HISTORIOGRAPHY DAY FIVE

Week Five: Environmental history
1. History of natural world and how it has changed over time
2. Human use of nature
3. How humans think about nature

The most important scholar in this area is William Cronon:
Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West (1991)

Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature (1996)


Roderick Nash, “The Potential of Environmental History,” American Environmentalism (1991)

1. This article discusses wild spaces, wilderness.
How much actual wilderness is left? How would you define wilderness?

2. “The environment should be understood as a historical document.” What does he mean?

3. “Almost uniquely among modern peoples, the emigrants who settled the New World had the opportunity and the responsibility to write a record of their values on the land. Little was inherited but the wilderness.” (3) What does Nash mean?

4. How does the land show changing priorities? (2)

5. At the top of page 3 is a good definition of environmental history.

6. Look at the quote on page 4 that starts “Enlightened use of land…” Read that whole paragraph. What is the proper role of government in conserving nature?

7. “The environment then becomes the latest in a series of oppressed and exploited minorities deserving liberation.” (5) Assess this quote.

8. On page 7, what are the “two pitfalls” associated with “teaching and writing” this type of history?


Donald Worster, “A river running west: reflections on John Wesley Powell.” Journal of Cultural Geography; Jun2009, Vol. 26 Issue 2, p113-126, 14p

1. Look through this entire essay. Find examples where Worster practices our “zoom” technique.

2. According to Worster, how does the American empire differ from the others he mentions in paragraph 5?
What is the relationship between nature and empire?

3. For Powell, why was proper stewardship of the land so important?

4. What was Powell’s plan for the water resources in the West?

5. How did the story of water in the West unfold? Did it follow Powell’s plan? How might the West be different if it had followed a different developmental plan? What does that say about the importance of water in history?

6. Read the last sentence of the article: “The watershed, as he envisioned it, is the natural home not of empire but of democracy.” Is this a call to action? Should history be efficacy? Are there dangers when historians become activists?