washington d.c. versus virginia
...any cliffs. Washington's terrain includes the Cascade Range, which runs north to south. One of the peaks is Mount Saint Helens, an active volcano which exploded in 1980. The Rocky Mountains run along the northwest, with the highest point in the state being Mount Rainier at a whopping 14,410 feet high. The Columbia Plateau in the southern part of the state holds one of the greatest sources of hydroelectric power in the world, the Columbia River. While Virginia's terrain is generally flat & swampy in the tidewater region, at the Fall Line it changes into the rolling, fertile Piedmont Plateau. To the west are the Blue Ridge Mountains, separated by the Valley of Virginia from the Allegheny Mountains. Washington has the highest average rainfall of all the states, while Virginia has a much more balanced climate. Virginia holds Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, established in 1607. Virginia was also a leader in the American Revolution and the first of the original thirteen colonies to declare independence from Great Britain. It was established as a state on June 25, 1788. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and six other U. S. Presidents are from here. Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, and Virginia's capital, Richmond, became the capital of the Confederacy. So Virginia was the chief battleground during the Civil War. In 1870, Virginia was readmitted to the Union. Washington wasn't a state until Nov. 11, 1889, the 42nd state of the Union. Washington was home to the Chinook, Nez Perce, and Yakima, as well as other tribes when Capt. James Cook explored the area in 1778. British explorer George Vancouver explored the Puget Sound in 1792. Both Britain and the United States laid claim to the region, though war was averted by agreeing to set the state's boundary at 49 N in 1846. The first great movement of settlers came during the 1880s. Virginia's p...