Matthew Itell Islam: The Green Religion In the modern world there are many different issues which afflict our world. War, poverty, and terrorism are major concerns for anyone living in the United States or other countries throughout the world. Another major concern for everyday citizens of the world is the rapidly deteriorating environment, and how to protect it. For many people this is the biggest issue of all, because a rapidly deteriorating global environment tends to exacerbate all other problems which we are currently facing. The big issue facing many scientists and world leaders is how exactly can this issue be solved? Perhaps one of the easiest answers to this question is simply to look at the past and see how ancient civilizations and societies have dealt with similar problems. An interesting aspect of many societies of the world is what the religion that people follow says on how to treat the environment. Today Islam is one of the world’s largest religions, and one of the fastest growing as well.1 In addition to being one of the largest religions, Islam is perhaps one of the most controversial religions, especially in the Western World. Since even before the September 11th attacks, Islam has received much negative publicity mainly due to terrorism. However it is perhaps time to look at Islam in other ways, and to ignore the negative stereotypes which are propagated against it. The Koran contains numerous passages about the environment and how Muslims should treat it and the animals living within it. Perhaps the most important overall passage about the environment is the passage on not corrupting or polluting the earth, but instead encouraging Muslims to be stewards and take care of it.2 By respecting the teachings of the Koran and 1 2

Foreign Policy, The List: The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions. 26:151.

Muhammad, Islam provides framework which many modern environmentalists would have much in common with, o how to treat the earth and the environment in which people live. Islam as well as other religions throughout the world are closely intertwined with nature, and are very concerned with how to properly treat the earth. There are many different works written across the world dealing with the subject of religion. Including among these works is a multitude of works written about Islam and the Koran. When exploring the concept of Islam and the environment, as well as a greater topic of religion and the environment, it is very necessary to gather concepts and ideas from a wide variety of differing sources. While there may not be a lot of sources that directly address the idea of Islam and the environment, there are many different books that bring up various aspects of the religion, and the people who belong to it. This allows a greater understanding of its role in culture, and therefore its impact o the environment, and how the religion and its worshippers have both been created by the environment as well as changed it. The book Islam: The Religion and the People by Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill is one fantastic source capable of giving the reader a broad overview of many different aspects of Islam and its practitioners. While the book perhaps mainly focuses on Islamic extremism, and its conflict with the west, this book shows clearly how Islam differs from other major world religions such as Judaism and Christianity. Perhaps the most important thing that is discussed in this work is just how Islam shapes the people and their societies, which is an especially important issue to talk about, especially when it comes to Islamic nations protecting the environment. The book’s greatest strength is its approach to a wide variety of topics and subjects within the religion of Islam. It also offers great comparisons between Islam and other world religions.

Lewis and Churchill’s book’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness however. It does not address just one issue entirely within the book, and instead attempts to address a wide variety of topics and concerns. Another great weakness of the book is the lack of information on how central the prophet Muhammad is and was to Islam. The book’s authors did not approach this subject really at all, and entirely seem to dismiss the prophet’s centrality to Islam. This is important as Muhammad’s beliefs about how the environment should be treated directly affected the creation of Islam. However it must be said that any reader of this work will be able to garner a wide understanding of various aspects of the religion and its followers. Another fine book that tells a great deal about Muslims and their religion is Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices by S.A Nigosian. This book makes the interesting argument that “…the potential for adapting Islamic principles to meet the challenges and tensions of modern technology and…culture is inherent in the character of Islam”.3 Nigosian goes on to say that the leading minds of Islamic civilization “were innovators in postulating theories on how society and government might be improved by applying Islamic principles”.4 This book shows the evolution of modern Islam and illustrates the religion’s principles and ideas. It is an excellent reference to be used in understanding how Islam continues to follow age old rules, while at the same time applying these ancient teachings in order to innovate ad adjust to the modern world. This book starts as a historical narrative of the rise of Islam, and then goes into describing the various sects and groups within Islam, and finishes by explaining the Koran and other tenets of Islam. Nigosian in this book does not really try to analyze or speculate any sort of theories about Islam, it is meant to be a factual account to broaden the understanding of this religion. It

