Politcal Geograpghy

Early in the history of the United States there were three distinctive political economies. They were divided among the three major areas in the colonies known as New England, Middle Atlantic and the Southern region. By the time of the American Revolution there would be differences emerging in political culture. The three major political cultures of the U.S. were traditionalistic political culture, which was concentrated mainly in the South. The moralistic political culture which originated in New England and individualistic political culture, located in the Middle Atlantic states. The traditionalistic political culture believes the purpose of politics and government is the preservation of the traditional s

The depression began following the collapse of the New York stock market in October 1929. By 1932, numerous banks had failed, and unemployment had risen to unprecedented levels. In response to the depression, the U.S. electorate turned from the Republicans to the Democrats. Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt won in a landslide over his Republican opponent. Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for the people of the United States. Roosevelt initiated an unprecedented series of reforms during his first hundred days in office. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration were among the agencies created during the first hundred days. By the end of Roosevelt’s term he also instituted, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Social Security Administration and the Rural Electrification Administration. These and other federal began to affect life in the United States. The reelection of Roosevelt in 1936 swept the Democrats in government and gave them the majority for the first time before since the Civil War. While the New Deal permanently changed U.S. politics it had little effect on the geography of U.S. elections. The South remained overwhelmingly Democratic, while New England and the Northeast were still the most heavily Republican areas of the country.

Millions of Americans moved westward during the nineteenth century. Along with these people, political cultures also spread towards the west. By 1840, the frontier of settlement had reached as far west as southern Michigan and Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. Many westward migrants were motivated by the availability of cheap land. Throughout the nineteenth century, government policy encouraged the distribution, settlement, and improvement of the land. Land in the Old Northwest, the Louisiana Purchase, and the federal government distributed other newly acquired territories. Federal land sold for $2 per acre in 1800, and was reduced to $1.25 by 1820. For the most part, residents of the Middle Atlantic States and of the West itself favored the wide distribution of cheap or free land, while Southerners and New Englanders opposed it. After the secession of the South, Congress passed the Homestead Act in 1862. The Homestead Act offered free government land in the West to native-born and immigrant settlers. The Homestead Act dramatically increased the spread of westward expansion and reinforced migration patterns. Not everyone benefited from laws intended to promote the westward movement. Native Americans were driven further and further west. Between 1816 and 1836 alone, most of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois, along with substantial areas of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, and Iowa were taken, usually by force, from various Native American tribes by the federal government.

The westward movement also resulted in the spread of moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic political cultures across the United States. Moralistic political culture spread to upstate New York and the states of the upper Middle West, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas. The traditionalistic political culture of the South eventually spread from its Southern Atlantic states to Oklahoma and Texas. Individualistic political culture spread from the Middle Atlantic States to the southern Great Lakes states, including Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and eventually to California. Of the three, this political culture is most closely tied in beliefs to help urban areas. Therefore, individualistic political culture has become the dominant political culture in the present-day United States. Due to political conflict, by the time of the Civil War, the Northeast, the South, and the West had emerged as the major sections of the United States, and remain the same in the U.S. today. Throughout the nineteenth century these three sections of our country e

Some topics in this essay:
Middle Atlantic, Southern Democrats, Republican Party, South West, Wisconsin Iowa, Electoral College, Populist Revolt, West Throughout, Homestead Act, , political culture, nineteenth century, republican party, individualistic political culture, civil war, individualistic political, traditionalistic political, vice president, presidential elections, major political, middle atlantic, moralistic political culture, traditionalistic political culture, throughout nineteenth century, sectional normal vote,