The Green Revolution 

Beginning in the 1950s, The Green Revolution was considered the third wave of agriculture in The United States. The Green Revolution was endorsed largely by The Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, and introduced the widespread use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, controlled water supply (irrigation), and mechanized farming methods. The method of using “high-yielding varieties'' (HYVs) was also developed during this time. The HYVs were crops where semi-dwarfing genes with a higher potential to absorb nitrogen were bred into the genomes for the rest of that crop, creating a stronger genome and therefore a larger harvest. The goal of these innovations was to increase the yield of crops. Norman Borlaug is deemed the father of this movement and earned a nobel peace prize for his efforts in increasing the yield of crops resulting in saving over a billion people from starvation. Mexico is regarded as the birthplace of The Green Revolution. With U.S. support and the order of Mexican president Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexico evolved with new knowledge and technology. Mexico's successes began the spread of The Green Revolution into the Philippines, India, Brazil and several less successful attempts to increase crop yields in Africa.



Sparks of Environmental Activism and Government Response
 
The Green Revolution proved successful in helping aid world hunger, but it did not exist without criticism. Environmental Activists took issue with many aspects of these new agricultural practices and how they may be affecting the environment in a long-term sense. These concerns boiled down to a matter of sustainability. Resources such as synthetic fertilizers and water were mined, and these places could not replenish those resources as fast as they were being taken. Environmentalists were also concerned about the pollution of the soil during this process. Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring was published in 1962 and reflected a conversation about pollution and agricultural chemicals' effects on ecology. Activists also advocated for proper conservation tilling methods including rotating crops in order to avoid topsoil erosion and depletion of nutrient-dense soil. Finally, there were economic concerns about an increasingly centralized agricultural system and its detrimental effects on small family farmers.



Several books and studies were published in favor of the sustainable agriculture movement. Wes Jackson published New Roots for Agriculture which argued that “monoculture farms with annual plants that require a lot of external inputs to grow – like huge fields of corn fertilized by ammonia – should be replaced by "polycultures" of perennial plants where one species would complement another” (Ganzel). U.S. Lawmakers did respond to this widespread concern from environmental activists by funding research initiatives. The goal was to inspire perhaps more eco-friendly practices while responding to hunger and population growth. In 1989, $4.45 million was allocated toward the Low-Impact Sustainable Agricultural (LISA) program with the USDA. This evolved into the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program.
In 1907 Farmers of Forty Centuries was written by Franklin H. King. Here, he discussed the advantages of sustainable agriculture and its necessity to the continuity of farming in the future. However, the term “sustainable agriculture” wasn’t coined until about 1980 by Australian agronomist Gordon McClymont.



Peppers, Preppers and Pandemics - Agricultural Independence within a Globalized Market

There is a lot to dissect when it comes to the topic of sustainability, but one pinpoint discussion is on the topic of “preppers.” Who exactly are they, and what does their mindset reveal about modern-day agriculture? This word, prepper, refers to the type of person who invests much of their time and energy into preparing for natural disasters (or, more severely, some apocalyptic event). Not all preppers have a big garden on their off-grid cabin, but many of them have something in common, and that is a seed of suspicion in the reliability of the structures in place to sustain all of humanity. And considering the contemporary stance of a world living under the shadow of COVID-19 (coronavirus), they may have a point. When grocery stores close down, it is the farmers, gardeners, off-the-gridders, and yes, those forward thinking preppers who continue life soundly while the rest of us struggle to shift.



Before delving into the benefits of preparedness in anticipation of disaster, first there are some benefits of the prepping lifestyle that are alone worth mentioning in the discussion of sustainable agriculture. For many preppers, “organic” (produced or involving production without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents) farming is part of their belief system. Of course, this means relying less on big agricultural giants mass-producing monoculture crops and more on what can grow naturally in the environment readily accessible to them. This ideal is not unique to preppers, but it does carry an interesting preposition about sustainable farming - in the face of disaster, whether it be natural or political, how fragile are the systems that we depend on for a need as basic as food?



