Prof. Greg Hall

Department of History

Fall 2007

History 422 (G)

Study Guide for Midterm Exam #2

Exam Questions:

(Three of these questions will be on the final exam.  You will write on two.)

1.  Explain the process by which a conservation movement took hold in the United States and assess its accomplishments before 1941.

2. Was the Dust Bowl unavoidable?  Explain why or why not.

3. What does Richard White mean by the phrase “organic machine” when analyzing the history of the Columbia River?  In your answer, critically evaluate his effort to enhance our understanding of human history and natural history by examining the two simultaneously.

4. Explain the inherent problems with a “throwaway society.”

5. Assess the successes and failures of modern environmentalism nationally and internationally.

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Prof. Greg Hall

Department of History

Fall 2007

History 422 (G)

Study Guide for Midterm Exam #1

Exam Questions:

(Three of these questions will be on the final exam.)

1. Compare and contrast the relationships that Native American peoples had with their natural environments in the Southwest, South, and Northeast on the eve of contact with Europeans.

2. Explain how British colonials transformed the ecosystems of the eastern coastal region of North America.

3. Explain the impact of capitalist thinking on the natural environment in the United States during the Early Republic and Antebellum periods.

4. Evaluate the impact of cotton agriculture on the South in the 19^th century. 

5. Assess the challenges Americans faced when developing the American West, and evaluate their success at imposing their will on the region in the second half of the 19^th century.