Environment in American 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 of Finding the River: An Environmental History of the Elwha, and co-editor of Natural Protest: Essays on the History of American Environmentalism.

"In clear, elegant prose, Jeff Crane provides a fresh portrait of an America in the throes of environmental change. As environmental issues confront citizens at every turn, thoughtful reflections such as Crane’s will become ever more important to the security of the nation’s future. Highly recommended."—Mark Fiege, Professor of History, Colorado State University"Clearly written and intuitively organized, The Environment in American History offers a balanced and accessible way for students or anyone interested in American history to appreciate the role of nature in the ongoing development of the United States."—Sterling Evans, Professor of History, University of Oklahoma"Jeff Crane tells compelling and emblematic stories that firmly ground four hundred years of American history in environmental context. Like few surveys available, this book effectively incorporates recent history as well. Crane’s creative choices for the document section will be useful in the classroom, foregrounding the sources and methods that make it an excellent book."—Jeffrey C. Sanders, Associate Professor of History, Washington State University"Jeff Crane delves deeply into a wide breadth of topics vital to understanding U.S. environmental history. The Environment in American History promises to become a leading textbook, especially for instructors who aim to give students a more in-depth view of the ways in which nature has under-girded American history and a better understanding of current environmental problems."—Marsha Richmond, Associate Professor, History of Science, Wayne State University"Crane offers a comprehensive overview of American environmental history that goes way beyond formation, and right up to the present day. The book is clearly targeted at the undergraduate market, and thus includes a wide range of illustrations, primary documents and seminar questions ... Crane thus provides a conventional take (and textbook) on an unconventional topic, competently assembled and with much merit, and a sound introduction."—John Wills, University of Kent

• Preface1 Faith in a Generous Land2 Pathogens and Plows in the Land of Plenty3 A Great Fur and Hide Marketplace4 A Great Farming Nation5 “A Newer Garden of Creation”6 Naturally Horrifying: Environment in the Civil War7 Western Lands of Wealth and Violence8 Conserving Resources, Saving Sacred Spaces, and Cleaning the Cities: America in the Conservation Era9 Restoring and Transforming the Land in the 1920s and 1930s10 Abundance and Terror: Americans in World War II11 Environmental Consensus in the Republic of Abundance12 Environmental Reform and Schism13 A Time of Environmental ContradictionsEpilogue