Geographical Factors That Influenced Chicago’s Development and Growth, Research Paper Example

Being established in 1833, the city of Chicago is nowadays the biggest in the state of Illinois and in the top ten of the world’s biggest cities. Starting merely as a remote and peaceful trading post on the bank of the Chicago River, the metropolis grew and developed over a century, transforming into the world’s famous business and cultural center.

“This marvelous growth of Chicago is not without cause. Like the rare flower of the night-blooming cereus it did not just happen in its blossoming time. The final bloom was provided for long, long in advance” (Goode, J. P. 1926).

As a prove to Goode’s statement a couple of geographical as well as geological factors can be pointed out, which had their positive influence on the overall development and growth of Chicago. Among those factors one can emphasize abundance of natural resources, favorable climatic conditions as well as potentially beneficial position in regard to transportation channels in the region. What we will be discussing in this paper, are the ways in which the above-mentioned criteria played a vital role in the city’s foundation and ensured its prosperous existence.

To begin with, let us take a brief look at the history of the area as well as at the people who inhabited it. There were about six different Native American tribes which lived in the area that would eventually become Chicago. Their major survival activities included agriculture, which suggests that the soil and weather conditions in the area were appropriate for it, hunting and fishing (Sinkevitch, A., Petersen L. M. & Duis, P. R. 2004). Indeed, the land around Chicago provides wonderful opportunities for agricultural activities. There are a couple of reasons for that. First of all, “as the last ice shift began to melt and recede, about 20,000 years ago, it left behind the rich minerals that make Illinois’ farms so productive”(Hurd et al., 2007). Receded ice made “these soils so generous that, as the funny man observed a generation ago, you need only to tickle them with a hoe and they laugh with a harvest” (Goode, J. P. 1926). Jean Baptiste Point De Sable, the first non-native American resident of the area, proved the truthfulness of the above statements by establishing his farm in this area and, honestly speaking, starting building the foundations for modern Chicago. It was around 1782, when Point De Sable put up his farm and trading post on the north bank of the Chicago River, making a prosperous living by means of mostly farming and trading (Hurd et al., 2007). By earning himself an impressive fortune, Point De Sable proved the natural generosity of the land in the region as well as set an example for others to consider what benefits the agricultural activities in the area could bring. As a result, “farms surrounding Chicago eventually played a major role in the city’s economic growth” (Sinkevitch, A., Petersen L. M. & Duis, P. R. 2004). The second land-factor that added up to the development of the variety of agricultural activities is the positioning of the city on the river bank. Nearness of the river ensured constant water supply, which is known as one of the major determinants for the successful harvesting.

Another geographical factor that should be mentioned in regard to Chicago’s development and growth is favorable weather conditions. It is understandable that before Chicago’s rich soil could function in terms of human life and wealth, it had to be served with appropriate weather conditions, and, luckily, for Chicago, it was. Rainfall in the region is well distributed throughout the year. For this, cyclones make their positive contribution. The favorable sequence of sunny and rainy days makes the climate in the region ideal in these latitudes for grass and the cereals, for various fruits, and for forests (Goode, J. P. 1926). According to Hurd et al. (2007) the delightful serenity of the climate combined with rich soils should have made Chicago one of the most favorable destinations for emigrants.

Continuing the discussion about the important geographical determinants of Chicago’s development, I find it important to mention a highly important factor that ensured the development of the trading relations as well as led to the construction of enlarged transportation channels. This factor is the location of earlier Chicago in the mouth of the Chicago River. As early as in the times of Native American settlements in the region, the tribes “traded raw materials and fur to white European settlers for products manufactured in Europe and on the East Coast of America” (Goode, J. P. 1926). But it is only with the arrival of first Europeans to the region when the economic potentiality of the area was fully exposed. The mouth river location was seen as a wonderful opportunity to ship materials and goods affordably from one location to another. According to Hurd et al., (2007), two developments were necessary to bring all the needed money to build the city. These were the completions of the canals throughout the Midwest. As a result, Erie Canal connected New Your to Erie Lake in 1825 and the Illinois & Michigan Canal was finished by 1848.

From that time on the city of Chicago saw its rise. Trade and farming made their historical inputs in the development of an economically prosperous and attractive city. However, it is important to keep in mind that such results would have had fewer chances to be accomplished if not for geographical positioning. A successful combination of such components as rich soil, favorable climate and river mouth location made it possible for the people to develop a region into something more than just a Native American settlement surrounded by marshland and prairie.

References

Goode, J. P. (1926). The Geographic Background of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press.

Hurd, Owen & Johnson, Gary. (2007). Chicago History for Kids: Triumphs and Tragedies of the Windy City Includes 21 Activities. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press.

Sinkevitch, A., Petersen L. M. & Duis, P. R. (2004). AIA guide to Chicago. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.