The Columbia guide to American environmental history / Carolyn Merchant.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Merchant, Carolyn, author.

Series:

Columbia Guides to American History and Cultures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Environmental conditions.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2005]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

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

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jul 2019)

ISBN:

9780231505840

0231505841

OCLC:

903505013