Midterm Exam

American Environmental History
History 170
University of San Diego
Fall Semester 2000

Midterm Exam

DUE: 3:30 pm, Friday October 6, in the History Annex

Don’t Be Late!

The department will close at that time, and will not open again until Monday.

Exams should be typed and stapled, with your name and date on the top. Please sign where indicated on the next page and attach this sheet to the exam. You are allowed to use whatever notes and assigned course readings you feel will help you; however, be aware that the sections are weighted unequally and budget your time accordingly. You should not need to spend more than 3 hours on the exam.

Part I: Readings and Lecture Awareness 10%
Select the correct answer for the following five questions. Each is worth 2 points.

1) Irrigation is required west of which meridian?

a) 66th.
b) 77th.
c) 88th.
d) 99th.

2) The topography of the Great Basin can best be described as

a) a geosyncline.
b) resembling an army of caterpillars marching toward Mexico.
c) a vast basaltic plain.
d) an area of heavy rainfall.

3) The Canadian Shield

a) forms the base of the North American continent.
b) was shaped during the Tertiary.
c) is the product of sedimentation.
d) another name for the Great Lakes.

4) Which of the following is NOT of New World origin?

a) guinea pigs.
b) cocoa.
c) human beings.
d) tapioca.

5) When Cotton Mather was emptying the “cistern of nature” in 1700,

a) he was joined by a dog doing the same thing.
b) he was appalled by this reminder of the animal nature of man.
c) vowed to think noble and divine thoughts at every similar occasion thereafter.
d) all of the above.

Part II: Short Identifications 30%
Provide a concise description of 6 of the following 10 items.

Anasazi
fur trade
Colombian Exchange
René Descartes
Mississippian culture
glaciation
environmental determinism
virgin soil epidemics
corn, squash and beans
William Cronon
You should identify the subject, locate it in place and time, and explain why it is historically significant. Each is worth 5 points.

Part III: Comprehensive Analytical Essay 60%
Both William Cronon and Timothy Silver offer histories looking at the intersection of Old and New World ecoscapes in the colonial era. It could be argued, though, that Silver is merely repeating Cronon’s previous work in a new place, and therefore contributes little to the field of environmental history as a whole.

Drawing on both the lectures and the readings, write a well-organized essay assessing the validity of such a claim (which, please note, is a two-part claim). You should consider not only the topics that each author covers, but also the ways that they present, organize, explain and analyze their information.

Be sure to identify your sources and state your position clearly. You are strongly encouraged to use specific examples to support and illustrate your claims; a demonstrated awareness of historiographical issues is also desirable.

I neither gave nor received assistance on this exam:________________________________________