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The "East Coast," "Eastern Seaboard," or "Atlantic Seaboard" are terms referring to the easternmost coastal states in the United States. They touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. It usually includes all thirteen original colonies, as well as such selected places as Washington, D.C., Florida, Maine and Vermont. People elsewhere in the United States sometimes refer to the East Coast colloquially as "back east".
Inclusion of States The term "East Coast" is often associated with the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States, particularly for cultural concepts such as an "Eastern college" or "East-coast liberal" or the "I-95 Corridor" (referring to Interstate 95). The Southeastern portion of the coast from the Carolinas to Florida is more typically associated culturally with the larger American South. "East Coast" may also refer even more narrowly to the highly urbanized strip along the coast from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., which is also known as the "Northeast Corridor", a definition which excludes the hinterlands of Upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania, which may have more in common with the Midwest than with cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston. The "East Coast" can also be loosely defined as the collection of states that have shipping interests in the Atlantic Ocean, this would also add southern states such as Alabama and Louisiana. History Culturally it is also where most of the first wave of immigrants from Europe, Africa, and Asia settled before America began its western expansion. The Appalachian Trail runs through most of these states from Maine through Georgia. Historically the Mason-Dixon Line cuts this area in half at the northern border of Maryland, which still indicates a cultural change. Through the course of early United States history, the Eastern Coast was divided over many issues including slavery. In the 1860's this came to a head and the civil war broke out. This war was fought mostly in states that would be considered East Coast states, including Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. See also | ||||||||
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