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38-605: The region known as the "Waxhaws" is located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina and South Carolina. It lies southwest of the Uwharrie Mountains . The region encompasses an area just south of Charlotte, North Carolina , to Lancaster, South Carolina ; and from Monroe, North Carolina , in the east to the Catawba River in the west. The region is generally forested and hilly, but not mountainous. One town in

76-598: A force of approximately 350 Virginian Continentals under Abraham Buford , many of whom were killed as they were trying to surrender. The site of the battle is now the town of Buford, South Carolina , however. The seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson , was born and raised in The Waxhaws region. At the time of his birth, a border between the Carolinas did not exist. The exact site of his birth

114-401: A means of defining Earth 's landforms into independently distinct, mutually exclusive areas, independent of political boundaries. It is based upon the classic three-tiered approach by Nevin M. Fenneman in 1916, that separates landforms into physiographic divisions, physiographic provinces , and physiographic sections. The classification mechanism has become a popular geographical tool in

152-424: Is generally the case with sheets of glacial drift . Generally, forms which result from similar histories are characterized by certain similar features, and differences in history result in corresponding differences of form, usually resulting in distinctive features which are obvious to the casual observer, but this is not always the case. A maturely dissected plateau may grade without a break from rugged mountains on

190-469: Is intimately associated with certain branches of geology, as sedimentation , while geomorphology connects physiography with geography. The dynamic interlude representing the active phase of physiography weaves the basic threads of geologic history." The U.S. Geological Survey defines physiography as a study of "Features and attributes of earth's land surface", while geomorphology is defined separately as "Branch of geology dealing with surface land features and

228-667: Is its southern boundary.) The fall line, where the land rises abruptly from the coastal plain, marks the limit of navigability on many major rivers, so inland ports sprang up along it. Within the Piedmont region itself, there are several areas of urban concentration, the largest being the Atlanta metropolitan area in Georgia. The Piedmont cuts Maryland in half, covering the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area . In Virginia ,

266-402: Is meant, the more specialized "geomorphological" definition or the more encompassing "physical geography" definition. For the purposes of physiographic mapping, landforms are classified according to both their geologic structures and histories. Distinctions based on geologic age also correspond to physiographic distinctions where the forms are so recent as to be in their first erosion cycle , as

304-474: Is sometimes as the science which describes and explains the physical features of the earth's surface". By 1911, the definition of physiography in Encyclopædia Britannica had evolved to be "In popular usage the words 'physical geography' have come to mean geography viewed from a particular standpoint rather than any special department of the subject. The popular meaning is better conveyed by

342-469: Is uncertain. Later in life, perhaps for political reasons, Jackson claimed he was born on the South Carolina side of the new border. However, a midwife reportedly birthed Jackson in a cabin north of the border. The eleventh president of the United States, James K. Polk , who took office on March 4, 1845, also was born in The Waxhaws region. His birthplace is now Pineville, North Carolina . During

380-541: The American Civil War , in 1864, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman 's army came through parts of the region. 34°55′33″N 80°44′45″W  /  34.9259°N 80.7459°W  / 34.9259; -80.7459 Piedmont (United States) The Piedmont / ˈ p iː d m ɒ n t / is a plateau region located in the Eastern United States . It is situated between

418-747: The Atlantic Plain and the Blue Ridge Mountains , stretching from New York in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont Province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands physiographic division and consists of the Piedmont Upland, and the Piedmont Lowlands sections. The Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line marks the Piedmont's eastern boundary with the Coastal Plain. To

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456-951: The Greater Richmond metropolitan area is the largest urban concentration. In North Carolina, the Piedmont Crescent includes several metropolitan clusters such as Charlotte metropolitan area , the Piedmont Triad , and the Research Triangle . Other notable areas include the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC Combined Statistical Area in South Carolina, and the Philadelphia metropolitan area in Pennsylvania. Physiographic region Physiographic regions are

494-717: The Yamasee War of 1715. Around the year 1740, Irish , Scots-Irish , and German colonists began to move into The Waxhaws region and to establish farms. What is now the Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church was built in 1752. During the American Revolutionary War , under the command of Colonel William Davie , Patriot militiamen were active in The Waxhaws. In 1781, the British forces of General Charles Cornwallis briefly occupied

