Great Debates in American Environmental History

COVER......Page 1
COPYRIGHT......Page 5
CONTENTS......Page 6
LIST OF ENTRIES......Page 8
Influence and Effects of Aridity......Page 14
Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Technologies and Weaponry......Page 15
Management of Resources......Page 16
Agriculture......Page 17
Ethics of Environmental Policies and Theories......Page 18
Pollution......Page 19
Miscellaneous......Page 20
PREFACE......Page 22
INTRODUCTION: WHAT LAY BELOW THE ARCTIC ICE CAP......Page 24
WAS THE LOSS OF THE ROANOKE COLONY CAUSED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS?......Page 26
Constructing the First Colony in North America......Page 27
Environmental History of the Roanoke Settlement......Page 30
CASH CROPS AND NEAR DISASTER AT JAMESTOWN......Page 31
Profit or Self-Sufficiency?......Page 33
Conclusion: Climate and the ‘‘Need’’ for Slaves......Page 34
Global Exploration and the New World......Page 35
Mercantilism and the System of Global Trade......Page 36
American Exploration......Page 38
Conclusion: A Land Apart......Page 39
Expansion in Early Boston......Page 40
Broad Arrow Conserves Great Trees......Page 42
England’s Broad Arrow Law......Page 43
WILLIAM PENN AND ROGER WILLIAMS ESTABLISH A UNIQUE AMERICAN MODEL......Page 45
William Penn and the Experience of Penn’s Land......Page 46
A Model of Openness in Penn’s Land......Page 50
Roger Williams and Religious Toleration in New England......Page 51
ALEXANDER HAMILTON ENVISIONS AN INDUSTRIAL AMERICA......Page 52
NAVIGATING THE CHESAPEAKE BAY DURING THE EARLY REPUBLIC......Page 55
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC......Page 57
The American Way......Page 58
Gallatin Report......Page 59
Conclusion......Page 63
Natural History and National Meaning......Page 65
Symbolizing the United States......Page 66
Creating an American Natural History......Page 67
Conclusion: A National Commitment to Natural History......Page 68
MODELING PUBLIC WORKS IN PHILADELPHIA......Page 69
Housing a Vision of America......Page 72
INSTRUMENTALIZING THE RIVERS OF NEW ENGLAND......Page 73
Conclusion: Reconstruing Rivers......Page 75
THE LAND ORDINANCE OF 1785–1787 CONSTRUCTS THE AMERICAN GRID FOR LAND ‘‘DISPOSAL’’......Page 76
NATIVE RESISTANCE TO EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT......Page 78
INDIAN EXPROPRIATION AND THE TRAIL OF TEARS......Page 80
WAS A WHALE WORTH THE EFFORT TO NANTUCKETEERS?......Page 84
DEFINING A UNIQUE SOUTHERN STYLE OF AGRICULTURE......Page 86
Atlantic System and Trade Network......Page 87
Middle Passage......Page 88
Land Conversion......Page 90
Tobacco......Page 91
Conclusion: The Problems of Making Cotton King of the South......Page 92
JEFFERSON ARGUES FOR THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE AND AMERICAN EXPANSION......Page 93
Dumping Louisiana......Page 94
Conclusion: Jefferson’s Dream Becomes America’s Reality......Page 96
LEWIS AND CLARK SEEK TO KNOW THE UNKNOWN CONTINENT......Page 97
The Hudson River School......Page 99
Transcendentalism......Page 100
Henry David Thoreau,......Page 102
William Henry Jackson and Romantic Landscape Photography......Page 103
Mount Auburn Cemetery......Page 105
The Rural Cemetery Movement......Page 106
Andrew Jackson Downing......Page 108
CONSTRUCTING THE CANAL AGE: WHO SHOULD PAY?......Page 109
Conclusion: Little Future in a Limited Technology......Page 112
AMERICAN LEADERS CREATE A CULTURE AND SYSTEM OF EXPANSION......Page 113
Modes of Transport Westward......Page 114
Emanating from the Mid-Atlantic......Page 115
Astoria Establishes an Anchor in the West......Page 116
Trails West Fuel Western Development......Page 118
The Indian Problem......Page 119
Gadsden Purchase Claims the West for America......Page 120
Conclusion: Catlin and Others Rationalize the Move West......Page 121
THE WAR OF 1812 STEERS AMERICANS’ ENERGY FUTURE TOWARD COAL......Page 123
Soft Coal Ushers in the Industrial Era......Page 124
Small-scale Railroad Increases Reliance on Coal......Page 126
