The Relation between Landscape and the Society
A Case Study of the United States

Nuray Önder

Email: nuray.onder@deu.edu.tr

ABSTRACT:

One of the great themes of both the American history and literature emerges from the confrontation of the new settlers with the wilderness. The new comers arrived to this inhabited but unconquered land with no previous information about the land. They learned the physical geography of this unfamiliar territory by trial and error. Hoping that they would find similar conditions on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, they realized that especially the climate would pose them severe problems. Alongside with the climate, the natural landscapes have played a decisive role in shaping the contemporary United States economically, politically, and intellectually. This paper will show how the United States is divided into different regions landscape-wise and as a result of this formation how it is split up into, generally, three main cultural regions, namely Northeast, South and the West. The natural landscapes and the climate have been the determining factor in shaping the American identity and the American society.