American Environmental History - Fall 2008  

Analytical Essay Questions

Your analytical essays should address the assigned topics below and require use of lecture material, readings, and films.  The papers should be 2-3 pages in length (typed, double-spaced, with one inch margins), and they are due in class on the date listed.  You can do all five and drop the lowest grade, or have a pass on one of your choosing.

Essay #1 – Columbian Exchange (due Sept. 16^th)

What was the “Columbian Exchange”?  What was exchanged?  Who exchanged what?  What impact did it have on the people, plants, and animals already in the Western Hemisphere?  Why did it affect them so markedly?

Essay #2 – Native American Ecology (due Sept. 23d)

How did the first human inhabitants of North America make their living from the land?   Did this change over time?  What impact did it have on the natural world?  Were Native Americans ‘primitive ecologists’?  Why or why not?

Essay #3 – Class and Conservation (due oct. 16^th)

Why did local rural people resist aspects of conservation and wilderness protection?  How did state and federal policy threaten their traditional land use?  What methods did local people use in response?

Essay #4 – Economic and Environmental Recovery (due Oct. 30^th)

What was the link between the Depression and environmental degradation in the United States ?  How did President Roosevelt and others use the economic downturn as an opportunity to also address environmental ills?

Essay #5 – Modern Food Production (due Nov. 13^th)

What is “industrial agriculture”?  What economic, social, and political forces are behind this dominant approach to food production?  What alternatives are there?  What are the promises and problems with those alternatives?