Geography and Environment

Periods 1 and 2 1491-1754

American Natives*Societies have mobile lifestyles when they have a lack of natural resources (Great Basin, Western Great Plains)

*With access to a lot of natural resources, permanent settlements and elaborate cultures (religion, social structure)

Northwest and California:

● Wet and cool climate ○ Fishing, whaling, hunting and gathering.

■ Technology developed around these things; nets and spears for hunting & fishing■ Bears, elf, moose

○ Built longhouses made of wood, permanent and semi-permanent settlements ● California dryer and warmer with lots of fishing and hunting

American Natives

American Southwest (Anasazi, Apache, and Pueblo)

● warm climate with few trees○ Farmed

■ irrigation, maize, ■ complex religion and culture,

○ adobe structures, Lived in cliffs

Great Basin and Great Plains: (Sioux, Ute, Comanche)

● Great Basin is arid● Great Plains have few trees, all grassland

○ Nomadic hunters and gatherers○ Follow roaming animals

■ Bison, deer, elk○ Have mobile homes and technology

■ Teepees■ Bow and arrows

Northeast and Atlantic Seaboard: (Iroquois, Pequot, Wampanoags, Powhatan, Cherokee, and Seminole)

● Forested and temperate climate○ Semi-permanent or permanent○ Fishing, hunting○ Canoes, bow and arrows○ Some agricultural

● Some matrilineal societies● Political system with trading alliances among tribes

Iroquois art; reflects dependency on fishing and water

Colonial GeographyEuropeans expanded to Americas for the purpose of God, Glory, and Gold

Environment allowed for major economic opportunity:

● Sugar plantations● Cotton plantations● Potato, avocado, tomato, corn, maize, turkey, etc. ● Slave trade● Gold mines● Silver mines● New land● Indian slavery

Triangular Trade

Impact of colonization of environment; introduced invasive animal and plant species changed the Americas.

● Pigs, cows, horses● Plants changed forrest composition● Disease wiped out natives, way the natives saw land was lost (not

for exploitation)

The American ColoniesSouthern Colonization: (When was Jamestown?)

● Settled in Virginia--terrain made it difficult to colonies○ Warm climate with long growing seasons + fertile soil○ Swamps and moist climate○ Cultivation of tobacco

■ Required extensive labor; indentured servants → slaves○ Sugar, rice, and indigo

■ Required major slave labor as well

Middle Colonies

● Slightly cooler climate then South, allowed for different agriculture● No longer cultivating cash crops

○ Export economy based on cereal crops (wheat, corn)

*Overuse of soil in middle and

southern colonies meant that expansion was constant*

The American ColoniesNew England Colonies:

● Colder, bad agricultural land, rocky terrain, large forests○ Economy of commerce

■ Lumber, fishing, shipbuilding○ Subsistence farming

■ Climate didn’t allow for surplus ■ Cash crops not effective

● Lumber industry led to devastation of forests● Fishing became overfishing, decimated animal population

Essay Question: (list all the facts you would use)Briefly explain how the geography and natural environment of the Atlantic Coast impacted the development of the colonies differently.

Period 3 1754 - 1800

Washington D.C.

● Designed by French architect Pierre L’Enfant

○ Americans thought it would become the Paris of America

● Remained a provincial village throughout the 19th century

● Most Congress members lived on the outskirts of the capital and traveled in when needed

French and Indian (Seven Years’) War

● English population growth and expansion into the interior disrupted existing French-Indian fur trade networks

● Migration within Northern America, cooperative interaction, and competition for resources raised questions over boundaries and policies

● Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and set up guidelines for statehood with this newfound territory

○ Northwest Ordinance created one large Northwest territory out the land from the Treaty of Paris which could then be split into 3-5 territories, had religious tolerance, granted statehood to territories with populations over 60,000, and prohibited slavery

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=60e8cf5f74a14cee905d019c7516c448

Land Ordinances● Land Ordinance of 1784 divided the western territory into ten self-governing districts, which could petition

Congress when their population equaled the number of free inhabitants of the smallest existing state○ Reflected the desire to not make second-class citizens in subordinate areas

