Due to steamboats and railroad travel times drastically decreased. The materials and commodities from different parts of the States were then more accessible.

The Industrial Revolution began in England around 1781. Due to them having a vast amount of cheap coal. In Germany it was lumber. The first commodity was textiles.

I believe the current era should be called the Anthropocene, humans are still altering the composition of the atmosphere and planet increasing Carbon, Sulfur, and Nitrogen compounds. According to the reading geologists believe the anthropocene started in the latter part of the 18th century.

Environmental determinism is the concept of how the environment shapes how a people develop. One example being nations that have natural barriers tend to have a disposition towards isolationist ideas.