How Did Fossils Change America?
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How did the discovery of fossils impact American thought?
Deep within the Earth's crust, tectonic plates grind and heave, colliding, folding, and thrusting vast slabs of rock skyward to form towering mountain ranges. Ancient inland seas surge across the land, carving channels and leaving behind thick layers of fertile sediment. Then come the glaciers, ice blanketing the uplifted Earth, scouring it clean, carving deep U-shaped valleys through granite and schist. Mighty rivers then follow like lifelines, tracing the contours of the continent. The restless motion of those plates sparks volcanoes and earthquakes, shaping and reshaping the land in an endless cycle of creation and destruction. North America as we know it, and like all the Earth, was born from these colossal natural forces.
But humanity's recognition of that fact, our awakening to the Earth as a living, shifting thing, was itself a seismic change in American thought. Hi there, I'm Don Wildman. Thanks for clicking through to another episode of American History Hit. Glad you're here. Back in the 19th century, against a backdrop of so much industrial, economic and social transformation, a tectonic shift happened to American consciousness. It had to do with time, specifically the time the North American continent had existed. Prior to the 1800s, there was widespread acceptance of the biblical version of cosmic origin. The planet was 6,000 years old, and the Great Flood came about 1,500 years later.
What is the concept of deep time and its significance?
Noah built the ark, saved the animals and mankind from death by drowning. But that theory would be fundamentally challenged as humans began to closely consider the fossilized bones and other evidence of prehistoric creatures, all of it suggesting the Earth was much older than the Bible would have us believe. A new book released this year grapples with this entire phenomenon and its profound implications, entitled How the New World Became Old, The Deep Time Revolution in America. authored by historian Carolyn Winterer, the William Robertson Co-Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University, where she also chairs the department. It is an honor to meet you, Professor. May I call you Carolyn?
Absolutely. And it's a pleasure to be here as well. The Deep Time Revolution. Let's first consider the book's title. What is the concept of deep time?
Deep time is the idea that emerges in the 19th century that the Earth is not, in fact, 6,000 years old, as a literal reading of Genesis and the rest of the Bible will tell you, but in fact, millions, if not billions of years old. And that idea emerges quite rapidly in our very modern history.
Of course, they were finding dinosaur bones way back when, including fossils. But no one had really brought this together until the scientific age comes along.
That's right. Yeah, they had definitely found fossils of scary creatures before. And the word fossil simply means coming out of the ground. It doesn't mean particularly ancient. So you could imagine that, for example, the dinosaurs had been around, swimming around the waters of Noah's Ark, for example. So you didn't need deep time for dinosaurs. You need intellectual revolution to begin to imagine an enormous expanse of time in which The history of the earth plays out instead of a tiny expanse of time in which the history of the earth plays out.
As if human beings are not coping with enough in the 19th century. I mean, the whole world is changing under their feet with industry and technology. Suddenly, the one accepted truth, you know, that Noah saved us is gone or at least disappearing. How was this absorbed? How did it enter into the lexicon of American thinking? What went on then?
Well, as you mentioned, the Industrial Revolution, and in fact, that momentous revolution is accompanied by the Deep Time Revolution.
How did the Industrial Revolution relate to the Deep Time Revolution?
They are completely related to one another. One would not have happened without the other. So as Americans and Europeans in Europe begin digging for, for example, fossil fuels in the ancient coal forests that lie under North America, they begin to ask themselves,
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did the discovery of fossils impact American thought?
0:02–1:47
2
What is the concept of deep time and its significance?
1:47–4:12
3
How did the Industrial Revolution relate to the Deep Time Revolution?
4:12–7:10
4
What role did fossils play in challenging biblical narratives?
7:10–10:17
5
How did the idea of uniformitarianism emerge in the 19th century?
10:17–12:38
6
What connections exist between deep time and American exceptionalism?
12:38–15:20
7
How did the Second Great Awakening influence views on science and religion?
15:20–17:51
8
What arguments did pro-slavery advocates make using geological findings?
17:51–27:25