Industrial Expansion through Coal during the Civil War Era......Page 127
Iron Industry Demands Energy......Page 128
WORKING IN A COAL MINE......Page 129
Coal Mining as a Growth Business......Page 130
Working a Coal Mine......Page 131
GEORGE PERKINS MARSH SPURS CONSIDERATION OF INDUSTRIALIZATION......Page 135
MAKING A FUTURE FOR FREED SLAVES......Page 138
Creating a Policy Framework for Freedom......Page 139
Creating the Exoduster Tradition......Page 141
Conclusion......Page 142
Expanding Scale: Connecting the Dots......Page 143
The Railroaders’ New View of the Landscape......Page 144
Making Railroaders of All Americans......Page 145
INDUSTRIAL ETHICS AND THE LESSONS OF THE DISASTER IN JOHNSTOWN......Page 146
MORMONS CREATE A MODEL FOR INTERPRETING THE ARIDITY OF THE WEST......Page 148
Using the Horse to Tame the West......Page 151
Pony Express and Efforts to Systematize the West’s Space......Page 152
Synching the Nation Together by Rail......Page 153
Unlocking the West’s Tourist Potential......Page 154
BORDER DISPUTES AND THE SETTLEMENT OF TEXAS......Page 155
Remember the Alamo......Page 156
The Railroad and Texas’s Cattle Future......Page 157
Conclusion......Page 159
Swampland Acts Stimulate Land Conversion......Page 160
Inventorying Wetlands......Page 161
Conclusion: Accounting for the Necessity of Wetlands......Page 162
GOLD OPENS UP THE WEST......Page 163
POSITIONING FOR BATTLE: GETTYSBURG, JULY 1863......Page 166
Slaves......Page 169
Illuminating Oil: Petroleum......Page 172
Illuminating Oil: Whale Oil......Page 173
Should the War Reach the West?......Page 175
Sabine Pass......Page 176
Navies Bring the Civil War to the Sea......Page 177
Sherman’s March to the Sea......Page 178
OLMSTED AND VAUX DESIGN A CENTRAL PARK FOR NEW YORK CITY......Page 179
OLMSTED HELPS TO DEFINE THE AMERICAN MOVEMENT FOR PARKS......Page 182
ARE DISAPPEARING SPECIES A PROBLEM OR AN ACCOMPLISHMENT?......Page 183
SPORTSMEN HELP TO BUILD A CONSENSUS FOR CONSERVATION......Page 187
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL SERVES AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE WEALTHY AND NATURE......Page 189
TRANSFORMING WHALING INTO AMERICA’S LEADING ENERGY INDUSTRY......Page 191
ENERGY TRANSITION LEAVES WHALING BEHIND......Page 192
DISCOVERY OF PETROLEUM IN PENNSYLVANIA......Page 194
PITHOLE, PENNSYLVANIA: BOOMTOWNS HARVEST RESOURCES AND THEN MOVE ON......Page 197
ROCKEFELLER, STANDARD, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF ‘‘BIG OIL’’......Page 199
Conclusion: Big Oil as a National Problem......Page 200
Demanding Change in New York City......Page 202
The Organic City......Page 203
Living with Technology......Page 204
Reforming the City......Page 205
Sewage and Water Technology......Page 207
Taming Trash......Page 208
Trash Timeline......Page 209
RUSSELL SAGE STUDIES URBAN PROBLEMS IN PITTSBURGH......Page 210
FORCING THE AMERICAN TRADITION OF NATIONAL PARKS......Page 212
Historic Farming Technology......Page 217
Ranching and ‘‘Bonanza Farms’’......Page 218
Creating a Future for Grain: The Elevator......Page 219
Bounding the Grid: Barbed Wire......Page 220
1930s Dust Bowl as Outcome of Aggressive Agriculture......Page 221
Conclusion: Committing to Aquifers......Page 224
Aridity in the West......Page 225
John Wesley Powell Urges Control of Western Settlement......Page 226
Conclusion: Lessons for the Arid West......Page 227
WHO PAYS FOR RECLAMATION AS A FEDERAL POLICY FOR THE WEST?......Page 228
Newland’s Act Brings Federal Funds to Reclamation......Page 230
Hoover Dam Symbolizes the Future of the Hydraulic West......Page 231
Conclusion: Dams for the West......Page 232
Crazy Horse Leads Fight against American Expansion......Page 233
Federal Efforts to Control the ‘‘Indian Problem’’......Page 234
Policy Shifts Resulting from Little Bighorn......Page 235
BUFFALO EXTERMINATION SPELLS DISASTER FOR NATIVE PEOPLE......Page 236
The Impact of Markets......Page 237
Conclusion: Was There an Official U.S. Policy to Exterminate the Bison?......Page 238
WHITE CITY REDEFINES THE EXPECTATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING......Page 239
