal California is drier year-round. The coastline sees significantly milder temperatures compared to inland areas during summer. In far Northern California there is a difference of 17 °C (30 °F) between Eureka and Willow Creek in spite of only 25 miles (40 km) separating the locations and Willow Creek being located at a 500 metres (1,600 ft) elevation. Slightly narrower fluctuations can be seen all through
7134-422: Was a system that would evolve over time. Goods often traded included guns, clothing, blankets, strouds, cloth, tobacco, silver, and alcohol. The French and Indian exchange of goods was called an exchange of gifts rather than a trade. These gifts held greater meaning to the relationship between the two than a simple economic exchange because the trade itself was inseparable from the social relations it fostered and
7221-474: Was bounded by the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Some entities in the Midwest have "Northwest" in their names for historical reasons, such as Northwestern University in Illinois. One of the earliest late-19th-century uses of Midwest was in reference to Kansas and Nebraska to indicate that they were the civilized areas of the west. Another term applied to the same region is Heartland . Among
7308-697: Was considered American frontier . Over time the American frontier moved to west of the Mississippi River . During the colonial period, the upper-Mississippi watershed including the valleys of the Missouri River and the Illinois River , which were settled in the 17th and 18th century and called Illinois Country . In 1787 the Northwest Ordinance was enacted, creating the Northwest Territory , which
7395-429: Was formed on the foundations of mutual accommodation and common meanings established between the French and the Indians that then transformed and degraded as both were steadily lost as the French ceded their influence in the region in the aftermath of their defeat in the Seven Years' War and the Louisiana Purchase . Major aspects of the middle ground include blended culture, the fur trade , Native alliances with both
7482-512: Was part of his thinking every day of life. Ottawa and Potawatomi people had very similar religious beliefs to those of the Chippewas. In the Ohio River Valley, the dominant food supply was not hunting but agriculture. There were orchards and fields of crops that were maintained by indigenous women. Corn was their most important crop. The Plains Indians are the indigenous peoples who live on
7569-412: Was the primary crop of Mississippian farmers. They gathered a wide variety of seeds, nuts, and berries, and fished and hunted for fowl to supplement their diets. With such an intensive form of agriculture , this culture supported large populations. The Mississippi period was characterized by a mound-building culture. The Mississippians suffered a tremendous population decline about 1400, coinciding with
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