Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History Submitted By: Barbara A. Bolster-Barrett barbwire322@juno.com I was sorely tempted to put "why I am HERE" in the subject line, but I don't want any one to delete this because I was glib! If any of you wonder why there was a significant influx of New Englanders into Helderberg, Hudson River valley and other westward regions between 1790-1810, there is a fascinating explanation in a book I am reading called Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History, by Ted Steinberg. Steinberg revels that, On at least two occasions, global climate change, connected to volcanic eruptions around the world, teamed up with various other factors to create food shortages throughout New England, upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Canada. According to Steinberg, Volcanic eruptions in Japan and Iceland sent millions of tons of dust into the atmosphere, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth, lowering global temperatures, and adversely affecting food supply. In a section subtitled Go West, Cold Man, Steinberg states, Climate may also have played an important role in spurring westward migration. With the Indians and British forced by the 1790s out of New York, New Englanders had an unobstructed path westward. In 1795, an observer in Albany, New York, counted some 500 sleighs loaded with personal effects of entire families. As a result of the migration west, the population of New York rose fourfold between 1790 and 1820 to 1.4 million, making the state the most populous of the nation. Steinberg continues, Significantly, the push westward abated in the 1820s, precisely the decade when a temporary respite--a trend to warmer temperatures--occurred. Migration out of New England picked up again during the following decade, as temperatures moved significantly downward, perhaps as the result of another massive volcanic eruption in Nicaragua. I thought that this may be of interest to any researchers interested in the migration patterns of their particular families, and also for folks interested in the settlement patterns within their townships. Steinberg is an environmental historian. Being so intimately involved with the E.N. Huyck Preserve, I literally see, every time I walk the trails or lead a field trip, that natural history and human history are so tightly interwoven. There is at least some stonewall in every section, the main bodies of water are impoundments, and this little nugget of private protected land wouldn't even exist if it weren't for a descendant of a prosperous mill owner, who decided to set it aside! When I went to school, history and the environment considered separately. With genealogy, we are reminded that history consists of many families and many individuals. This book is very interesting and is well written, but it is academic. I find that I have to read in an entirely different manner when I peruse a footnoted text. With that in mind, I still recommend the book. The sections that I quoted are from: Chapter 3, Reflections of a Woodlot (this is Thoreau's Walden...), pgs. 45-48. Bibliographic information:  Please place in the Subject Line: WEBPAGE-BOOK REVIEW 
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