3 4

Nigosian, S. A.. Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004:43. IBID

offers a little comparison of Islam to other religions, but its main focus is simply explaining the history and practices of Muslims. Another book about Islam comes from Islamic art professors Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair. Their book, Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power explores the golden age of Islam and continues up until the present. This book, like Nigosians explores the ideas and concepts of Islam. However, unlike Nigosian, this book looks at Islam through a cultural lens, and looks at such things as Islamic poetry, art, and architecture. While similar in some respects History, Teachings and Practices, A Thousand Years of Faith and Power looks more at the people of whom Islam is comprised and gives a lot more in depth look at the history of Islam. This book however, is mostly devoted to the golden age of Islam, and only its epilogue tells the story of this religion into the modern age. A Thousand Years of Faith and Power attempts to approach the myths and stereotypes that many have (especially in the West) to Islam. It attempts to show the heart of the religion is the people who are in many ways just like people in every other culture. These people have the same worries and concerns as do most other people in the world. This book illustrates the difference between a relatively violent and uncivilized Christian Europe, and a much more culturally and technologically evolved Islamic Middle East. While this book does not directly address the issue of Islam and the environment, it does show how Islamic concepts exist to guide a Muslim in every facet of his or her life, and how these can be used eve today. Bloom and Blair attempt in their book to show that “Islam stands firmly in the Judeo-Christian tradition of monotheistic world religions, and the similarities…are much greater than their differences”.5

5

Blair, Sheila, and Jonathan Bloom. Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002:12.

A final work that takes a much different approach to the concept of religion is Landscape and Memory by Simon Schama. This book is primarily focused o the natural world, and how it is culturally perceived by the people in it. While this book does not specifically have to do with Islam, it addresses in many of its chapters the much wider view on the co-existence of environment and religion. It also addresses how nature is perceived through art and other expressions within religion. This extensive work contains an exhaustive analysis on Christianity and nature, which is a very useful element in comparing how nature and the environment have been treated through a wide variety of religious and cultural sources. Schama’s notes in this book that an American minister once said that “this purity of nature is part of the revelation to us of the sanctity of God. It is his character that is hinted at in the cleaness of the lake”.6 This helps illustrate how religion and nature are closely linked together and visions of nature are often used in religion. Schama also discusses the idea of a perfect environmental paradise in religion through Landscape and Memory’s exploration of the biblical tale of the Garden of Eden. Many of the other ideas in this book are also closely linked to religion, from trees and forests to mountains. Schama also includes pagan religions within Landscape and Memory such as the religion of the ancient Egyptians pertaining for example to Osiris. This book contains a wealth of knowledge on the interaction between man, nature, and religion. If this book contains a weakness, it is simply that it does not focus in on any one topic, and instead tries to approach a wide variety of views and ideas. At the same time however this is this book’s greatest strength. While it is not focused in on any one particular religion at all, it is able to provide a reader with a wide variety of different sources in order to compare many different religion’s beliefs about nature and the environment. Using all of these sources, it is possible to paint a very clear picture 6

Schama, Simon. Landscape And Memory. New York: Vintage Books, 1995:189.

as to the age-old interaction between people, religion, and nature. These sources draw in a wide variety of backgrounds and ideas which can be used succinctly in order to explore many different angles of this subject matter. These sources are incredibly helpful when it comes to understanding the meaning behind the Koran. The Koran contains numerous passages that are often confusing for someone who is unfamiliar with the Koran. While they may not address the issue of the environment directly, they do provide a useful way of understanding the meaning behind many of the passages contained within. They also give the reader an in-depth look at how exactly Islamic law is applied to all facets of a Muslim’s life. When a person first begins to read the Koran, the multiple passages about the environment, as well as the environmental imagery contained throughout jump out at the reader. The idea of environment and the development and beliefs of Islam go hand in hand. By closely examining the Koran it is evident that the environment is one of the most important aspects of the religion. According to the Koran, man is supposed to appreciate and respect the bounties which nature, and therefore God provides them. Muslims, according to Islamic teachings, are not only supposed to appreciate what nature provides, but also to use it wisely and not abuse it while also manipulating the environment for better use.7 The environment is discussed in over 700 verses throughout the Koran which, can be seen as surprising that such an ancient people could be so environmentally aware and protective. Many of these teachings of Muhammad, that happened almost 1500 years ago, still sound incredibly relevant and are concepts that modern environmentalists would agree with. It could be argued that from its very beginning Islam was directly related to, and influenced by the environment and nature. Like Islam, Christianity was also very influenced by the environment; the Bible contains numerous passages in reference to it. 7

Sayed Sikander Shah Haneef. “Principles of Environmental Law in Islam.” Arab Law Quarterly 17 no. 3 (2002): 243.

