1800–1889 ∼ Claiming the Wilderness
Thomas Jefferson advocates open land policy / Romantics and transcendentalists find spiritual meaning in nature / Yellowstone, the first national park, is established (1872)
MILESTONES: Louisiana Purchase doubles the size of the U.S. (1803) • Oliver Evans builds the first steam-powered motor vehicle in the U.S. (1805) • Indian Removal Act forces southern Indian tribes to relocate west of the Mississippi (1830) • Electric rail transport and gasoline powered automobiles introduced (1880s)
1890–1929 ∼ Rise in Conservation Responsibility
First forest set aside for conservation, the Sierra redwood groves (1890) / Forest Reserve Act gives presidents the authority to proclaim permanent forest reserves (1891) / Women become involved in the conservation movement (early 1900s) / Boy Scouts of America founded (1910) / Boulder Dam proposed (1910s); completed as Hoover dam in 1935 / Hetch Hetchy dam approved (1913) / National Park Service created (1916) / Grand Canyon becomes a national park (1919)
MILESTONES: Subway systems introduced (1890) • First automobile patent granted (1895) • Leo Hendrik Baekeland patents the first completely synthetic plastic, Bakelite (1907) • Garrett Morgan invents the gas mask to keep firefighters from being overcome by smoke (1912) • First diesel engine railroad put into service (1920) • Iron lung developed for patients who cannot breathe on their own (1927) • First public parking garage is built in Detroit (1929)
1930–1949 ∼ The Dust Bowl and Environmental Awareness
Dust Bowl catastrophe awakens farmers to environmental problems (1930–1935) / Tennessee Valley Authority created for watershed management (1933) / Civilian Conservation Corps employs young people for conservation projects (1933)
MILESTONES: Ernest O.
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