Human Environment Interaction Before humans came to North America, landforms were changed only by natural forces-weathering & erosion. Settlement: first inhabitants of North America were nomads (people who move from place to place)

Archaeologists believe that these nomads migrated from Asia over Beringia. Beringia-land bridge that once connected Siberia & Alaska

These nomads hunted game, fished, & gathered edible plants. Since water is necessary for survival, the nomads made temporary settlements along coastlines & rivers & streams

Agriculture Many early settlements became permanent when agriculture replaced hunting & gathering. People began to cultivate crops & change the landscape to meet their needs.

They cut down trees to build houses & burn as fuel To plant crops, they plowed rich soil areas near river valleys & flood plains

Building Cities Where a city is built & how it grows depends on physical setting Factors that can affect the suitability of a site of a city: landscape, climate, weather, & availability of natural resources.

Building cities is one way humans interacted with their environment. Another way is transportation systems to make movement from place to place easier.

Overcoming Distances The migrants faced huge distances, large bodies of water, & harsh climates. English & French migrants set up colonies along the coast-then they moved inland. As they moved, they carved out trails. They also used inland waterways like the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers

To connect bodies of water, they built canals. The Erie Canal across upstate New York opened in 1825 & made the 1st navigable water link between the Atlantic Ocean & the Great Lakes.

St. Lawrence Seaway North America’s most important deep water ship route is the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Seaway was completed in the 1950s as a joint project of the U.S. & Canada. The Seaway connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the St. Lawrence River.

Ships are raised & lowered about 600 feet by a series of locks. Locks are sections of a waterway with closed gates where water levels are raised or lowered The Seaway allows huge oceangoing vessels to said into the industrial & agricultural heartland of North America.

Transcontinental Railroads Steam locomotives & railroads made crossing the continent quicker & easier. Railroad building began in the early 19th century.

There were physical barriers & to make way, railroad workers had to cut down forests, build bridges over streams, & blast through mountains.

The 1st transcontinental railroad was completed across the U. S The 1st transcontinental railroad was completed across the U.S. in 1869. A trans-Canada railroad from Montreal to British Columbia was completed in 1885. These railroads carried goods & passengers cross-country, promoting economic development & national unity as they went. Today, the U.S. has the world’s largest railway system & Canada the 3rd largest.

National Highway Systems Before the railroads came, there were roads that connected towns & cities. The development of the automobile in the early 20th century spurred the road building.

Today, the U.S. has about 4 MILLION miles of roads & Canada has about 560,000 miles. Much of Canada’s population is centered in the southern part of the country, so therefore; they built their major highways east to west, connecting principal cities.