The Geographic Configuration and Key Features of North America

Key Insight

North America exhibits a grand, methodical design, dividing into two vast regions of roughly equal size. The first region extends from the North Pole south to the Great Lakes of Canada, sloping imperceptibly northward like a plateau. This vast expanse lacks high mountains or deep valleys, featuring intertwining streams, sprawling marshes, and rivers that meander extensively before reaching the polar seas. The Great Lakes, which define its southern boundary, are not contained by hills but have flat banks rising only a few feet, appearing as vast, brim-filled bowls. A slight global change could redirect their waters towards either the North Pole or the tropical sea.

The second region, spanning the remainder of the continent, is more uneven and better suited for human habitation. It is longitudinally bisected by two major mountain ranges: the Alleghenies along the Atlantic coast, and another parallel to the South Seas. Between these ranges lies a colossal valley, measuring 228343 square leagues, approximately six times the size of France, yet comprising a single continuous depression. An immense river, known as the 'Saint-Louis' by the French and the 'Father of Waters' or Mississippi by the Indians, flows through its bottom. Originating near the plateau dividing the two great regions, the Mississippi hesitates among lakes and marshes before its 1000-league journey southward.

Six hundred leagues north of its mouth, the Mississippi maintains a mean depth of 15 feet, allowing 300-ton ships to navigate nearly 200 leagues upstream. It is fed by 57 major navigable rivers, including tributaries of 1300, 900, 600, 500, and four of 200 leagues. The valley's bottomland boasts inexhaustible fertility near the river, attributed to primeval ocean tides that deposited thick layers of vegetable matter. Geological traces are evident, with vast, flat plains on the right bank contrasting with increasingly uneven, barren terrain towards the mountains, where pulverized granite and rocks from the Rockies are scattered. East of the Alleghenies, a 48-league wide by 390-league long strip of rock and sand forms an inhospitable Atlantic coast with meager vegetation, which surprisingly became the birthplace of the English colonies that formed the United States.