Reframes standard accounts of American history based on the simple but radical premise that historical events are shaped by natural circumstances. From the natural philosophy of the founding fathers to environmental forces behind Brown v Board of Education, this book focuses on nature that reveals a perspective on the familiar icons of US history.

ForewordEnvironmental History Comes of Age by William Cronon Land of Lincoln 1. Satan in the Land: Nature, the Supernatural, and Disorder in Colonial New England 2. By the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God: Declaring American Independence 3. King Cotton: The Cotton Plant and Southern Slavery 4. Nature’s Nobleman: Abraham Lincoln and the Improvement of America 5. The Nature of Gettysburg: Environmental History and the Civil War 6. Iron Horses: Nature and the Building of the First U.S. Transcontinental Railroad 7. Atomic Sublime: Toward a Natural History of the Bomb 8. The Road to Brown v. Board: An Environmental History of the Color Line 9. It’s a Gas: The United States and the Oil Shock of 1973–1974 Paths That Beckon Acknowledgments Notes References Illustration Credits Index

"Fiege has written a book that will undoubtedly leave an imprint on the field of environmental history and beyond. . . . he has added his book to a short list of must-reads in the field of environmental history."

"A thoughtful, thought-provoking, and beautifully written book. The Republic of Nature is sure to be a watershed title for environmental historians and open up a necessary—and long overdue—dialogue with other fields of American history."

A thoughtful, thought-provoking, and beautifully written book. The Republic of Nature is sure to be a watershed title for environmental historians and open up a necessary-and long overdue-dialogue with other fields of American history. -- Karl Jacoby, Brown University Like the most excellent histories, The Republic of Nature demands readers see what was once familiar-Gettysburg, the Salem Witch Trials, and other iconic moments in the American past-in a radically new way, demonstrated with such force that there can be no return to the old narrative. But this book is better than excellent. It is truly brilliant, for Mark Fiege offers us an equally persuasive reorientation of the practice of history itself. It's not just about rewriting the stories; it's about fundamentally rewiring the way we see the past. -- Philip Deloria, University of Michigan Mark Fiege has written a book so original and so necessary that a reader can be excused for being both astonished and wondering why no one has written a book like this before. It is easy to say that human history never takes place outside the natural world; it is quite another thing to write a history that demonstrates it with the subtlety and grace Mark Fiege does in The Republic of Nature. -- Richard White, author of Railroaded This is surely among the most important works of environmental history published since the field was founded four or more decades ago. No book before it has so compellingly demonstrated the value of applying environmental perspectives to historical events that at first glance may seem to have little to do with 'nature' or 'the environment.' No one who cares about the American past can afford to ignore what Fiege has to say. -- from the Foreword by William Cronon