● In the Land Ordinance of 1785 Congress created a system for surveying and selling western lands through grids○ In every township, four sections would be set aside for the US○ Revenue of the sale of townships would be used to create public schools○ Grid system inspired by Enlightenment thinkers starting to imagine more precise, mathematical forms of

land boundaries● Northwest Ordinance ultimately replaced the Land Ordinance of 1784

Period 41800 - 1848

Louisiana Purchase ● Under President Thomas Jefferson, the

United States purchased a large swath of land from the French (being led under Napoleon Bonaparte) in 1803

● Boundaries not very specific, just whatever land France and Spain had occupied in that area

● Organized similarly to Northwest land secured in Seven Years’ War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase

Expeditions to the West

● Lewis and Clark were chosen by President Jefferson to cross the continent and reach the Pacific Ocean

○ Began 1804 in St. Louis with four dozen men and Sacajawea as their guide

○ Returned 1806 with records of their trip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkeOkEkmbE8

War of 1812

● Victories over Native American tribes forced them to go West● August 24, 1814 British forces stormed the capital and set fire to it, including the White House● War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which stated Americans would give up their

demands for a British renunciation of impressment, for the cession of Canada to the US, and returned land to Native Americans that had been taken from them

○ Native Americans never got their land back● Diminished Native American opposition in the West, leading to more white settlement

Florida and the Seminole Wars● Seminoles were raiding Americans along the Florida border, so Andrew Jackson, commanding US

troops, invaded Florida and took Spanish forts at St. Marks and Pensacola○ Demonstrated that the US could take Florida by force if they wanted to

● Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 provided that Spain cede Florida to the US and give up its claim to territory north of the 42nd parallel in the Pacific Northwest and in return the US gave up its claims to Texas

● Second Seminole War in 1832 when they were being forced to leave their land○ Ended 1842 with the US government abandoning the war

Missouri Compromise of 1820● Created a geographically truce over slavery in the United States● All states added above the 36°30’ parallel were automatically free states, while all states South

of this line were automatically added as slave states○ Most of this land was from the Louisiana Purchase of 1803

● Made to ease sectional debates of keeping the balance between slave and free states

http://civilwarwiki.net/wiki/File:Missouri_Compromise_map.jpg

Plantation System● Cotton lands in Old South had become infertile due to overplanting and erosion● Farmers began to move into the Black Belt between Alabama and Mississippi where there was

lots of land perfect for farming cotton○ First small farmers made small clearings in the woods, then wealthy planters came in

and cleared out the area■ Image of mansions became a symbol of the wealthy aristocracy in the Southwest■ Traveled in caravans with herds of animals and slaves traveling behind them

○ The small farmers then moved out and continued West

Westward Expansion● Population pressure in East due to immigration and natural increase in nation’s population

○ Growth of cities absorbed some of this, but most Americans were still farmers● A series of treaties in 1815 took even more land away from the Native Americans● Factor System: government factors (or agents) supplied the tribes with goods at cost

○ Drove out Canadian traders and created a situation of dependency of the Native Americans on the Americans

● People moving into the Midwest used the new waterways to do so, floating down rivers on boats

Rise of Water Power

● Steamboats and riverboats grew in number and improved in design

● Carried goods from the interior (corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco) to New Orleans where they could be shipped to eastern ports

● Canals began to be built to create even more efficiency in water transportation

○ Funding fell to the states○ Most notable one is Erie Canal, in

Pennsylvania○ Canals gave states an economic

advantage

Railroads and Roads

● First railroads built in England and brought to America by American entrepreneurs (mostly from the Northeast)

● At first very erratic, with no set schedules, leading to lots of crashes○ Improved over time, but always competed with the canals

● Consolidation of smaller lines into large lines linked cities together and made railroads spread faster across the US

○ More railroads in the North than the South● National Road built in 1811 beginning at Cumberland, Maryland, and went as far as Virginia by 1818

○ Stagecoaches, wagons, cattle○ Tolls used to get money from people using the roads

■ Still cheaper to get around the mountains than ever before○ Manufacturers began moving inwards