Prepping, otherwise regarded as survivalism, is a concept that has been around since the 1930s when suspicions toward government collapse and nuclear warfare appeared in both fiction and nonfiction writings dawning after the cold war. Preppers regard The Great Depression as a prime example of the need for survivalism. Other waves of survivalism occurred during the libertarian movement of the 1960s, the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1980s, after the September 11th, 2001 attacks, and the emergence of swine flu in 2009. The strategies discussed among these years compiled a vast array of survival skills, food preparedness being only one of them. However, our present day situation of the COVID-19 pandemic presents a struggle delicately woven into the food and grocery network. The disease was born in the wet markets in Wuhan, China, and in a chain reaction of precautionary events, people have been forced to rely less on the daily convenience of grocery stores. Along with this, the U.S. and countries around the globe must sacrifice a guaranteed sanitary shopping experience, and the promised longevity of shipping and importing common products and goods.

Although the sustainable agriculture movement has faced many critiques, one of which is its ability to actually feed 7.5 billion people across the globe without mass-producing food with the use of practices introduced by The Green Revolution (and later, the New Green Revolution). But there is now a more interesting debate in play brought about by this disease which threatens the infrastructure of mass-production and retrieval and abundance of goods. Could environmentalists have been right? Perhaps sustainable agriculture is not only necessary for the survival of ecosystems, but also the survival of humanity?



Sources:
https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/crops_20.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution
https://unsplash.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_agriculture
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/29/coronavirus-why-kentucky-preppers-were-prepared-when-covid-19-struck/2933159001/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivalism#1930s_to_1950s

World Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Earth Day - The History Behind The Holiday

Before Rachel Carson's, Silent Spring, was released in 1962, humans were consuming tons of the
Earth's limited resources, and few were concerned with preserving the planet as a home we must care
for. Carson's book planted the seeds for change, and eight years later, on April 22nd, 1970, the first
Earth day was celebrated. It is still celebrated annually across the globe. This year, while some
celebrated in Oregon by digging up their old potatoes and planting new ones, many celebrate in
quarantine with the Spring beckoning them to love the earth from inside sanitized windows. Earth day
serves as a time for reflection, for us to take account of how our behavior has shaped the land we live,
breathe, eat and drink from. And although earth day doesn't necessarily signify the birth day of our
planet, the big bang or another creation myth, what have you, many use it as an excuse to turn off their
lights, consume less, pick up trash along dirty sidewalks, etc. And if it weren't for the
coronavirus pandemic, grocery stores would presumably operate as normal.

The first Earth day in 1970 was not quite as sedentary. 

The catalyst for this holiday's recognition in the United States was in the groups of activists all over the
country. They used that day, April 22nd, to send a wake up call to everyone partaking in systems of
earthly destruction. Hippies raided grocery stores, calling to question the consistent use of
single-user plastics, thousands of protests were organized on university campuses and rallies across the
nation in parks, auditoriums and streets were broadcasted. It served as one of the more uniting events in
U.S. history, as it brought republicans and democrats together on a stance toward change. This led to
progressive political action. The first Earth day led to the creation United States
Environmental Protection Agency and environmental laws, all the first of their kind, including the
National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Clean Air Act,
we're passed. Two years later Congress passed the Clean Water Act.  A year after that, Congress
passed the Endangered Species Act and soon after the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Since that first celebration and call to action, earth day has spread into a global holiday. Just a decade
ago, 193 countries were reported to have partaken on Earth day festivities, marches and volunteerism.
Today it remains a global (and of course earthly) affair. 

This Earth day in 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the holiday. With the concern for global warming
rising, and less action being taken by our government today, people are motivated to educate and
organize. The network created by earth day serves consistently as a reminder of the good we can do
when we stand together toward a common goal which will affect the future for everyone. 

Sources

https://www.earthday.org/history/

Photos from Unsplash.com

1918 Flu Pandemic / The Spanish Flu. History of one of the world's greatest death events

1918 Flu Pandemic / The Spanish Flu

History often comes close to repeating itself. The current COVID-19 Pandemic is no exception .  As we all struggle with the new world of "Novel Coronavirus"  and how to deal with the disease it causes - COVID-19, a little history is in order.

