The Columbia Guide to American Environmental History / / Carolyn Merchant.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Merchant, Carolyn,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2005]; ©2005
• Year of Publication: 2005
• Language: English
• Series: Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (400 p.)

How and why have Americans living at particular times and places used and transformed their environment? How have political systems dealt with conflicts over resources and conservation? This is the only major reference work to explore all the major themes and debates of the burgeoning field of environmental history. Humanity´s relationship with the natural world is one of the oldest and newest topics in human history. The issue emerged as a distinct field of scholarship in the early 1970s and has been growing steadily ever since. The discipline´s territory and sources are rich and varied and include climactic and geological data, court records, archaeological digs, and the writings of naturalists, as well as federal and state economic and resource development and conservation policy. Environmental historians investigate how and why natural and human-created surroundings affect a society´s development. Merchant provides a context-setting overview of American environmental history from the beginning of the millennium; an encyclopedia of important concepts, people, agencies, and laws; a chronology of major events; and an extensive bibliography including films, videos, CD-Roms, and websites. This concise "first stop" reference for students and general readers contains an accessible overview of environmental history; a mini-encyclopedia of ideas, people, legislation, and agencies; a chronology of events and their significance; and a bibliography of books, magazines, and journals as well as films, videos, CD-ROMs, and online resources. In addition to providing a wealth of factual information, The Columbia Guide to American Environmental History explores contentious issues in this much-debated field, from the idea of wilderness to global warming. How and why have Americans living at particular times and places used and transformed their environment? How have political systems dealt with conflicts over resources and conservation? This is the only major reference work to explore all the major themes and debates in the burgeoning field of environmental history. Humanity's relationship with the natural world is one of the oldest and newest topics in human history. The issue emerged as a distinct field of scholarship in the early 1970s and has been growing steadily ever since. The discipline's territory and sources are rich and varied and include climatic and geological data, court records, archaeological digs, and the writings of naturalists, as well as federal and state economic and resource development and conservation policy. Environmental historians investigate how and why natural and human-created surroundings affect a society's development. Merchant provides a context-setting overview of American environmental history from the precolonial land-use practice of Native Americans and concluding with twenty-first concerns over global warming. The book also includes a glossary of important concepts, people, agencies, and legislation; a chronology of major events; and an extensive bibliography including films, videos, CD-ROMs, and websites.This concise reference for students and general readers contains an accessible overview of American environmental history; a mini-encyclopedia of ideas, people, legislation, and agencies; a chronology of events and their significance; and a bibliography of books, magazines, and journals as well as films, videos, CD-ROMs, and online resources. In addition to providing a wealth of factual information, The Columbia Guide to American Environmental History explores contentious issues in this much-debated field, from the idea of wilderness to global warming.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I. Historical Overview:Topics and Themes -- 1. The American Environment and Native-European Encounters, 1000-1875 -- 2. The New England Wilderness Transformed, 1600-1850 -- 3. The Tobacco and Cotton South, 1600-1900 -- 4. Nature and the Market Economy, 1750-1850 -- 5. Western Frontiers: The Settlement of California and the Great Plains, 1820 -1930 -- 6. Urban Environments, 1850-1960 -- 7. Conservation and Preservation, 1785-1950 -- 8. Indian Land Policy, 1800-1990 -- 9. The Rise of Ecology, 1890-1990 -- 10. The Era of Environmentalism, 1940-2000 -- Part II. American Environmental History A to Z: Agencies, Concepts, Laws, and People -- Part III. Chronology: An Environmental History Timeline -- Part IV. Resource Guide -- Visual Resources: Films and Videos -- Electronic Resources -- Bibliographical Essay -- Bibliography -- Index