532-400: The 21st century, some confusion remains as to exactly what "physiography" is. One source states "Geomorphology includes quaternary geology, physiography and most of physical geography", treating physiography as a separate field, but subservient to geomorphology. Another source states "Geomorphology (or physiography) refers to the study of the surface features of the earth. It involves looking at

570-521: The Piedmont is the remnant of several ancient mountain chains that have since been eroded. Geologists have identified at least five separate events which have led to sediment deposition, including the Grenville orogeny (the collision of continents that created the supercontinent Rodinia ) and the Appalachian orogeny during the formation of Pangaea . The last major event in the history of

608-459: The Piedmont was the break-up of Pangaea, when North America and Africa began to separate. Large basins formed from the rifting and were filled by the sediments shed from the surrounding higher ground. The series of Mesozoic basins is almost entirely located inside the Piedmont region. Piedmont soils are generally clay -like ( Ultisols ) and moderately fertile. In some areas they have suffered from erosion and over-cropping, particularly in

646-553: The South where cotton was historically the chief crop. In the central Piedmont region of North Carolina and Virginia , tobacco is the main crop, while in the north region there is more diversity, including orchards , dairying , and general farming . The portion of the Piedmont region in the Southern United States is closely associated with the Piedmont blues , a style of blues music that originated there in

684-552: The United States, indicated by the publication of a USGS shapefile that maps the regions of the original work and the National Park Services's use of the terminology to describe the regions in which its parks are located. Originally used in North America , the model became the basis for similar classifications of other continents. During the early 1900s, the study of regional-scale geomorphology

722-466: The complications arise from how the term has evolved over time, both as its own 'science' and as a synonym for other branches of science. In 1848, Mary Somerville published her book Physical Geography which gave detailed descriptions of the topography of each continent, along with the distribution of plant, animals and humans. This work gave impetus to further works along the field. In Germany, Oscar Peschel in 1870, proposed that geographers should study

760-422: The definition of the term physiography. "In England, physiography is regarded as the introduction to physical science in general. It is made to include the elements of physics , chemistry , astronomy , physical geography, and geology , and sometimes even certain phases of botany and zoology . In America, the term has a somewhat different meaning. It is sometimes used as a synonym for physical geography, and

798-401: The distribution of land, water, soil and rock material that forms the land surface. Land is closely linked to the geomorphology of a particular landscape", regarding physiography as synonymous with geomorphology. Yet another source states "Physiography may be viewed from two distinct angles, the one dynamic, the other passive". The same source continues by stating "In a large fashion geodynamics

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836-418: The facts of mathematical geography, and the three are so closely inter-related that they cannot be rigidly separated in any discussion". The 1919 edition of The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge further adjusted the definition to be "Physiography (geomorphology), now generally recognized as a science distinct from geology, deals with the origins and development of land forms, traces out

874-498: The field of "physical geography" itself was renamed as "physiography". Afterwards, physiography became a very popular school subject in Britain, accounting for roughly 10% of all examination papers in both English and Welsh schools, and physiography was now regarded as an integral, if not the most important aspect of geography. In conjunction with these 'advances' in physiography, physically and visually mapping these descriptive areas

912-543: The foot of the mountains", similar to the name of the Italian region of Piedmont ( Piemonte ), abutting the Alps . The surface relief of the Piedmont is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills with heights above sea level between 200 feet (50 m) and 800 feet to 1,000 feet (250 m to 300 m). Its geology is complex, with numerous rock formations of different materials and ages intermingled with one another. Essentially,

950-665: The late 19th century. According to the Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, most Piedmont blues musicians came from Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. During the Great Migration , African Americans migrated to the Piedmont. With the Appalachian Mountains to the west, those who might otherwise have spread into rural areas stayed in cities and were thus exposed to a broader mixture of music than those in, for example,

988-562: The morphology of the Earth's surface, having an interest in the study of landforms for the development of human beings. As the chair of geography (and a geologist by training) in Bonn, Germany, Ferdinand von Richthofen made the study of landforms the main research field for himself and his students. Elsewhere, Thomas Henry Huxley 's Physiography was published in 1877 in Britain . Shortly after,

