Due to its proximity to
Europe, the
Eastern coast of the United States was among the first regions of the continent to be widely
settled by Europeans. Over time, the cities and towns founded on the East Coast had the advantage of age over most other parts of the U.S. However, it was the
Northeast in particular that developed most rapidly, owing to a number of fortuitous circumstances. While possessing neither particularly rich soil—one exception being New England's
Connecticut River Valley—nor exceptional mineral wealth, the region still supports some
agriculture and
mining. The
climate is temperate and not particularly prone to
hurricanes or
tropical storms, which increase further
south. However, the most important factor was the "interpenetration of land and sea," which makes for exceptional harbors, such as those at the
Chesapeake Bay, the
Port of New York and New Jersey,
Narragansett Bay in
Providence, Rhode Island, and
Boston Harbor. The coastline to the north is rocky and little sheltered, whereas to the south it is smooth and does not feature as many bays or inlets that might function as natural harbors. Also featured are navigable
rivers that lead deeper into the heartlands, such as the
Hudson,
Delaware, and
Connecticut rivers, which all support large populations and were necessary to early settlers for development. Therefore, while other parts of the country exceeded the region in raw resource value, they were not as easily accessible, and often, access to them necessarily had to pass through the Northeast first.
Modern history The Northeast played a significant role in the
foundation of the United States during the late
colonial era and in the
American Revolutionary War. Pre-revolutionary events like the
Gaspee affair, the
Boston Massacre,
Boston Tea Party, and the
First Continental Congress all occurred in the region. In 1775, the
Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first major battle of the Revolution, occurred in
Massachusetts a few miles away from
Boston. Many of the most significant battles took place in the region, including the
Battle of Bunker Hill, the
Battle of Monmouth, the
Battle of Trenton, the
Battle of Princeton, as well as several significant military campaigns such as the
Philadelphia Campaign, the
New York and New Jersey Campaign, the
Boston Campaign, and the
Yorktown Campaign. The surrender of the British occurred in the south end of the megalopolis after the
Siege of Yorktown in 1781. Other significant events that occurred during the Revolution at this time in the region include the
Second Continental Congress, the creation of the
Articles of Confederation, the
signing of the
Declaration of Independence, and the
Constitutional Convention. During the
Civil War, while most of the region did not experience fighting, there were many significant battles in the southern end of the region, particularly in
Virginia. Major battles such as the
Battle of Gettysburg, the
Battle of Antietam, the
Battles of Bull Run, the
Battle of Fredericksburg, the
Battle of Chancellorsville, and the
Battles of Petersburg all occurred in the region. Additionally,
Richmond acted as the capital of the
Confederacy. In 1800, the region included the only three U.S. cities with populations of over 25,000:
Philadelphia,
New York City, and
Baltimore. By 1850, New York City and Philadelphia alone had over 300,000 residents while Baltimore, Boston,
Brooklyn (at that time a separate city from New York),
Cincinnati, and
New Orleans had over 100,000: five were within one 400-mile strip while the last two were each four hundred miles away from the next closest metropolis. The immense concentration of people in one relatively densely packed area gave that region considerable sway through population density over the rest of the nation, which was solidified in 1800 when
Washington, D.C., only 38 miles southwest of Baltimore, was made the nation's capital. According to Gottmann, capital cities "will tend to create for and around the seats of power a certain kind of built environment, singularly endowed, for instance, with monumentality, stressing status and ritual, a trait that will increase with duration." The
transportation and
telecommunications infrastructure that the capital city mandated also spilled over into the rest of the strip. Additionally, the proximity to Europe, as well as the prominence of
Ellis Island as an
immigrant processing center, made New York City and cities nearby a "landing
wharf for European immigrants," who represented an ever replenished supply of diversity of thought and determined workers. By contrast, the other major source of trans-oceanic immigrants was
China, which was farther from the U.S. West Coast than Europe was from the East, and whose ethnicity made them targets of
racial discrimination, creating barriers to their seamless integration into American society. By 1950, the region held over one-fifth of the total U.S. population, with a density nearly 15 times that of the national average. The region has been home to the richest city in the nation for over 200 years:
Hartford, Connecticut held the title from the pre–
Civil War industrial era until about 1929, and
New York City has held it since.
Loudoun and
Fairfax County, Virginia are the wealthiest counties in the country, and Connecticut's
Gold Coast has one of the highest population densities of families worth over $30 million USD. ==Concept==