HSTAA 221

Nash

FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS

Bring a clean, new blue/green book, and a blue or black pen.

Essay Question (60%)

Two of these questions will appear on the exam. You are required to answer one.

Read the question carefully and respond fully. In all cases, you should provide specific examplesfrom lectures and readings to support your positions. Where relevant, you should draw on material from both lectures and readings; failure to do so will lower your grade on the question.

1. “Americans have often pursued environmental quality at the expense of social justice.” So writes historian Karl Jacoby. Would you agree that campaigns for environmental quality have typically been at odds with the pursuit of social justice? Examine the relationship between protecting environmental quality and advancing social justice with respect to three of the following: (1) the creation of YellowstoneNational Park (2) the Progressive-era effort to clean up cities; (3) the Tennessee Valley Authority; and(4) the Campo Indian Landfill conflict.

2. As American power and ambition have expanded, so has the ability of certain Americans to shape the uses of remote landscapes. Consider the impacts of American imperial power on local landscapes and people in three of the following four instances: (1) the establishment of the first national parks in the American West; (2) Progressive-era forestry in the Philippines; (3) American sugar production in Oriente, Cuba (ca 1900-1920); and (4) nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. How are these cases similar to and different from each other, and what conclusions, if any, can you draw from them about American imperialism and its environmental effects?

3. Representations of nature in literature, art, and film have played a powerful role in shaping Americans’ attitudes toward the environment, and oftentimes they have helped motivate political action on behalf of the environment. Compare and contrast late nineteenth-century western landscape art (e.g., Alfred Bierstadt, Carleton Watkins), Walt Disney’s nature films, and Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring. For each of these, describe how the author represents “nature,” the audiences to which they are appealing, and the kinds of political action, if any, that they may have motivated.

4. The federal government took many different types of actions to protect the environment over the course of the twentieth century. Consider three pivotal federal actions that we have discussed: the appointment of a federal Public Lands Commission, the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act. Briefly describe each of these measures, including the historical context/problem that gave rise to them and the major political beliefs that each act or order embodied. Then consider the major social and political ramifications, if any, that these acts/orders have had. Which of these, in your mind, offered the best policy approach and why?

5. Historians have long debated how best to understand the relationship between the environmentalism of the late 20th century and turn-of-the-century (c. 1900) movements to protect environmental quality. Discuss the most important reasons (material, political, and cultural) for the rise of environmentalism in the late 1960s, and then consider whether environmentalism is a fundamentally new movement, a continuation of Progressive-era reform, or something in-between.

6. American women have played a key role in advocating for environmental reforms and oftentimes female gender identities have motivated and shaped their involvement. Compare and contrast the role of women in environmental advocacy across three different eras: the Progressive Era, the post-World War II decades (1950s-60s), and the late-twentieth century (1970s-90s). In your answer, consider whether and how gender informed the issues that women took up, and how gender as well as class and race may have shaped the style, content, and efficacy of their advocacy.

Short Answer (40%)

Seven of these will appear on the final; you are required to answer five. We will read only the first 5 answers, so please do not answer any more than that.

For each of the following, you should be prepared to identify, date (approximately, where applicable), and, most importantly, describe the larger significance of the term to U.S. environmental history.

HSTAA 221

Nash

DinosaurNational Monument

“Earthrise” photograph

social ecology

noodling

Eugene and Howard Odum

Thomas Moran

Public Lands Commission

“Wilderness is waste.”

St. Louis Committee for Nuclear Information

Mike Connolly

hybrid corn seed

George Catlin

Warren Seyler

FortLaramie Treaty

Radford, New Jersey

Backcountry Against Dumps

“Great Plains of the Future”

National Housing Act

Lake Washington cleanup

Nuclear Claims Tribunal

Regional Planning Association of America

YaleSchool of Forestry

LoveCanal Homeowners Association

wickiups

OrienteProvince

U.N. Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm

caingins

Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge

Grand Coulee Dam

Boone and Crocket Club