The Rise of Environmentalism in the United States Essay

Mark Fiege, the author of The Republic of Nature, was able to capture the past history through the lens of nature. Nature by definition is something so simple but so broad. We as the readers must analyze the history and the effects of nature of the United States, but we must first understand what Mark Fiege was able to see through the lens of nature, how he was able to define nature. We can see such effects in the chapters of Satan in the Land, King Cotton, and Nature’s Noblemen.

When FDR came into the presidency, this nation was in the throes of a depression, which had come as a shock following the Roaring 20s, a time of prosperity and wealth for the United States. Despite that, Roosevelt foresaw a bright and renewed future for us, and he

Since the early 20th century the environmentalism movement has migrated from the struggles of consumers versus producers, or saving the planet as a whole as shown by Donald Worster in Nature’s Economy to a more socio-economic view based on urban growth and industrial health. Robert Gottlieb’s book Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement argues that as society goes so too does the environmental movement. As the emphasis on working environments and commercial goods we buy including food changes so too does the environmental movements. It did not matter whether it was large politically prominent environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club or the Audubon Societies or any other numbers of local grassroots

In Thomas Cole’s Essay on American Scenery, the reader is able to appreciate Cole’s predilection and love for the American scenery. It is his belief this scenery is superior to the European scenery, since the latter’s “primitive features of scenery have long since been destroyed or modified … to accommodate the tastes and necessities of a dense population.” However, Cole presents his audience with a gloomy prophecy about America’s future, which he believes will be the same as Europe’s. Still, while acknowledging that industrialization could eventually take over many natural regions, Cole is hopeful that nature will remain victorious, since it will still be predominant. Because of this, he advises the American people to take advantage of

Franklin D. Roosevelt became the thirty-second president of the U.S. in 1933. He was one of the most skillful political leaders and it showed as he led the people out of the Great Depression. The U.S. was in a state of depression when Roosevelt took office, but through his New Deal program, the federal government became much more involved socially and economically in peoples' lives in contrast to its traditionally passive role. The government's responsibilities in peoples' lives changed and individuals' responsibilities changed too. The role of the government in peoples' lives expanded greatly during the New Deal era.

This Era was called the Progressive movement, “The Progressive Era is unique in that this impulse spread to foster an all-encompassing mood and effort for reform”. Theodore Roosevelt was the president for half of the progressive era. Theodore Roosevelt came up many laws to help monitor business work environment and food safety, “the Meat Inspection Act was the beginning of federal regulation of the country’s meat, poultry, and egg products supply” (noto.com). This was big game changer it allows the government to regulate the meat companys, so people won’t get sick. Roosevelt wanted to get rid of the monopolies in America. Roosevelt broke more trusting busting than any other president. As you can see in the progressive era the government was regulating

A good example that support the theory that “Western Society assumes that humanity and nature are disconnected and that the environment is subordinate to human needs.” are first, Puritans belief that they had the God given right to subdue both nature and any Native Americans they saw, which was all for the glory of expanding the Christian society. A second example is the key beliefs of d’Holbach’s and other philosophers that “humanity towers above nature because of humanity’s capacity for thought and rational decision making. With these abilities, people could decode nature’s laws and more efficiently tame it for the betterment of society.” Colonist believed that the environment existed solely to support human needs.

FDR believed in a “New Deal” America, containing social welfare and unemployment, Medicare, government involvement within the economy to help regulate and set standards. Both of these presidencies changed the fabric of American society by bringing the country as a whole through incredibly difficult issues, and showing how, with government intervention, the economy can be brought

Coming from an uncultivated society, such as the one that brought farming and ranching to the settlement of North America, humans have retained some sensitivity to environmental issues as they derived their livelihood directly from the land. But with the advance to an urban or metropolitan society, there has been a major disconnect between humanity and nature. Today’s urban society is provided with mowed parks, paved playgrounds, plush automobiles to move the public around on asphalt roads, housing with automatically regulated heat and cooling, and supermarkets with shopping carts and baskets, in which people can gather their food supplies from orderly shelves and freezers. Aldo Leopold’s “land ethic” term suggests that humans stop treating the land as a mere object or a resource, like how the world does today. For Leopold, land is not merely soil, like the public would think of today; land is a fountain of energy, flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals.

FDR has impacted and changed American history. One of the many ways he impacted the course of history was how he led us through the Great Depression. The Great Depression first started in 1920s. When the stock market collapsed, it led to factories being shut down, shops closing because they were bankrupt, and unemployed workers gradually sank into the Great Depression. Factories laid off workers and the biggest companied began to collapse. An example of this is stated in Chapter Five, “By 1930, four million Americans who wanted work could not find it.”(Freedman, page 74). This shows how the stock market caused companies to be shut down because the stocks cost them all their money and people were becoming unemployed because of this. People began to lose all their money and homes which led them to camp out in empty lots, public parks, tents, etc. An example of this was shown in Chapter Five when it stated, “A growing population of the homeless poor camped out in empty lots and public parks, sleeping in tents, abandoned automobiles, and makeshift shanties.”(Freedman, page 74).

The modern Environment Movement began with the passing of the Wilderness Act of 1964. The act established a National Wilderness System and created 9 millions acres. The main influence and writer of the act Howard Zahniser, who felt that we needed wilderness as it takes us away from technology that gives us perspective of mastering the environment rather than being a part of it (Nash, 2001). With the passing of the act Americans questioned both preservation and conservation. A new culture emerged in America that rejected societal norms and praised independence and freedom. This culture developed in the youth of America and sparked change in preservation growth and the overall outlook of wilderness.

When FDR was elected President in 1932, the United States was deep in the most severe economic depression the country had ever experienced: the Great Depression. The Great Depression had taken shape almost four years prior to FDR’s Inauguration with the crash of the stock market bubble in 1929. Following the stock market crash, companies began laying off workers due to a sudden drop in investment and consumer spending. This led to a vicious period of cyclical unemployment and the depression became even worse. Eventually, there were runs on the banks as people tried to guarantee the security of whatever savings they had left. This, too, only made things worse as banks were unprepared and thousands failed. The load that FDR faced entering the Presidency had not been lessened by his

Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933 and served for four consecutive terms. FDR led the country through two of the hardest periods of time it has known and used technology as his key tool to unite the country and pull it through these years of hardship. Although FDR used several forms of technology to aide the country during these times, one of the most famous examples is his use of the radio to conduct what is known as his “fireside chats.”

"Save the Planet," "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," "Go Green." Quotes like these have become a commonality in today's age. We all are familiar with the large efforts to help preserve the environment. In "Ideals of Human Excellence and Preserving Natural Environments," Thomas E. Hill Jr. sums up his essay by stating, "The point is not to insinuate that all anti-environmentalists are defective, but to see that those who value such traits as humility, gratitude, and sensitivity to others have reason to promote the love of nature" (688; par. 4) This excerpt provides the thesis behind Hill's argument. The author found that

In American Literature many authors write about nature and how nature affects man's lives. In life, nature is an important part of people. Many people live, work, or partake in revelry in nature. Nature has received attention from authors spanning several centuries. Their attitudes vary over time and also reflect the different outlooks of the authors who chose to discuss this important historical movement. A further examination of this movement, reveals prevalence of nature's influence on man and how it affects their lives.