Appalachian Mountains

Hornet’s Nest” both poets Ron Rash and Robert Morgan describe to readers what it was like to be raised in the southern Appalachian Mountains as a child throughout seasons of life. Both poets Rash and Morgan were natives to the land of southwest North Carolina and created poems that would allow readers to interpret what life was like for these two growing up in the Appalachian Mountains. The authors write in narratives that are delightful to the senses and use imagery to assist readers in the…

Last Fall my family visited Shenandoah National Park. It is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. It is only 75 miles outside of the nation’s capitol, Washington D.C. The first traces of humans on the land that would later become the park are estimated to be almost nine thousand years ago. Native Americans visited these Appalachian Mountains seasonally to hunt, collect nuts and berries, and to gather stone to construct tools. Europeans did not start to settle the land prior to three…

In fact, these misinterpretations are uninformed opinions, since Appalachian folks did not have access to other alternative medication and were pushed to find solution for their own problems. In the encyclopedia of Folk Medicine, it suggested that “The answer lies in the eye of the beholder: to some it is an old granny…

The Magnificent 60 Mountain Peaks Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia, protects over 19,000 acres of land, with more than 500 miles of trail, which include the 101 miles long Appalachian Trail. Admission is required at this national park however it is definitely worth it according to happy visitors. National Park, Shenandoah itself has about 60 wooded mountain peaks. Nearly the entire park is 2,000 feet above sea level. Along with hiking, people like to camp at Shenandoah, which requires a…

After the war pioneers began crossing the mountains in large numbers. By 1820, Missouri, on the western side of the Mississippi River, had enough people to apply for statehood! The idea of “the West” constantly changed as Americans pushed the farther and farther away from what had been the original 13 colonies. In the early 1800’s the "West" was generally considered to be the area west of the Appalachian Mountains to the territories and states in the Mississippi River Valley.…

Throughout this course we’ve examined Appalachia as a separate and distinct region within the United States. The question of whether it’s a subculture or a colony is rather muddy at best. The Oxford Dictionary defines subculture as: “A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture”. While this is true of Appalachia to some degree, the problem lies within its geographical area and the large number of subcultures that live in…

In the video, “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains”, news correspondent Diane Sawyer introduces the viewers to various families and individuals living in poverty stricken communities in the Central Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. According to the program, the people living there are descendants of pioneers and legendary fighters in the American military. “They are brave, tough, wary of outsiders, steeped in family and faith” (20/20). This is an area of the country that is experiencing…

The expansion to America across the Atlantic Ocean was a significant historical breakthrough at the time. Even though, half millennium before Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered America in 1492, Vikings where the first to set foot on the North American loam by their leader Leif Eriksson. The discovery of the new world was viewed by many world power country leaders as not only a financial opportunity but also control the flow of precious materials and trade goods coming out of the…

Did changes in the young nation open the door to opportunity for all Americans? I say yes. The three major changes in the young nation are geographic, political, and economic. These three changes all opened the door to opportunity because there were so many choices to choose from and there were no set rules with education for jobs. The first change in the young nation is geographic changes. Land purchases had a huge impact on the developing country. The Louisiana Purchase sparked the idea to…

Landform Assignment: Great Teays River Description and Location: The Great Teays River was a river that flowed north and north west in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. The river was named after the valley found in Putnam County, WV (Teays Valley). Teays Valley was named after Stephen Teays who was an early settler. A few places I was familiar with that the river ran through was Scioto County and Chillicothe in Ohio and along the Interstate 64 in West Virginia from…