NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
... to good citizenship. Chief among the qualities necessary for the continued health of American democracy was, according to Roosevelt, "manliness. " For Roosevelt, conservation was in part the preservation of American manhood. He wrote, "Every believer in manliness and therefore in manly sport... should strike hands with the farsighted men who wish to preserve our material resources, in the effort to keep our forest and game beasts... " (Internet 3) Roosevelt's construction of masculinity was one of self reliance, hard work, and courage. Roosevelt said of manliness, ."..
these qualities are all important... It is necessary absolutely to have them. No nation can rise to greatness without them... " (Internet 3) For Roosevelt, hunting and wilderness recreation best taught man these values. He feared that urbanization was leading to the emasculation of the American male; and Roosevelt considered this threat to masculinity a threat to American democracy. Roosevelt believed that American democracy was sustained by self reliant men willing to work hard to support themselves, their families, and American industry, upon which democracy rested.
These men were committed to the betterment of themselves and their community, and were willing and able to fight for the survival of the nation courageously. For Roosevelt, American democracy was dependent on the hard work and participation of citizens committed to the growth of the nation. Emasculated, men would lose their willingness and ability to work hard to support themselves, their families, or American industry; their commitment to their communities and the nation would be overwhelmed by idleness. Without wilderness and a large stock of game animals upon which men could hunt, to which men from the cities could retreat, the nation would lose the site of its masculinity. Believing this loss would weaken democracy, Roosevelt was committed to preserving wild game and wilderness. Roosevelt held the belief that the land itself, not as a source of economic wealth or a place for wilderness activity, but as sublime landscape and as part of the nation's history, embodied the national character and the democratic ideals of the United States and was for this alone worth preserving.
Roosevelt still held on to the romantic ideal of the sublime and valued the land for that intangible spirit romantics believed it could inspire. During a speech given at the Grand Canyon he stated: "I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canon. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it; not a bit... What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American, if he can travel at all, should see. This sublime site embodied something inexpressibly American for Roosevelt.
His call for all Americans to visit the Grand Canyon suggests that Roosevelt believed that the sublimity of the sight inspired something in the people who viewed it that was important to the development of the national character. " (Internet 4) Roosevelt also viewed nature as part of the nation's history and national identity. Lacking the long history and cultural traditions of European nations, Americans turned to the natural landscape, placing it within the construction of the nation's historical identity. The monumental natural sites of America and its unique wildlife were a source of pride for the nation, contributing to what many believed to be America's uniqueness, and greatness, among nations. Roosevelt wrote: "Birds should be saved because of utilitarian reasons; and, moreover, they should be saved because of reasons unconnected with any return in dollars and cents.
A grove of giant redwoods or sequoias should be kept just as we keep a great and beautiful cathedral. The extermination of the passenger pigeon meant that mankind was just so much poorer; exactly as in the case of the destruction of the cathedral at Rheims. " (Roosevelt 289) Roosevelt considered the landscapes and wildlife within the American wilderness of equal historical and cultural significance to the manmade cultural treasures of Europe. Their loss would be a loss of part of America's national history and democratic character. Roosevelt's notion that nature, in its sublimity and wildness, inspired important values among a nation's citizens existed comfortably along side his utilitarian constructions of nature. He looked upon nature as an economic resource which man could improve upon, but he romantically imbued it with the capacity to inspire and teach as well. This contradiction in Roosevelt's construction of wilderness, devaluating nature to an economic resource while at the same time giving it spiritual powers, was the basic ideological framework of Roosevelt's conservationism.
He viewed conservation as a means of protecting the nation's economic stability and its spiritual well being, both of which Roosevelt believed were fundamental to the continued strength of American democracy, conservation's greater goal. Roosevelt, Theodore. "Bird Reserves at the Mouth of the Mississippi. " A Book Lover's Holiday in the Open. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916. 274 (Obtained Via Telnet-Internet Virtual Library: History via CARRIE) INTERNET 1: Roosevelt, Theodore. "Publicizing Conversation at the White House. " http: // 205. 184. 3. 2. /not / speech / 1908 roos. html -- The text is taken from the President's opening address to a conference of governors held at the White House to discuss conservation policy in 1908 Roosevelt, Theodore. An Autobiography. New York: MacMillan, 1913. 430 (telnet, unknown address) Roosevelt, Theodore.
An Autobiography. New York: MacMillan, 1913. 438 (telnet, unknown address) Roosevelt, Theodore. An Autobiography. New York: MacMillan, 1913. 440 (telnet, unknown address) INTERNET 2: Roosevelt, Theodore. "Wilderness Reserves: The Yellow Stone Park. " web andrew / relays /yellow. html Roosevelt, Theodore. "A National Park Service. " The Outlook. 3 Feb. 1912: 246 (Obtained Via Telnet-Internet Virtual Library: History via CARRIE) INTERNET 3: Roosevelt, Theodore. "Wilderness Reserves: The Yellow Stone Park. " web andrew / relays /yellow. html INTERNET 4: Roosevelt, Theodore. "Wilderness Reserves: A Speech at the Gran Canyon" web andrew / relays /canyon.
html Roosevelt, Theodore. "Bird Reserves at the Mouth of the Mississippi. " A Book Lover's Holiday in the Open. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916. 289 (Obtained Via Telnet-Internet Virtual Library: History via CARRIE)
Free research essays on topics related to: grand canyon, charles scribner sons, national character, american democracy, york charles
Research essay sample on Theodore Roosevelt The Great Environmentalist
