Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2026
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Program
History
Advisor
Benjamin L. Carp
Committee Members
David Waldstreicher
Michael Rawson
Jennifer Anderson
Subject Categories
American Studies | Environmental Studies | History | Military History
Keywords
American Revolution, environmental history, New York, military history
Abstract
Natural factors and environmental relationships shaped the course of the American War for Independence. Across New York State and Iroquoia, non-human nature established the conditions upon which warring armies pursued their military objectives. For both the Continental Army and the British Crown forces, military campaigning was never independent of environmental considerations. In addition to contending with tides, forests, and other non-human influences, the Revolutionary generation’s environmental relationships also affected how both sides made war. Military conflict disturbed land-use patterns across New York State. Environmental upheavals affected how noncombatants picked sides during this civil war. While armies had to contend with natural phenomena on the battlefield, so too did environmental relationships play a pivotal role in the battle for hearts and minds. Ultimately, locally specific ecological and political factors produced different modes of environmental warfare. In some theaters Continental and Crown forces pursued a pacification policy that promoted stewardship, while in other regions soldiers laid waste to the land.
The Revolutionary War was both environmentally formed and environmentally consequential. Throughout New York State, soldiers made war upon the land; they cut down forests, burned croplands, and overhunted game animals. New Yorkers and their natural surroundings continued to pay the ecological costs of these disruptions for decades. At the same time, environmental devastation facilitated the expansion of white settlement in frontier borderlands and urban development around port cities. The wartime politicization of the land also drove white Americans to increasingly celebrate North America’s scenic attributes, not just its potential for improvement or extractive enterprises. The environmental legacies of the conflict were both varied and lasting. The Revolutionary War was a major event in the course of both American and environmental history.
Recommended Citation
McGready, Blake, "Making Nature's Nation: The Revolutionary War and Environmental Interdependence in New York, 1775–1783" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6792
