Pick the Next Extra History Series! "Environmental History"

It's time for our Extra History poll! Where you get to vote on what our next Extra History Series is about!

These four topics were selected from our "Environmental History" Patreon Suggestions and are listed in no particular order below.

American Bison: Slaughter and Steam Power

In the mid-19th century, estimates put the population of American Bison at 30-60 million. They were the most famous native mammal in the US and essential to several Native American nations. Yet by the end of the century, only 300 remained. This massive population fall happened largely via private hunting—hunters came from as far as the United Kingdom to shoot bison, and it was not unusual for hunters to kill up to 20 or 30 per person on an expedition. Trains would even slow down when passing herds so passengers could kill them from the windows. Allowing this wholesale slaughter was the official policy of the US government, who viewed the extermination of the bison a key tool for winning the Indian Wars and forcing tribes onto reservations. However, at Yosemite, a single herd of protected bison would begin rebuilding the American population—to the point that now over 200,000 wander the plains.

The Little Ice Age

Rivers frozen over in Scandinavia and Britain, glaciers overtaking villages in the Swiss Alps, armies marching across rivers and fjords, and fleets trapped in ice—welcome to the North Atlantic’s age of cold. Stretching from the 16th to the 19th centuries (though some place it as far back as 1300) the Little Ice Age was a moderate cooling period in terms of global climate, but saw dramatic changes in specific years. As far south as Florence, Italy, European cities would hold “frost fairs” on their frozen rivers, while a new genre of winter landscapes began to take shape on painters’ easels. Yet the inclement weather also led to a period of religious scapegoating and hysteria, with the victims being religious minorities, Jewish communities, and women condemned as witches. Some societies strained under the burden, while others like the Dutch thrived, and architectural technologies like chimneys became more widespread. However, we still don’t know exactly why this happened—theories range from brief anomalies in the planet’s tilt, to the depopulation of the Black Death and disease epidemics in the Americas leading to fewer carbon emissions. This series will look at the phenomenon, its possible causes and impacts—and ask what our period of warming may mean for us.

John Muir: Saint of the Wilderness

When Scottish immigrant John Muir left Wisconsin to dodge the Civil War draft in 1864, no one knew that his path would take him into the wild. Fascinated by nature ever since his childhood in southeast Scotland, and dominated by his sternly religious father, Muir would find a new form of religion in the wilderness. Walking across large sections of the United States, he would eventually settle in a log cabin in Yosemite. These years changed Muir from a lover of the American west to a vocal advocate for its preservation. Through articles, books, and personal connections with powerful figures like Theodore Roosevelt Muir became the most prominent voice for keeping the American west wild. He also advocated for America’s new urban dwellers to experience nature, forming the Sierra Club as an activist organization centered around experiencing and preserving the natural environment. A key voice in forming Yosemite National Park and a writer who changed how American culture perceived its disappearing wilderness, Muir has been dubbed the “patron saint of the wilderness.” However, he also clashed with other environmentalists in the battle of preservation (setting aside natural space) versus conservation (the careful and sustainable use of resources), and questions remain about his relationship with groups like Native Americans.

Whaling: An Empire of Blubber

Whale products were everywhere in 19th century Europe. A lady attending a ball would lace up her corset with whalebone stays, powder her face with make-up containing spermaceti oil, ride to the party in a coach driven with a baleen whip, and dance by the light of whale oil candles and lanterns. It was not only the petroleum of its day, but the plastic as well—and it had a cost. Around the world, no whaling center was busier than the island of Nantucket, whose fleets served as both resource extractors but America’s version of an imperial fleet, pushing US interests into foreign waters. Yet the reason for these wide-ranging expeditions were horrifyingly practical. Beginning in the 1690s with white settlers harpooning whales in rowboats driven by Native American oarsmen, within two generations the Nantucketers had already killed off nearshore whale populations and by the 19th century needed to travel further afield to the offshore whaling grounds. Within another century, they’d need to expand the hunt as far as the Pacific and the Arctic. Yet despite this, prominent voices (Moby Dick author Herman Melville among them) continued to exist that the supply of whales was inexhaustible. Yet as the industry faltered in the face of new products like petroleum, it was clear whaling had changed the world—from helping open Japan, to the dominance of the US in the Hawaiian Islands, to the exploration of the furthest northern and southern waters.

Current Schedule:

The Crimean War: The First Modern Military Mess 6/10 -->  A History of Buddhism: The Eightfold Path --> Henry Ford: Antisemitism and Assembly Lines --> Your Vote!

***Friendly reminder: The poll will end at 5:00 PM PT on Monday the 5th. You can vote for as many choices as you want! This style of voting helps us see what people are most interested in without having to make tough decisions between a couple of close favorites. ***