环境史视野下美国南部烟草与棉花种植的兴衰演变及其原因

The Rise and Fall of Tobacco and Cotton Planting in the Southern United States and Its Causes:From the Perspective of Environmental History

17世纪初至18世纪末是烟草种植在美国弗吉尼亚和南卡罗莱纳初步兴起和早期发展的阶段。这一时期的烟草种植导致了严重的环境问题,加之烟草市场波动及其引发的社会经济问题,18世纪末在美国南部兴起了农业改良运动。工业革命的发生对棉花产生了巨大需求,推动了美国南部棉花种植的兴起和繁荣。19世纪末,棉铃象鼻虫虫害对棉花种植造成严重打击,南部的棉花经济失去了往日的辉煌。19世纪40年代,新型烟草亮烟的出现使南部烟草经济再度步入繁荣。半个世纪后,亮烟引发的环境问题愈发严重,亮烟经济也走向衰落。美国南部的作物种植史是由市场、技术、种植园制度、农作物、土地、昆虫等众多因素共同构成的,正是人类文化与自然生态的综合作用推动着烟草与棉花种植的兴衰演变。烟草和棉花种植一方面促进了南部经济的发展,另一方面也引发了地力耗竭和土壤侵蚀等生态危害,这反过来又削弱了南部持续发展的基础,最终导致南部陷入贫困。

Tobacco planting rose initially and went through the early development in Virginia and South Carolina in the United States from the beginning of the 17thcentury to the end of the 18thcentury. The serious environmental problems caused by tobacco planting during this period, together with the fluctuations of the tobacco market and the social and economic problems, caused the rise of the agricultural improvement movement in the southern United States at the end of the 18thcentury. The occurrence of the Industrial Revolution triggered a huge demand for cotton, which promoted the rise and prosperity of cotton planting in the southern United States. At the end of the 19thcentury, insect pest of cotton boll weevil caused serious damage to cotton planting and the cotton economy in the South lost its former glory. In the 1840s, the emergence of a new type of bright tobacco made the southern tobacco economy enter into prosperity again. At the end of the 19thcentury, the environmental problems caused by the bright tobacco reached the peak, and the bright tobacco economy went down.The history of crop cultivation in the southern United States was composed of many roles, such as market, technology, plantation system, crops, land, insects, etc. The comprehensive role of human culture and natural ecology has promoted the rise and fall of tobacco and cotton planting. On the one hand, tobacco and cotton planting has promoted the economic development of the southern United States;on the other hand, it has also caused ecological hazards, such as soil depletion and soil erosion. These environmental problems in turn weakened the foundation of sustainable development in the southern United States, ultimately leading to poverty in this area.