The Thought And Practice On American Environmental Protection During The Period Of The Progressive Movement

This dissertation conducts an overview on American environmental protection thoughtand practice during the period of the Progressive Movement in line with Marxist materialistictheory. It consists of an instruction, four chapters, a conclusion and a reference.The introduction part presents the academic value and practical significance of thisdissertation. This part also gives a general introduction to the previous research work done byAmerican and Chinese academic circles.Chapter one analyses the attitudes of Americans towards environmental problems beforethe Progressive Movement , the roots of these attitudes and their consequences. It points outthat before the 1890s, Americans looked on nature as a target to control, dominate and conquer.The consequence was the severe destruction of natural resources. It also points out the mainreason of this thought: the anthropocentrism tradition, the individualistic values of WesternCulture as well as the laissez-faire tradition in economy. Although a few learned men worriedabout this attitude towards nature, their ideas was seldom praised and supported at that time.Chapter two explores what resulted in the change of American's attitude towardsenvironmental problems in the Progressive Era. Following the process of industrialization,factories clustered in the urban area, coal replaced charcoal as the main energy. At the sametime, with the development of urbanization, the rural population and the immigrants surgedinto the urban area, but the city management and public facilities were far lagged behind. Soindustrialization and urbanization not only aggravated the damage on natural resources, butalso brought about new urban pollution problems.Chapter three elaborately illustrated American's attitudes and practice about theenvironmental problems. First, it dissects how the change of eras affected people's mind. Thenit respectively introduces the thought and practice of the American government, the civilintellectuals, women and professional engineers about environmental problems. It ends bysummarizing the relationship between Progressive Movement and environmental protection.