Alabama and Wyoming: A Comparative Study of the Two States - Essay Example

Assignment Alabama and Wyoming: A Comparative Study of the Two s Introduction In this analytical paper, we have selected two states and compared how physical geography affected their past, present, and future in regards to settlements and economic growth. The states selected for this purpose are Alabama and Wyoming. Both the states have been geography transformed due to different human activities. However, they follow different patterns of change. Alabama has predominantly agricultural industries, while Wyoming has become a mining hub. Human settlements in these states varied widely in ethnic patterns during the various periods of history. Physical Geography of Alabama Alabama is a large state located in the southern USA. It is predominantly a plateau region. In the Physical Geography section of the ACM Student Chapter at UAB website, Roper writes, “Extending entirely across the state of Alabama for about 20 miles south of its northern boundary, and in the middle stretching 60 miles farther south, is the Cumberland Plateau, or Tennessee Valley region, broken into broad tablelands by the dissection of rivers.” In the south eastern part of this region lies the Coosa Valley. In the further southeastern side of this Appalachian Valley lies a triangular portion of the Piedmont Plateau. It is a kind of lowland tattered down by erosions. The remaining part of Alabama has coastal plains. (Roper) Settlements and Economic Growth in Alabama Amongst the historical clans of Native Americans who lived in the area of modern Alabama state during the primitive of the European contacts were Cherokee, Alibamu, Creek, Chickasaw,  Koasati, etc. (Walthall). However, these peoples were dispossessed by the European settlers. Waves of the white settlers pressed into the state to get hold of the best lands for cultivating cotton and production of lumbers. In the Human Geography section of the ACM Student Chapter at UAB website, Roper states, “After the Civil War and Emancipation, formerly enslaved African Americans fled in large numbers to urban areas in search of industrial jobs and later to other states during the Great Migration.” During this period, rural black and white black Alabamians gathered in the state’s chief cities looking for industrial jobs. More recently, they headed towards the growing suburbs as well. “Throughout this time, the state and its residents have experienced periods of poverty and prosperity that followed the rise and fall of agriculture and industry.” (Roper) The settlement patterns reflected the geographical significance of the region. Followed by deforestation, people from varied ethnic backgrounds like Germans, English, Dutch, African, etc. settled in the area to earn livelihood in the cotton plantations. Physical Geography of Wyoming Wyoming is another large state of USA located in the mid-west. It has three main geographical regions. These are the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and Intermontane (land between the mountains) Basins. Wyoming is a big plateau region broken up by mountain ranges. According to the portal of NSTATE LLC, Wyoming is a U.S. state where Great Plains meets up Rocky Mountains. Famous Continental Divide cuts across Wyoming from northwest direction to south central bordering areas. “Rivers east of the Divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Atlantic Ocean ... To the west of the Continental Divide, the rivers of Wyoming drain into the Columbia or Colorado River Basins into the Pacific Ocean.” (NSTATE LLC) The region is rich in coal and it has been a lucrative mining destination. Extensive mining has resulted into several manmade dissections throughout the land, and caused substantial environmental shifts too. Settlements and Economic Growth in Wyoming The earliest settlers in the region that is known as Wyoming today were the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Crow, and Sioux peoples who entered from east. Moreover, there were the Bannock and Shoshone tribes, who came from the Great Basin. These peoples were able to set up a sort of civilization that thrived until the 19th century and finally challenged the Europeans settlers. (Peterson, 16) At first, the European settlers depended on hunting and gathering fur. Slowly they developed routes that cut through the area towards the Pacific Ocean in the west. The natives were pushed towards tight enclaves in the north and north-west. With the discovery of gold in the areas like South Pass and Black Hills, more White Europeans settled in the region. As a result, the Great Sioux War ensued during the late 19th century and the natives were almost completely destroyed (Peterson, 16). During the 20th century, mining industries were erected in the state and gradually it became the largest coal producing state of USA. How did the Humans Affect the Geographies of Alabama and Wyoming? The Native Americans had not tried to do any alteration to the natural geography of the states we are discussing in this paper. In fact, Native American culture extensively depended on the natural resources and occupations like hunting, farming, cattle rearing, etc. In Alabama, the natives were generally dependent on farming and hence they cleared some land from forests. However, these were limited practices. In Wyoming, the natives were predominantly depended on cattle rearing as pastures were available in this area. So, early human settlements did not cause any significant geographical