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Summary
Summary
From Benjamin Franklin's campaign to combat pollution at the Philadelphia's docks in the 1750s to the movement against climate change today, American environmentalists have sought to protect the natural world and promote a healthy human society. In This Green and Growing Land, historian Kevin Armitage shows how the story of American environmentalism--part philosophy, part social movement--is in no small way a story of America itself, of the way citizens have self-organized, have thought of their communities and their government, and have used their power to protect and enrich the land. Armitage skillfully analyzes the economic and social forces begetting environmental change and emphasizes the responses of a variety of ordinary Americans--as well as a few well-known leaders--to these complex issues. This concise and engaging survey of more than 250 years of activism tells the story of a magnificent American achievement--and the ongoing problems that environmentalism faces.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Armitage, professor of history at the University of Miami-Ohio, traces the long history of environmental activism in the U.S. in this comprehensive and accessible volume, highlighting the ways in which the conservation movement has evolved from the 18th century to the 21st century. Armitage describes the contamination of Philadelphia's Dock Creek in the mid-18th century, when tanneries and slaughterhouses used the waterway "as their dump." Benjamin Franklin and others insisted that public health and the quality of the shared environment take precedence over private business interests, a position that helped lay a foundation for government regulation and smarter resource management. In the mid-19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau celebrated the great outdoors as a precious resource that should not be commodified, and Armitage relates how such sentiment was further popularized in the early 20th century by John Muir and legitimized by Congress in 1916 with the creation of the National Park Service. Legislation in subsequent years helped to preserve more land, as did the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1970s. Armitage remains unfazed by climate-change skeptics and relishes the challenge they pose to the environmentally concerned; whether they pay attention to this valuable narrative is another matter. Photos. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Armitage (The Nature Study Movement, 2009) highlights the individuals and organizations whose efforts contributed to America's conservation of its natural assets. From grassroots action to government policies, he traces the changing relationship we've had with our land, air, and water since Ben Franklin fought industrial waste in Philadelphia, through our expansion to the Pacific coast, and into the modern era. Our use and abuse of resources reflect ideological shifts, and Armitage puts these into social and political context, from the Industrial Revolution through the recognition of nature's limits and the spurring of scientific research into the effects our species is having on the planet. The modern environmental movement, modeled on anti-Vietnam War protests, achieved major victories in the 1970s, resulting in huge reductions in industrial pollution. Although Armitage sidesteps much of today's charged political debate, he emphasizes the fact that the fight to defend the environment continues. The title, from a song by Phil Ochs, a folk singer associated with 1960s activism, reminds us of the grace and beauty of our land and our duty to protect it.--Kaplan, Dan Copyright 2018 Booklist
Choice Review
Some Americans have recognized that natural resources are not infinite, and that the preservation of wilderness is an investment in the future. Armitage (Miami Univ.) chronicles the long history of the environmental struggle and its many successes failures. Capsule biographies of philosophers and activists, some famous and some not so well known, bring the story alive. The argument has always been that human society cannot be healthy and sane where nature is not protected and valued. Economic, social, and political factors are dissected, and the power of grassroots organizing, and even of the single loud voice, is celebrated. Complex ideas are explained concisely. All American historians will appreciate this book, but for general readers the crucial chapter is the last, "Science Denial in the Age of Global Disruption." Armitage describes the steady erosion of environmental policy since the time of Reagan, supercharged more recently by climate change denial and willful public ignorance of what is happening to the air, the soil, and the oceans, not to mention our own bodies. A lengthy annotated bibliography encourages further reading. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Thomas S. Martin, emeritus, Sinclair Community College
Library Journal Review
Armitage (history, Univ. of Miami-Ohio) offers a concise history of the United States and the environmental issues that have been vital components of that story. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin's efforts to clean up Philadelphia, Armitage recounts familiar stories of nature writers such as Henry David Thoreau, frontier adventurers and conservationists such as John Wesley Powell, and New Deal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps. The narrative continues to detail the 20th century and what the author labels "the atomic body politic" and our current emphasis on ecology, global climate, and social justice. Chapters are filled with names of diverse activists who worked to make a positive difference. Throughout, Armitage ties together the goals of democracy and America's social and economic structure and stresses that peoples' creativity to form new institutions, regulations, and laws is key to the future of the planet. Verdict This informative volume's succinct format will appeal to general readers and libraries with general collections.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Coll., Mt. Carmel © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Acknowledgments | p. ix |
| Chapter 1 The Horns in Dock Creek | p. 1 |
| Chapter 2 The Science and Nature of Empathy | p. 19 |
| Chapter 3 A Wilderness Society | p. 49 |
| Chapter 4 Progressive Publics and the Social Natural Order | p. 79 |
| Chapter 5 A Green New Deal | p. 109 |
| Chapter 6 Damming the Arid West | p. 139 |
| Chapter 7 The Atomic Body Politic | p. 167 |
| Chapter 8 Abundance in the Age of Ecology | p. 197 |
| Chapter 9 Science Denial in the Age of Global Disruption | p. 227 |
| Bibliography | p. 253 |
| Index | p. 277 |
| About the Author | p. 291 |