From Wilderness to Backyards: Analysis of the Rise of American Suburbia and its Influence on Modern Environmentalism
Through an average American’s point of view it is a common misconception that modern environmentalism has its roots in the radical protests of the 1960s and 1970s, characterized by drug and ‘hippie’ culture. Whilst some more radical grassroots environmental groups or movements could be characterized in this way, the origins of modern environmentalism stem from much earlier in history, all the way back to the nineteenth century. Surprisingly, environmentalism’s roots can be traced to the philosophies of white, middle class and religious men; not a draft card burning, acid dropping, Woodstock attendee. Two men that defined many …show more content…
Historian William Cronon points out in his incendiary essay, “The Trouble with Wilderness, Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” that the way that “there is nothing natural about the concept of wilderness” (16). His essay is provides the reader with an omniscient perspective of the American concept of wilderness, which is arguably best demonstrated by the Wilderness Act of 1964. The well-informed perspective that Cronon offers is partially due to a removal from the environmental issues that claimed relevance in the mid-twentieth century; this essay was authored in 1996. The more important aspect of Conon’s analysis is his constant reference to environmental history, which is sometimes neglected. His inclusion of the history on the cultural connotation of wilderness shows the reader that the roots of environmentalism run much deeper than previously …show more content…
Sellers states that the history of suburbia, which had beginnings in “housing clusters and entire towns [that] suddenly appeared over the 1880s and 1890s were sold to ‘working’ families of modest income” (16), is a catalyst for the rise in awareness of one’s surroundings in the average middle class American mind. From the advent of the late-nineteenth century “picturesque enclaves” (16) to “…around 1950, [when] the nation’s suburbs surged into the headlines” (Sellers 40), environmental issues increasingly garnered attention from residents in suburban areas populated by middle class whites. Localized examples provide a ‘jumping off’ point for mainstream environmentalism that occurred in postwar America provide for a deeper look in to the origins of modern
Through an average American’s point of view it is a common misconception that modern environmentalism has its roots in the radical protests of the 1960s and 1970s, characterized by drug and ‘hippie’ culture. Whilst some more radical grassroots environmental groups or movements could be characterized in this way, the origins of modern environmentalism stem from much earlier in history, all the way back to the nineteenth century. Surprisingly, environmentalism’s roots can be traced to the philosophies of white, middle class and religious men; not a draft card burning, acid dropping, Woodstock attendee. Two men that defined many …show more content…
Historian William Cronon points out in his incendiary essay, “The Trouble with Wilderness, Or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” that the way that “there is nothing natural about the concept of wilderness” (16). His essay is provides the reader with an omniscient perspective of the American concept of wilderness, which is arguably best demonstrated by the Wilderness Act of 1964. The well-informed perspective that Cronon offers is partially due to a removal from the environmental issues that claimed relevance in the mid-twentieth century; this essay was authored in 1996. The more important aspect of Conon’s analysis is his constant reference to environmental history, which is sometimes neglected. His inclusion of the history on the cultural connotation of wilderness shows the reader that the roots of environmentalism run much deeper than previously …show more content…
Sellers states that the history of suburbia, which had beginnings in “housing clusters and entire towns [that] suddenly appeared over the 1880s and 1890s were sold to ‘working’ families of modest income” (16), is a catalyst for the rise in awareness of one’s surroundings in the average middle class American mind. From the advent of the late-nineteenth century “picturesque enclaves” (16) to “…around 1950, [when] the nation’s suburbs surged into the headlines” (Sellers 40), environmental issues increasingly garnered attention from residents in suburban areas populated by middle class whites. Localized examples provide a ‘jumping off’ point for mainstream environmentalism that occurred in postwar America provide for a deeper look in to the origins of modern