Thursday, April 10, 2008

Chapter 3

Vance's Mercantile Model

~the developent of North American urban system is based upon this model

~the model was proposed/developed by James Vance, Jr. who was an urban geographer

~Vance states that long-distance trade and external influences are extremely important inforging the geometry of the urban hierarchy through 5 stages.



5 Stages Developed by James Vance Jr.
Exploration


Harvesting of natural resources


Emergence of farm-based staple production

Establishment of interior depot centers

Economic maturity and central place filling




Due to the fact that many new industrial technologies needed s pecific locations or proxomity to raw materials, new towns were created and smaller towns grew even larger. Four categories of such new places include:

  • Power sites...industries that consumed large amounts of energy moved to places near falling water...they used the falling water as their energy sourge...an example would be Harrisburg, PA

  • Mining towns...coal and ore towns developed to supply the industrial economy...an example would be Norton, VA

  • Transportation centers...towns emerged that were accessible by the canal and railroad networks...an example would be Roanoake, VA

  • Heavy manufacturing towns...towns dependent on large amounts of raw materials...an example would be Pittsburgh, PA which was a steeltown


1840-1875 Early Industrial Expansion

~at this point in time, many people immigrated to the United States and went to America's fast growing cities in search of jobs



For more information on immigration now and in the past look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States

or


http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis








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