Native American Removal● Removal Act of 1830 appropriated funds to finance federal negotiations with the Southern

tribes aimed at relocating them to the West○ Most tribes too weak to resist

● Cherokee refused to move○ 1835 federal government formed a treaty ceding Cherokee land made by a militant group

of Cherokees, none of them representatives of the Cherokee Nation○ Jackson forced them to relocated and made them walk the Trail of Tears to “Indian

Territory” (later Oklahoma)■ 1830-1838 all “Five Civilized Tribes” expelled from the South to the Indian Territory■ Only the Seminole resisited, leading to the Second Seminole War

● There were some alternatives to this violent removal○ In the West white settlers and Native Americans were able to coexist○ Over time white settlers began to isolate themselves from the Native Americans

Defense of Nature

● Fear of capitalism destroying the integrity of the natural world

○ Led by transcendentalists● Saw nature as the source of inspiration

and spirituality ● First concepts of environmentalism that

would not appear until the 20th century● Hudson River School was a movement of

painters beginning to paint nature○ Was a means to show that there was still

wild land left○ Mostly painted landscapes from the West

https://www.thewadsworth.org/collection/hudson-river-school/

Periods 5 and 61844-1900

Westward Expansionhttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~MAP/TERRITORY/1850 map.html

Westward Expansion-Pre Civil War● US acquired more than 1 million square miles of territory in the 1840s

○ By 1850, the US encompassed all of its present territory except Hawaii and Alaska■ Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 at the urging of William H. Seward

● Manifest Destiny○ Texas

■ Mexico encouraged US immigration to Texas 1820s to strengthen economy● Resulted in rapid immigration from US with implementation of plantation system● US immigrants started becoming dominant

■ Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna took power 1830s and began restricting Texas’ power● Settlers in Texas led a revolt under Stephen Austin in 1836 and seceded from Mexico

■ Annexation of Texas was delayed until 1845 due to controversy over slavery

Westward Expansion-Pre Civil War (ct’d)○ The Mexican War

■ Same pattern of regrettable US immigration that had happened in Texas was happening in New Mexico; disputed Texas border

■ President Polk initiated war 1846-1848● Invaded Mexico City and Bear Flag Revolution in California

■ Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo under Nicholas Trist results in US acquisition of California, New Mexico territory, and increased territory on the southwestern Texas border

○ Oregon■ Joint occupation between Britain and the US had been practiced■ Increased American presence due to missionaries 1830s/1840s leads to increased conflict, with

both sides threatening war■ Compromised 1846 splitting Oregon along the 49th parallel

○ The Trails■ Migrants traveled westward along the Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, and others■ Traveled in wagon trains through inhospitable conditions often with guides (sometimes native)

○ Propagated Slavery debate

Westward Expansion-Pre Civil War (ct’d)● California Gold Rush of 1849 brought thousands of migrant workers

○ Most didn’t get rich; only corporations saw consistent profits○ Did boost the population of western areas though

● Transcontinental Railroad○ In the South, yeomen would often venture west, establish farms, and then these farms would be bought

out by large plantation owners who exhausted the soil, and then continued westward○ Gadsden Purchase 1853

■ US purchased small portion of land along southern New Mexico for the Transcontinental Railroad

Westward Expansion-Original Inhabitants● Existing societies were already present when the US acquired them

○ New Mexico area featured a combination of Spanish whites and Pueblo natives

■ Originally based on farming/ranching with a white, Mexican aristocracy

● Despite resistance from natives and Mexicans, rich US businessmen and powerful politicians united to wrest control from the Mexicans around the 1870s

■ Mexican society did actually expand as the raiding natives were subdued by the US

○ California and Texas had been dominated by Mexican aristocracy (californios)

■ US whites came to dominate the new ranching, farming, and mining industries

○ Plains Natives were a large, semi-nomadic, diverse, buffalo-hunting, warrior group of the Great Plains

Buffalo Hunting on the Plains

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederic_Remington_-_The_Buffalo_Hunt.jpg

Westward Expansion-Interactions with Natives

● Whites usually ignored native treaties● Policies of Native Land Dispersal

○ “Concentration” Policy of 1851 gave each tribe its own small reservation○ Indian Peace Commission of 1867 changed policy: created 2 large reservations in OK and the Dakotas

■ The corrupt, incompetent, and underfunded Bureau of Indian Affairs managed native affairs○ The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 provided for the eventual elimination of tribal ownership and created

individual ownership of property■ Part of an effort to assimilate natives into white culture■ Combined with boarding schools, discouragement of native culture, etc.