Defining the American Future at the White City......Page 240
Shaping a New Vision of Nature......Page 241
Using Technology to Construct a Middle Ground......Page 242
Conclusion: ‘‘Fallingwater’’ as a Symbol for a New Technological Era......Page 244
WORKING FOR WORKERS’ RIGHTS......Page 245
Organizing Workers......Page 246
Upheaval at Homestead......Page 247
Pullman Starts a Trend......Page 248
Legislating for Workers’ Rights......Page 249
Conclusion: The Legacy of Unions......Page 250
POPULISM AND THE GRASSROOTS OF THE WEST......Page 251
FRONTIER THESIS AND AMERICAN MEANING......Page 253
Creating a New Western History......Page 254
THE PANAMA CANAL OPENS ROUTES OF TRADE AND ECOLOGICAL CHANGE......Page 256
Contemporary Issues and the Canal......Page 258
PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT AND THE WESTERN NATIONAL PARKS......Page 259
Beyond Yellowstone......Page 260
Conclusion: Private Interest in National Parks Today......Page 261
Railroads Reach into the Wilderness......Page 262
Defining Mount Rainier for All......Page 264
National Park Forms New Relationship with Railroads......Page 265
Conclusion......Page 266
MUCKRAKERS SET THE TONE FOR NATIONAL REFORM......Page 267
ALICE HAMILTON CONNECTS SOCIAL REFORM WITH HUMAN HEALTH......Page 268
FEDERAL EFFORTS TO REGULATE HUMAN HEALTH......Page 269
Influenza Pandemic Mobilizes Federal Action......Page 270
Conclusion: Creating a New Model for Public Health......Page 271
SPINDLETOP: PETROLEUM SUPPLY CREATES NEW OPPORTUNITIES......Page 272
THE NEW NIAGARA AND AMERICA’S NEW PRESERVATION ETHIC......Page 273
THE LACEY ACT CREATES THE FIRST FEDERAL LAW FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION......Page 276
BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB USES VIRILITY TO ATTRACT ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT......Page 277
THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA INVOLVE YOUNG MEN IN OUTDOORS......Page 279
PROGRESSIVES DEMAND FEDERAL ACTION ON CONSERVATION......Page 281
PINCHOT ARGUES FOR CONSERVATION AS A DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY......Page 282
MUIR ARGUES FOR THE SOUL OF WILDERNESS......Page 284
PINCHOT, MUIR, AND THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT MEET AT HETCH HETCHY......Page 287
LONG-TERM IMPLICATIONS OF SODBUSTING AND CONVERSION OF THE AMERICAN WEST FOR AGRICULTURE......Page 289
Creating a Policy Framework to Stimulate Settlement......Page 290
Homestead Act......Page 292
Using the Prairie Land......Page 293
Desertification and the Dust Bowl Years......Page 295
Formalizing Soil Conservation......Page 296
Conclusion: Sodbusting Resurgence......Page 297
USING CHICAGO TO MAKE THE GREAT LAKES THE NATION’S FIFTH COAST......Page 298
Creating the Tools for Settlement......Page 299
Making a Commodity of Meat......Page 300
Industrial Agriculture Redefines the West......Page 301
POWERING INDIVIDUAL TRANSPORTATION......Page 303
Henry Ford Democratizes the Automobile......Page 304
ESTABLISHING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR COORDINATED ADMINISTRATION OVER AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS......Page 306
A New World View......Page 308
Living with the Bomb......Page 309
Making War on the Brink......Page 310
Fighting the Cold War through Lifestyle......Page 311
PUBLIC LEARNS GARDENING AND RATIONING TO SUPPORT THE CAUSE......Page 313
Horace McFarland and City Beautiful......Page 317
Expanding Scale of Urban Renewal......Page 318
SELLING AMERICA’S FUTURE TO THE AUTOMOBILE......Page 319
The American Home and Automobility......Page 320
Hitting the Road......Page 321
Consumption Meets the Road......Page 322
RACHEL CARSON AND CHANGING AMERICANS’ VIEW OF CHEMICALS......Page 323
Carson Alters the Chemical Paradigm......Page 324
Generating a Popular Environmental Movement......Page 326
Conclusion......Page 327
EPILOGUE......Page 328
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 330
INDEX......Page 356
ABOUT THE AUTHORS......Page 374