American Environmental History is an interdisciplinary field that examines the changing relationship between humans and nature in North America. It looks at how Indigenous peoples, settlers, industrialists, policymakers, and activists have shaped and been shaped by ecological systems. The field integrates history, ecology, geography, anthropology, and political science.

• Cronon, W. (1993). The uses of environmental history. Environmental History Review, 17(3), 1–22. JSTOR link

• Merchant, C. (2002). American Environmental History: An Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press.

• Worster, D. (1988). Doing Environmental History. In The Ends of the Earth: Perspectives on Modern Environmental History (pp. 289–307). Cambridge University Press.

1. Carolyn Merchant

• A pioneer of ecofeminism and environmental history.

• The Death of Nature (1980) connects the Scientific Revolution, gender, and ecological exploitation.

• American Environmental History: An Introduction (2002) is a key textbook in the field.

Academic Article:

• Merchant, C. (1989). Ecological revolutions: Nature, gender, and science in New England. Environmental Review, 13(3/4), 1–23. JSTOR link

2. Nancy Langston

• Focuses on toxic landscapes, health, and water histories.

• Sustaining Lake Superior (2017) shows the intersection of pollution, ecology, and communities.

Academic Article:

• Langston, N. (2003). The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China. Environmental History, 8(2), 318–321 (book review but also methodological reflection).

• Langston, N. (2010). Toxic bodies: Hormone disruptors and the legacy of DES. Yale University Press.

3. Dorothy Freeman (influence through Rachel Carson)

• While not a professional historian, her correspondence with Carson deeply shaped Silent Spring.

• Together, they represent the roots of women’s influence in American environmental thought.

Academic Source:

• Brooks, P. (1995). Silent Spring at 30: An interview with Rachel Carson’s editor Paul Brooks. Environmental History Review, 19(2), 27–42.

4. Emily Wakild

• Historian of conservation in Latin America, but influential in broadening American environmental history to a hemispheric perspective.

• A Primer for Teaching Environmental History (2018, with Michelle Berry).

Academic Article:

• Wakild, E. (2012). Natural conservation in the national parks of Chile: The ambivalence of modernity, 1920s–1950s. Environmental History, 17(3), 478–503.

5. Michelle Berry

• Co-authored with Wakild to make environmental history more accessible to teachers and students.

Academic Article:

• Wakild, E., & Berry, M. (2018). A primer for teaching environmental history: Ten design principles. Duke University Press.

• Environmental history shows that the way Americans view and use nature has changed over time.

• Carolyn Merchant (2002) argues that these relationships are not fixed—they are products of cultural, economic, and political contexts.

• Example: Colonial farmers in New England saw forests as obstacles to be cleared, while Indigenous peoples managed them as ecological resources.

2. Gender and Ecology Are Intertwined

• Merchant’s The Death of Nature (1980) and later essays highlight how the “mechanistic worldview” of the Scientific Revolution framed both nature and women as resources to control and exploit.

• This ecofeminist insight revealed that environmental degradation and gender oppression often stem from the same cultural logics.

3. Pollution Links Environment and Human Health

• Nancy Langston (2010) in Toxic Bodies shows how synthetic chemicals like DES had long-term ecological and health consequences.

• Her work illustrates how industrial pollutants blur the line between “environmental” and “medical” history.

• Key finding: human bodies are themselves part of environmental systems, not separate from them.

4. Environmental Change Is Both Local and Global

• Emily Wakild (2012) finds that U.S. conservation practices influenced and were adapted in Latin America, showing that environmental history in the Americas is interconnected.

• This broadens American Environmental History beyond the U.S., making it part of a hemispheric story.

5. Environmental Justice Emerges from Inequality

• Scholars (including women historians working in collaboration with others) show how marginalized groups often bear the brunt of environmental harm.

• Example: Latino communities in San Antonio after the 1921 flood (studied by Char Miller, but with influence from women in the field) illustrate how disasters expose systemic inequalities.

6. Teaching and Storytelling Matter

• Wakild & Berry (2018) argue that environmental history should not just document facts but also teach narratives that connect students to ecological crises.

• Finding: pedagogy is itself part of environmental activism, because education shapes how future generations understand sustainability.