Background to: A Cold Welcome

In this 9 min. video Dr. Sam White, an environmental historian, discusses the major topics of, impetus for, and methodological approach to his book: A Cold Welcome: The Little Ice Age and Europe’s Encounter with North America. As an environmental historian, he utilizes both social and natural science data to evaluate the influence of the environmental factors on historical events and narratives.
He chose this particular book topic because, “We often have a … very sanitized story … a story that skips over between Columbus in 1492 and the Pilgrims first winters in 1620 to 1621. This is my chance to bring to bear all the evidence that we now have available to help retell that story in a more realistic way. Because the truth is we don't tell that story to elementary and middle school students for good reason. It's a grim story.”
To watch the full talk see, "America's Colonial Beginnings through the Lens of an Environmental Historian: A Cold Welcome." For more on the history and emergence of the discipline of environmental history as well the methods and approaches see, “What Is Environmental History?”