● Buffalo were hunted extensively by whites for their pelts, leather, or to clear railroad paths○ This destroyed the buffalo population and the accompanying native way of life

■ This was encouraged by the US government

Westward Expansion-Immigration and Migration

https://library.ucsd.edu/news-events/

Chinese Immigrants working on the Transcontinental Railroad

Westward Expansion-Immigration and Migration

● Extensive Chinese migration after California Gold Rush○ Chinese were initially successful, but this led to racism towards them○ Became laborers in mines, railroads, farms, etc.○ Many Chinese formed mutual aid regions (“Chinatowns”) in cities such as San Francisco○ Early Chinese-American society had huge proportions of males

■ Prostitution became rampant until the female population stabilized○ Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was renewed twice and made permanent 1902

■ Barred Chinese immigration and naturalization● Migration to the West from the East increased rapidly after the Civil War

○ Mostly US whites, but many European immigrants as well○ Traveled in search of mining, ranching, farming○ Aided by the new Transcontinental Railroad

■ Built 1863-1869 by Union Pacific (East) and Central Pacific (West) from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California largely with the usage of immigrant and African labor

Westward Expansion-Immigration and Migration (ct’d)

○ Federal Government encouraged migration with acts granting cheap land to settlers■ Fraud was common with people using the acts to buy up large tracts of land■ Often, these acts were not entirely successful, as modern farming meant that the traditional

agrarian 160 acre system was insufficient○ Mineral Rushes in the 1860s and 1870s created waves of settlement

■ 1st news traveled, 2nd individual prospectors, 3rd mining corporations, 4th towns■ Pike’s Peak Gold Rush 1858 in Colorado■ Comstock Lode (silver) 1858 in Washoe, Nevada■ Black Hills Gold Rush in the Dakotas 1874

○ Vague/Uncommon laws meant that vigilante groups were common

Romanticization of the West

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/574842339911905796/

Rocky Mountain School Painting

Westward Expansion-Ranching● Great Plains proved great for ranching/cattle driving

○ Abilene, Kansas was the cattle capital 1867 onward■ Served as the Eastern terminus for a cattle ranching route from Texas known as the Chisholm Trail

○ Long Drives were romanticized in literature/folklore■ Most cowboys were ex-confederates followed by African Americans

● Ranchers came into conflict with farmers from the East (“nesters”) who set up properties which impeded cattle drives

● Excessive cattle population led to overgrazing on the plains as it became increasingly commercialized○ Harsh winter and summer conditions between 1885 and 1887 meant that the cattle drives died out

Westward Expansion-Farming● Barbed wire invented by Joseph H. Glidden and I.L. Ellwood allowed farmers to enclose their property● Irrigation was used heavily along with wells, especially in the rain lacking regions of the southwest

○ Droughts from 1887 onward made dryland farming (using wells and coverings of dust to preserve soil moisture) and irrigation increasingly popular

● Most farmers were commercial and not self-sustaining; profits were highly volatile due to their connection with international markets

○ Farmers were isolated and lonely○ Farmer overproduction of the 1880s meant that prices decreased and farmers experienced economic

hardship

Civil War

http://www.civilwar.com/resources/battle-map-27475.html

*Note*: The website for this map has an interactive battle map

Civil War-The North

● Boosted economy and settler support with land grants○ Homestead Act 1862 offered 160 acres for cheap purchase after 5 year residence○ Morrill Land Grant Act 1862 gave lots of federal land to states for resale to residents

● Implemented a naval blockade on the south to restrict trade, especially in cotton○ North was able to resupply troops via river systems○ Union General David G. Farragut captured New Orleans 4/25/1862