The following is adapted from Wikipedia's "Spanish Flu" article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

For more authoritative details about COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / Coronavirus consider these sites:coronavirus disease 2019  Wikipedia
World Health Organization:  https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

The Spanish Flu (misnamed as it had no special relationship to Spain, though origins of the disease are unclear)  lasted from January 1918 to December 1920.

The flu pandemic spread around the world, infecting some 500 million people and killing as many as 50-100 million.  Mortality among young adults was especially severe - a significant contrast with the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

The H1N1 influenza virus was the culprit.

The Spanish Flu pandemic was possibly the deadliest event in all of human history, possibly surpassing all wars in terms of the final death toll, though war deaths are typically better reported than during the Spanish Flu Pandemic.

Several Pacific island territories were hit particularly hard as New Zealand travelers visited. 8% of Tonga, 16% of Nauru, and 5% of Fiji's population died  in the pandemic.  Worst hit was Western Samoa with a 90% infection rate, though American Samoa was spared thanks to an early blockade. 

The Spanish flu had a very deadly "second wave" where thousands more died in late 1918, but by 1919 the virus had largely disappeared.   Researchers do not fully understand the rapid demise of what had been one of the deadliest of all human diseases, though some speculate that treatments for pneumonia improved dramatically, others that the virus mutated to a less deadly form.

First Amendment. History of Amendments to the US Constitution.

AMENDMENTS to the US Constitution. 

Amendment I

Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.

After the Civil War several more were passed to legalize rights of African Americans who had been freed after the war.

The United States Constitution now has 25 functioning amendments. There have been 27 ratified in total, but one of these, the 18th, was Prohibition and another, the 21st, was the repeal of Prohibition.

See our AMENDMENTS SUMMARY for more about the US Constitution

The Gatekeeper. Missy LeHand, FDR, and the Untold Story of the Partnership That Defined a Presidency. By Kathryn Smith

The first biography of arguably the most influential member of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration, Marguerite “Missy” LeHand, FDR’s de facto chief of staff, who has been misrepresented, mischaracterized, and overlooked throughout history…until now.

Widely considered the first female presidential chief of staff, Marguerite “Missy” LeHand was the right-hand woman to Franklin Delano Roosevelt—both personally and professionally—for more than twenty years. Although her official title as personal secretary was relatively humble, her power and influence were unparalleled. Everyone in the White House knew one truth: If you wanted access to Franklin, you had to get through Missy. She was one of his most trusted advisors, affording her a unique perspective on the president that no one else could claim, and she was deeply admired and respected by Eleanor and the Roosevelt children. With unprecedented access to Missy’s family and original source materials, journalist Kathryn Smith tells the captivating and forgotten story of the intelligent, loyal, and clever woman who had a front-row seat to history in the making. The Gatekeeper is a thoughtful, revealing unsung-hero story about a woman ahead of her time, the true weight of her responsibility, and the tumultuous era in which she lived—and a long overdue tribute to one of the most important female figures in American history.

"[A] fine biography....Ms. Smith has filled a small gap in Roosevelt historiography with this compelling personal story." — The Wall Street Journal "Highly readable....Smith's biography represents her subject perfectly." — Washington Post

More from Publisher Simon and Schuster
https://catalog.simonandschuster.com/TitleDetails/TitleDetails.aspx?cid=2741&isbn=9781501114960

The Slaves Gamble by Gene Allen Smith

The Slaves' Gamble by Gene Allen Smith
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Why would slaves fight for the United States, a nation that kept them in bondage, during the War of 1812? Why did free blacks join with the British or with the Spanish, or with Native American communities during the conflict? These questions form the basis for Gene Allen Smith’s new book, The Slaves’ Gamble: Choosing Sides in the War of 1812. In this gripping story, Smith, a history professor at Texas Christian University, recreates the growing conflicts between the fledgling United States, Great Britain, Spain, and various Native American groups, and shows how each group “tried to mobilize the free black and slave populations in the hopes of defeating the other.” When the War of 1812 began, free blacks and slaves consciously chose the side they would support, and those tenuous choices dramatically impacted their future freedom and opportunity as well as the future of the United States.