change in these states. However, the scenarios changed in both the states due to the advent of White European settlers. In a step by step manner, they almost conducted an extensive geographical engineering in both the sates. This process began in the 19th century and today it has considerably damaged the environment. First, we would discuss the effects of modern human settlement in Alabama. “Settlers moved into the Alabama Wiregrass at the dawn of the nineteenth century, and Native Americans had hunted in region’s forests for centuries. However, the period of time stretching roughly from 1880 to 1930 marked an era of almost unimaginable change. The region’s landscape was utterly transformed. The great longleaf forests were steadily cleared by loggers.” (Byrd, v-vi) In this way, lumber industry came into existence. These lumbers were immensely valued in urban construction of the 19th century America. The original lumber operations remained smaller, limited by labor supply only during seasons and sluggish river-ways for transportation. Starting from the late 1880s, railroads substituted rivers as the avenues in the region avenues of commercial activities. “The big sawmills cleared the forests and eventually shut down their operations, leaving only stumps.” (Byrd, vi) Human settlements caste profound geographical effects on Wyoming as well. Transformation of the Campbell County area is most important in this regard. According to Pitcher (635), “Today, 10 Campbell County surface mines (the industry’s preferred term) are scattered along an enormous coal seam five miles wide, more than 70 miles long, and 70-180 feet thick.” Surface mines involve removal of the land cover from the underground reserves of minerals like coal. Surface mining has essentially changed Wyoming geographically and environmentally. Surface mines have led to the formation of manmade synclines, which are moderately deep and exposed to air erosion. Access roads and mining boundaries act as artificial dykes and divide the deer and antelope habitats disturbing the wildlife ecology. As we proceed on the comparative analysis further, Alabama slowly transformed into a cash crop based economy and cotton cultivation became very important; while in Wyoming discovery of metallic ores increased the variety of mining industry throughout the 20th century. According to Byrd, the lumber industry extensively deforested certain parts of Alabama, particularly the southeast corner known as Wiregrass. In 1889, when the very first trains pulled into the Dothan area, an increasing population of cultivators and small-town business-persons began to think that the state’s future economy would be erected on cotton. (Byrd, 52-53) At first during the mid 19th century, the farmers were able to grow only a small amount of cotton. However, according to Byrd, “By 1910 the Wiregrass was growing over twelve percent of the state’s cotton on slightly less then ten percent of the state’s improved farmland. These numbers show both an increase in acreage and an improvement in productivity.” (53) Improvements in transportation and availability of the cheap cut-over pieces of land made it promising to grow large amount of cotton in Alabama. Similarly, a transformation in mining industry is also underway in Wyoming. Although it will not affect the patterns of coal mining significantly, it has several serious environmental implications. Widespread abandoned mines of coal can be found within fifty miles of the majority of open pit deposits of uranium. “Waste rock generated from the prior mining includes ‘gob’, scoria or cinder, fines, carbonaceous clays, pyretic and oxidized coal.” (Taylor and Francis Group, 340) Conclusion Historical review of the human geography of both Alabama and Wyoming shows displacement of Native Americans. In Alabama, these displacement trends were furthered when African Americans migrated from the cotton plantations of the state in large numbers during the early 20th century. This did not happen in Wyoming. Moreover, Alabama faces less environmental problems compared to Wyoming. Manmade geographical changes in Alabama involve deforestation and cotton plantation. However, manmade geographical changes are far more pervasive in Wyoming. Surface mines involve massive change of landform and abandoned mines form manmade depressions in the ground. Works Cited NSTATE LLC. "Wyoming Geography from NETSTATE." 2012. 50 States - State Symbols, Capitals, Maps, Geography, State Facts, Songs, History, Famous People from NETSTATE.COM. NSTATE LLC, Wolfeboro. Web. 11 April 2012 . Peterson, Eric. Montana and Wyoming. Hobokon: Wiley, 2010. Print. Pitcher, Don. Wyoming. Emeryville: Avalon Travel Publishing, 2006. Print. Roper, Jonathan. "Human Geography Of Alabama." 2010. ACM Student Chapter at UAB. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham. Web. 11 April 2012 . Roper, Jonathan. "Physical Geography Of Alabama." 2010. ACM Student Chapter at UAB. University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham. Web. 11 April 2012 . Taylor and Francis Group. "Stabilization of uranium in pitwaters using phosphate and coal tailings." Tailings and Mine Waste '02: Proceedings of the Nineth International Conferance on Tailings and Mine Waste, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, 27-30 January 2002. New York: Author, 2002. 339-348. Print. Walthall, John A. Prehistoric Indians of the Southeast - Archaeology of Alabama and the Middle South. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1990. Print. Read More