● Lincoln recognized that it was important to destroy the southern armies rather than just occupying southern territory

● Resource destruction was the most successful civil war tactic used by either side● Railroads were essential for the movement of troops, supplies, and maintaining industry

○ With most all of the fighting done in the South, northern railroads remained intact and were able to maintain the northern economy

○ The Union destroyed much of the Southern railroads, hampering economy, troop transportation, and supply movement

Civil War-The South● Many “backcountry” / “upcountry” farmers didn’t have own slaves (didn’t have large plantations), so they did not

support the Confederacy● Economy and geographical landscape was destroyed by the wartime policies of Ulysses S. Grant

○ Largely based on cotton production (exhaustive for the soil)■ Lack of food products

● Robert E. Lee’s attempt to take Gettysburg, PA was ultimately unsuccessful, as he lost ⅓ of his army and was never able to attack the north again

● The South was hugely deforested as wood was consumed by the North○ Railroads were also destroyed

● Mosquito-borne illnesses were very common and affected both sides

Civil War-Border States and Territories● All territories except TX were officially loyal to the Union, but there was conflict in most of them

○ KS and MO were particularly violent areas during the war■ Lots of guerilla warfare

● Border States: MO, KY, DE, MD○ Featured much internal fighting between sides○ Emancipation proclamation did not free slaves here so that Union could retain their support

● Natives were divided and fought on both sides

Reconstruction● Bureau of Freedmen tried to redistribute land to ex-slaves

○ Did not last very long, and southern planter elite quickly regained control of their lands○ White ownership of lands decreased by 13%○ Sharecropping caught slaves in a new system of debt and made them into slaves

● Southerners such as Henry Grady emphasized the “New South”○ Growth of textile industry, tobacco processing, mineral industries○ Amount of railroad tracks grew helping connect the South the the North

■ Standardization of tracks○ Cash crop production actually grew during this period

■ Increased absentee ownership of farmlands■ Most people became tenants with increasing social stratification

Reconstruction

https://www.wsj.com/articles/reconstruction-review-a-dream-deferred-1526942220

Industrialization; The Sequel● Transportation innovations/improvements facilitated the growth of industry

○ Railroads, steamships, lifts, etc.○ Oil industries increasingly popular○ Early cars and airplane innovations emerged in the late 1800s○ Standardization of time zones○ Allowed migration of workers from rural areas to industrial cities

● Many immigrants came into cities to work in new industrial territories● Steel and iron industries emerged as people began building larger and larger structures

○ Steel came to be used widely throughout the entire system, from tools to buildings to lamps to cars

The City ma dudes● Rapid urbanization occurred following the civil war with high mortality rates and low fertility rates

○ Ethnic regions of cities were formed by groups of immigrants to help ease the transition to a new society○ Did result in an increasing urban, unskilled workforce which could be exploited by corporations

● Urban Parks/Buildings became popular sights of relief from urban congestion○ Central Park created late 1850s by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux

● New architecture movement known as the “city beautiful” movement worked on impressive, symmetrical, and expansive cities

● Suburbs grew as regions for the wealthier as transport facilitated increased access to the central city● Tenements were crowded, poorly designed, extortive, and dangerous buildings which the urban poor lived in● Mass transit increased with the implementation of trains, trolleys, paved roads, wider avenues, subways● Skyscraper became popular by the 1890s● Fires were common and incredibly dangerous due to poor building standards

○ They resulted in the development of fire departments and increased building safety codes● Environmental degradation was highly visible, especially in urban areas

○ No environmentalist movements○ Ex. diseases, fires, urban crowsing, pollution of water○ Air Pollution (notoriously in London)○ Public Health Service of 1912 was ineffective but did make Public Sanitation a federal issue

The New Factory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution

Possible Essay QuestionCompare and contrast the environmental effects that Westward Expansion and the Second Industrial Revolution had.