This book looks at African American combatants during the War of 1812 as a way to understand the conflict as well as the evolution of racial relations during the early nineteenth century. Black participants—slaves and freemen both—had to choose sides and these choices ultimately defined their individual and collective identities. Canadian slaves escaped south into Michigan during the first decade of the nineteenth century and joined the militia in Detroit and later surrendered with General William Hull in August 1812; this contradicts common perceptions that the Underground Railroad always ran north to freedom in Canada. In fact, for a very few years during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the route to freedom proceeded south from Canada to the free territories of the Old Northwest. Once the war ended, the route turned north to freedom in Canada.

Along the Chesapeake Bay during 1813 and 1814 many slaves joined the British Colonial Marines and later marched with Redcoats on Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, while others chose to remain with their masters. Maryland slave Charles Ball consciously declared himself a freeman and joined Joshua Barney’s flotilla in the Chesapeake. During the British 1814 Chesapeake campaign Ball fought for the Americans at Bladensburg and in the defense of Baltimore. During the fall of 1814 in New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, slaves and free blacks joined alongside white American workers to construct defenses for those cities.
Later in 1814 along the coast of Georgia and South Carolina slaves had to choose sides. Cumberland Island slave Ned Simmons immediately discarded his shackles to join the British army, yet he was never transferred off the island. When peace came he became victim of tense Anglo-American negotiations. Stripped of his British uniform, Simmons was re-enslaved, and did not secure his freedom until 1863; the centenarian Simmons died only a few months after being liberated by Union troops.

Along the Gulf of Mexico during the War of 1812 slaves found multiple choices—some joined with the Spanish, some with Native American tribes and others with the British. During the weeks before the climactic January 1815 Battle of New Orleans, both the British and General Andrew Jackson competed for slaves and free blacks. Two regiments of free men of color volunteered to defend the city, and then Jackson promised freedom to slaves who would labor on the American line. Jackson ultimately secured their assistance with promises of equality and freedom that never fully appeared.

During the years prior to the War of 1812 African Americans had gained increased political, economic, and civic rights; many of these concessions had been won by black participation during the War for Independence and their support for a new political system based on the primacy of the United States. Slaves saw this jostling for their loyalties as “an avenue to freedom,” and consequently joined armies or communities of Native Americans or mulattoes on the fringes of society.

The War of 1812 did not create opportunities for all slaves, as for the most part slaves fled or joined militias only when hospitable troops were in the area. Those who remained in the United States generally remained in bondage, while those who took the chance to flee to British lines were mostly evacuated from the United States. The latter group found freedom in British colonies such as Bermuda, Canada, or Trinidad, where they and many of their descendants remained impoverished economically. This gripping tale of the evolution of race relations in early America reveals how these people won their freedom.

By the time the War of 1812 ended the United States had reaffirmed its political, economic, and cultural freedom, and white Americans had finally realized that armed blacks posed serious threats to the existing status quo, and that threat would have to be eliminated. The optimism that had flowed from the Revolutionary period into the War of 1812 era lost its influence on American southerners who still maintained their human property, but thereafter had to worry about holding onto it. In the end, the free blacks and slaves who had sided with the Americans, like those who had joined with the British, the Spanish, or with Native Americans, wanted only one thing—their land of the FREE. Instead the War of 1812 confirmed the security of the United States, and provided the last chance for blacks as a group to secure their freedom through force of arms until the American Civil War finally ended slavery once and for all.

The Slaves' Gamble is written by:
Gene Allen Smith
Professor
Dept of History
Texas Christian University

Civil War Sketch Book

Here at US History we're reviewing the new book by Harry L. Katz and Vincent Virga,  "Civil War Sketch Book - Drawings from the Battlefront".     It's a remarkable collections of drawings from the Civil War with extensive historical narrative.   Soon available.   Publisher is W.W. Norton and Company.   The lowest price we've seen is via Amazon.com at about $33, available via pre-order.

May 2012's National Geographic will be featuring some of this extensive Civil War collection, the largest organized sketch book collection to date.