The Environment in American History ─ Nature and the Formation of the United States

From pre-European contact to the present day, people living in what is now the United States have constantly manipulated their environment. The use of natural resources – animals, plants, minerals, water, and land – has produced both prosperity and destruction, reshaping the land and human responses to it. The Environment in American History is a clear and comprehensive account that vividly shows students how the environment played a defining role in the development of American society.

Organized in thirteen chronological chapters, and extensively illustrated, the book covers themes including:

• Native peoples’ manipulation of the environment across various regions
• The role of Old World livestock and diseases in European conquests
• Plantation agriculture and slavery
• Westward expansion and the exploitation of natural resources
• Environmental influences on the Civil War and World War II
• The emergence and development of environmental activism
• Industrialization, and the growth of cities and suburbs
• Global warming and climate change

Each chapter includes a selection of primary documents, and the book is supported by a robust companion website including further resources for students and instructors. Drawing on current scholarship, Jeff Crane has created a vibrant and engaging survey that is a key resource for all students of American environmental history.

Jeff Crane is Associate Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. He is the author ofFinding the River: An Environmental History of the Elwha, and co-editor ofNatural Protest: Essays on the History of American Environmentalism.