Period 7 1890-1945

Spanish-American War

https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-American-War

● What lead U.S. to search for colonies?○ New Manifest Destiny motivated the US to expand power oversees

● Around 1898, US acquired lots of new territory ○ Took parts of the Spanish Empire

■ Puerto Rico, Philippines, Guam, and Cuba● Most of the colonies were cash crop producers, exported sugar and other crops

○ These territories were largely dominated by American investors and they were subject to the rise and falls of the world market

● The people of these colonies had no say in their govt. and had to wait along time to get any say

Theodore Roosevelt● Before Theo, yellowstone and the grand canyon

had already been preserved○ But he did a lot in setting aside forest reserves, wildlife

refuges, national parks, and national monuments○ 230 million acres of public lands he helped establish during

his presidency○ 150 millions acres was set aside as national forests.○ Roosevelt wanted to be able to utilize the country's

resources, however he also wanted to insure the sustainability of those resources.

● Opposition○ Western governors objected as they were losing all of their

resources and eventually an agreement had to be made for the government not being able to take any more land

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt

National Parks● Theodore roosevelt put millions of acres of land aside to be federally protected.

○ He established over 150 national forest■ Did this in order to preserve america’s natural beauty from greed■ He also established 5 national parks along with 51 bird sanctuaries across the nation

● Because of Roosevelt's ideals, many important environmental landmarks were preserved

Conservation vs. Preservation● Conservation

○ Aims to improve on nature by managing forests, regulating wildlife populations, and building dams to harness the bounty of nature for the public good

○ Theodore Roosevelt was a conservationist more than preservationist, however he did support legislation to set land aside, not to be touched/exploited

■ In 1902 the newlands Reclamation Act led to the creation of many dams to help provide irrigation to arid regions

● Preservation○ Opposed the conservationists’ hard nosed reasoning.○ The preservationists best leader was John Muir, president of the Sierra Club

■ They urged the govt. To set aside public lands for their recreational and spiritual values

■ Muir was instrumental in getting the federal government to set aside Yosemite National Park in 1890

https://www.life.umd.edu/classroom/BSCI363/inouye/Lectures/Definition/sld002.htm

Dust Bowl (1930-1936)● Drought that struck Southern Plains region of the United States

○ Suffered severe dust storms that could last days○ As high winds and choking dust swept the region from Texas to Nebraska, people and

livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region○ The Dust Bowl intensified the crushing economic impacts of the Great Depression and

drove many farming families on a desperate migration in search of work and better living conditions.

What caused the Dust Bowl

● The Dust Bowl was caused by several economic and agricultural factors○ including federal land policies, changes in regional weather, farm economics and other cultural factors○ After the Civil War, a series of federal land acts coaxed pioneers westward by incentivizing farming in the Great Plains○ The Homestead Act of 1862, then the Kinkaid Act of 1904, and the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. ○ These acts led to a massive influx of new and inexperienced farmers across the Great Plains.

● Many settlers believed the superstition “rain follows the plow.”● Emigrants, land speculators, politicians and even some scientists believed that homesteading and agriculture would

permanently affect the climate of the semi-arid Great Plains region, making it more conducive to farming.● Manifest destiny- lead to false sense of security● W/ rising wheat prices in the 1910s and 1920s and Europe’s increased demands during World War I, farmers were

encouraged to plow up millions of acres of native grassland to plant wheat, corn and other row crops.● But as the United States entered the Great Depression, wheat prices plummeted.● Farmers tore up even more grassland in an attempt to harvest a bumper crop and break even.● Crops begin to fail with the onset of drought in 1931

Potential Essay Questions/PromptsBriefly explain one difference/similarity between preservationists and conservationists in the late 19th or early 20th century.

Period 8 1945-1980

Ecology

● Science of interrelatedness of the natural world

● EPA established○ In 1970, Congress passed and

president nixon signed the National Environmental Protection Act, which created a new agency to enforce anti pollution standards on businesses and consumers

Environmental Acts of the 1970s● Late 60s and early 70s came large change in how public viewed the environment● W/ Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catching fire because it was so polluted in ‘69,

bringing public awareness skyrocketed● During this time Nixon passed The Clean Air Acts and Federal Water Pollution Act

which helped to established limits on corporate emissions that they could not cross● Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970 to enforce and research

laws protecting the environment

The Clean Air Act(1970) and Clean Water Act (1972)

● Both acts added tools to the government’s arsenal of weapons against environmental degradation ○ CAA

■ The Clean Air Act is a United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level.