1026-414: The one hand to mildly rolling farm lands on the other. So also, forms which are not classified together may be superficially similar; for example, a young coastal plain and a peneplain . In a large number of cases, the boundary lines are also geologic lines, due to differences in the nature or structure of the underlying rocks. The history of "physiography" itself is at best a complicated effort. Much of

1064-447: The processes of contemporary change in the crust and the circulation of the fluid envelopes. It thus draws upon physics for the explanation of the phenomena with the space-relations of which it is specially concerned. Physical geography naturally falls into three divisions, dealing respectively with the surface of the lithosphere – geomorphology; the hydrosphere – oceanography ; and the atmosphere – climatology . All these rest upon

1102-501: The processes that create and change them". Partly due to this confusion over what "physiography" actually means, some scientists have refrained from using the term physiography (and instead use the similar term geomorphology) because the definitions vary from the American Geological Institute's "the study and classification of the surface features of Earth on the basis of similarities in geologic structure and

1140-730: The region has adopted the Waxhaw name. Waxhaw, North Carolina , incorporated its government in 1889. The town is only one site in the entire region, however, and is differentiated from the "Waxhaws" region mentioned in many historical records. Originally known to Europeans as the Waxhaw Settlement , the region was named for its first inhabitants, the Waxhaw people . The Waxhaw tribe had been almost annihilated by Eurasian infectious diseases following their first contact with European settlers. Those who remained were killed or dispersed during

1178-474: The rural Mississippi delta. Thus, Piedmont blues was influenced by many types of music, such as ragtime , country, and popular songs — styles that had comparatively less influence on blues music in other regions. Many major cities are located on the Atlantic Seaboard fall line , the eastern boundary of the Piedmont. (In Georgia and Alabama, where the Piedmont runs mostly east to west, the fall line

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1216-434: The topographic expression of structure, and embodies a logical history of oceanic basins, and continental elevations; of mountains , plateaus and plains ; of hills and valleys. Physical geography is used loosely as a synonym, but the term is more properly applied to the borderland between geography and physiography; dealing, as it does, largely with the human element as influenced by its physiographic surroundings". Even in

1254-588: The town of Charlotte, North Carolina , already the largest town in the region, but his garrison was soon driven out by the local militia. Cornwallis later wrote that Charlotte was "a hornet's nest of rebellion", and Charlotte still is nicknamed, " The Hornet's Nest ". The region's most important battle during the American Revolution did not involve locals. During the Battle of Waxhaws , a Loyalist cavalry force led by Banastre Tarleton easily defeated

1292-654: The west, it is mostly bounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains , the easternmost range of the Appalachians. The width of the Piedmont varies, being quite narrow above the Delaware River but nearly 300 miles (475 km) wide in North Carolina . The Piedmont's area is approximately 80,000 square miles (210,000 km ). The French word Piedmont comes from the Italian : Piemonte , meaning " foothill ", ultimately from Latin "pedemontium", meaning "at

1330-476: The word physiography, a term which appears to have been introduced by Linnaeus , and was reinvented as a substitute for the cosmography of the Middle Ages by Professor Huxley. Although the term has since been limited by some writers to one particular part of the subject, it seems best to maintain the original and literal meaning. In the stricter sense, physical geography is that part of geography which involves

1368-436: Was termed "physiography". Physiography later was considered to be a portmanteau of " physi cal" and "ge ography ", and therefore synonymous with physical geography , and the concept became embroiled in controversy surrounding the appropriate concerns of that discipline. Some geomorphologists held to a geological basis for physiography and emphasized a concept of physiographic regions while a conflicting trend among geographers

1406-435: Was to equate physiography with "pure morphology," separated from its geological heritage. In the period following World War II, the emergence of process, climatic, and quantitative studies led to a preference by many Earth scientists for the term "geomorphology" in order to suggest an analytical approach to landscapes rather than a descriptive one. In current usage, physiography still lends itself to confusion as to which meaning

1444-645: Was underway as well. The early photographers and balloonists, Nadar and Triboulet, experimented with aerial photography and the view it provided of the landscape. In 1899, Albert Heim published his photographs and observations made during a balloon flight over the Alps; he is probably the first person to use aerial photography in geomorphological or physiographical research. The block diagrams of Fenneman, Raisz, Lobeck and many others were based in part upon both aerial photography and topographic maps, giving an oblique "birds-eye" view. By 1901, there were clear differences in

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