Nature and America

Nature

And It's Effect on America

Man and his struggle with Nature. Either his Struggle for survival or the struggle for prosperity has been the American narrative. Ever since the first Europeans came to the continent, this has been man’s relationship with nature. From the colonials, to the pioneers of the Old Northwest, to the mountain men and cowboys to the west, American’s have had an intimate relationship with Nature, trying to make the natural world their own.

            Pioneers saw nature as a means for subsistence and wealth. The thought of coming from Europe with nothing, buying land, and earning your own living is one of the very first incarnations of the American Dream. Something never heard of before in the Western World, the thought of earning your keep and being dependent on nobody but yourself.

            On the contrary, Nature was seen as relentless and unforgiving. As a family’s greatest threat, nature provides predators, famine, drought, and flooding. Let alone taxes, and threats from Indians.

            The American Worldview is fundamentally shaped from its experience with the natural world. Classic American values, such as rugged individualism amongst others go hand in hand with the outside world. Something about going out, conquering and cultivating land has a very attractive, almost Romantic luster.

            This line of thinking is still very much alive to this day. Something about making something out of nothing still enthralls the American populace. Early American Pioneers were some of the very first “rags to riches” stories. For example, many prominent figures in American society are beloved simply because of humble beginnings. Look at President Obama, Oprah Winfrey, or Andrew Carnegie.

            One can conclude that Nature has had profound effects on early American society’s values that the current generation has inherited.  Values that still resonate and attract immigrants even to this day. Values the modern, media rich age have not destroyed. In fact, they were even reinforced by this new era.

            If cinema is any indicator, Americans are still in love with films which feature these values to one extent or another, especially Westerns. One is How The West Was Won. This movie tells the story of an American Family over three generations. The Family worked their way west in search for an honest living, working against Nature at times. Members settle the land and become farmers in The Old Northwest, others ranched in the Southwest.

            In addition to this film, Jeremiah Johnson tells the story of a man (Robert Redford) who is tired of society and goes to the Rocky Mountains to become a Mountain Man. As a viewer, one watches Nature change Jeremiah from a raw ex-soldier to a seasoned Trapper. The idyllic thought of Man conquering anything that nature can throw at him is very visible in this film.

            Westerns, even though exaggerated, let current generations peer into the past. One can appreciate Nature’s beauty, and also the hardship it presents. The viewer can actually see the American relationship with Nature.

From the pioneers to today’s urbanites, the American perception of Nature has greatly influenced the values that American’s still hold dear. Among these are Rugged Individualism, and the ability to fulfill the American Dream, essentially going from rags to riches. No matter what the current form of that Dream is, it can be traced back to the very first pioneers staking their claim and making Nature their own.

Copyright 2012

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