■ The 1990 amendments to this act expanded the number of regulated substances from 7 to 189, set safety standards for factories where toxic chemicals were used or emitted, and required polluters to install the best available pollution control equipment.

○ CWA■ The Clean Water Act is a U.S. federal law that regulates the discharge of pollutants

into the nation's surface waters, including lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and coastal areas.

■ Passed in 1972 and amended in 1977 and 1987, the Clean Water Act was originally known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

■ The original goal of the Clean Water Act was to eliminate the discharge of untreated waste water from municipal and industrial sources and thus make American waterways safe for swimming and fishing

Cold War● After WWII, Nuclear weapons were

becoming a weapon that mass powers were searching to attain more of.

● Several sided “War”● There were the obvious opposing ideological

powers, the United States○ Which was pro-capitalism and

pro-democracy○ Then there was The Soviet Union

which was a socialist republic. ● Due to both having access to NW, there were

a series of proxy wars and events across the globe

○ Nearly caused third world war

Cold War (Continued)● When USSR began testing nuclear weapons

in 1949, the struggle became real● The early 1960s came introduction of the

only testing limitation effort that had concrete effects on how testing was conducted during the Cold War.

● The 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty○ banned nuclear testing for military and

for peaceful purposes, in the atmosphere, underwater and in space.

○ The Treaty was important from an environmental point of view, curbing the radioactive fallout closely associated with atmospheric tests, but did little to prevent overall nuclear testing, which largely moved underground.

How was the world divided● During this time period, the world was “split” into

three respective worlds. ○ 1st world which was the capitalist society of

america and many european countries and some asian.

○ 2nd world which consisted of the communist/socialist areas

○ Lastly, there was the 3rd world which was known as the developing world.

● After World War II ended, Germany was divided into 4 zones for the US and several other european countries

● They all split Berlin○ Berlin became USSR vs. USA boxing ring

where tensions only grew due to the construction of The Berlin Wall which cut off East Berlin from West Berlin.

Potential Essay QuestionsBriefly explain one way modern environmental activists have impacted government policy.

Period 9

Post Cold War environmentalism

Limited Test Ban Treaty● Signed by United states, Soviet Union, and Great Britain in 1963● Banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space, and underwater● Meant to stop spread of radioactive material

○ Also set precedent for a new arms control agreements

Non-Proliferation Treaty ● Signed 1968

SALT I● Signed 1972

Threshold Test Ban Treaty● Limited underground testing of nuclear devices

○ Only if explosion was bigger then 150 kilotons

SALT II● Not signed by Congress

START I and START II● In 1980s Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev made these new treaties

Environmental concerns

Epa’s focuses● After the cold war; environmental clean up of nuclear waste

○ weapons complex, nonproliferation and stewardship of the nuclear stockpile● 2000s

○ Addressed nations energy consumption■ Via technological research

○ Trying to change U.S. into world’s leading clean energy country

Debate between Environmentalists and OPEC● OPEC successfully increased drilling for oil and natural gas● Environmentalists pushed for more research and development into renewable energies

○ Solar, wind, geothermal power

Kyoto Protocol● 1992, designed as international agreement to cut emissions● Not signed by U.S. because they feared the economic effects

Concerns on climate change and general effects of humans and industry on the planet increase. Has led to extensive and continuing research on renewable resources and energy to reduce the negative impact on the planet.

Questions

Analyze the effects of environment and geography on the American economy between 1607 to present.

-- List facts that you would use the main body paragraphs

We AppologizeQ: What kind of plant grow on your hand? A: Palm tree.

Q: What does a tree drink? A: Root Beer.

Q: Why are pirates so eco-friendly?A: They always follow the three arrrrrrrs.

Q: Did you hear the one about the aluminium recycling plant?A: It smelt!

Q: How do trees settle a disagreement?A: They sign a tree-ty.

THE END! Good luck on that AP Test, hear its kinda hard(Just in case you weren’t already stressed out enough)