Muhammad, the founder of Islam, began to receive the revelations that later made up the Koran when he would retreat to an isolated cave in the wilderness to ponder and think. This cave was the perfect place for Muhammad to listen to the voice of nature and think deeply about the meaning of life.8 Many other great spiritual founding fathers of their respective religions also fled civilization for the refuge of ecological sites where they were, “reborn in a natural panorama with earthly tools”.9 The Koran contains multiple passages and proverbs that are full of thoughts on the design of creation and humanity’s duty to protect and preserve it. The Koran states that humans were put on earth as khalifs10 to protect the earth and all of its creatures in the name of Allah.11 This idea of the khalif is perhaps one of the most important aspects in relation to the Koran and the environment. This means that man has the power to shape the land and his environment to his own will. However, it is the responsibility of Muslims to not abuse this power, as it is seen as a gift from God to man that will backfire if it is misused.12 Followers of Islam are told by the Koran to treat the earth they walk on with humility13 and not to act as though they themselves are God. Muslims must always remember that there is a higher being who bestowed this trust upon them. The Koran teaches that that every creature and plant on the earth has an important assigned role to fulfill, and if any plant or animal becomes extinct it would be a catastrophic loss

8

Fairak, Amani, and X. Dai Rao. "UNIVERSAL PRACTICES ACROSS RELIGIONS: ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF ISLAM." Dialogue & Universalism 15, no. 7/8 (July 2005): 65-72. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 20, 2009). In this case pg 70. 9 Ibid 10 Arabic term which means to replace or succeed another, in this case used to describe people as trustees put on earth to act in God’s name. 11 Sura 2 verse 30. 12 Sayed Sikander Shah Haneef. “Principles of Environmental Law in Islam.” Arab Law Quarterly 17 no. 3 (2002): 243. 13 25:63

that must somehow be offset.14 Islamic scholars also teach that kindness to animals is a route to salvation while cruelty is a way to receive eternal punishment. They cite the case of Muhammad guaranteeing heaven to a polytheistic prostitute who gave water to a dying dog as evidence of this. In contrast, they also point to the case of a Muslim woman who was guaranteed damnation by starving and beating her cat.15 Muhammad also taught his followers to not hunt needlessly, participate in cutting down the forests, and to restore wetlands and other dead lands.16 The first Caliph17 of Islam also prohibited Muslims from destroying plant life even in midst of a military campaign.18 The Hadith19 collections of various Muslim scholars contain multiple teachings about the environment as well. Some teachings even have to do with the disposal of human waste properly. They teach that human sewage should not go into non-flowing bodies of water and to not bathe in water in which wastes may have been deposited.20 The Hadith also teaches to not dispose of wastes where people may walk21 and furthermore instructs Muslims to cover their noses while sneezing.22 Compared to other cultures at the time, this is a fairly impressive degree of understanding of diseases related to the proper disposal of human wastes and other methods of infection that some societies in the world today still struggle with.

14

17:44. Sayed Sikander Shah Haneef. “Principles of Environmental Law in Islam.” Arab Law Quarterly 17 no. 3 (2002): 250. 16 Sayed Sikander Shah Haneef. “Principles of Environmental Law in Islam.” Arab Law Quarterly 17 no. 3 (2002): 251. 17 First successor of Muhammad and leader of Islam; not to be confused with khalif 18 Sunan al-Tirmidhi 256. 19 Collections of sayings attributed to the prophet Muhammad not recorded in Koran, but later written down by Muslim scholars. 20 Sayed Sikander Shah Haneef. “Principles of Environmental Law in Islam.” Arab Law Quarterly 17 no. 3 (2002): 252. 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid 253. 15

With the growing ecological crisis on earth in the present, the words of major religions such as Islam have special importance as they can be used to help their respective followers to preserve and protect the environment. The Koran tells us to eat and drink, but not to do so excessively, and to never waste.23 The Koran also teaches people to not corrupt and pollute the earth24 which was made pure, and thus humans are to preserve it. This perhaps is because Islam was founded in a land where natural resources are scarce and such things as livestock, crops, and most importantly water, must be carefully shepherded and maintained in order to survive.25 One recurring nature theme that occurs over and over throughout the Koran is that of water. The Koran states that everything alive is created through water26 which seems incredibly ahead of the time and in line with what modern scientists believe today. The importance of water and its reoccurring usage throughout the Koran gives insight into the conditions in which Islam was founded. Muhammad lived in a very dry desert environment where water was of the utmost value and importance. This would have great impact on the creation of Islam and the teachings of the Koran. The idea of water being important is illustrated in the Koran through Muhammad’s vision of paradise as a lush land where many rivers flow.27 Living in a dry desert environment water seemed like a God sent creation, and the idea of plentiful water would have been appealing to any desert dweller. Rain coming down on dry earth is also used to describe resurrection in the Koran. Therefore, just as the rain gives new life to dry earth, so God gives new life to men.28

23

7:31 26:151 25 Jonathan Benthall. “The Greening of Islam.” Anthropology Today 19 no. 6 (December 2003): 10. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3695241. (March 14 2009). 26 21:30 27 Koran, referenced repeatedly 28 50:2-11. 24

Nature and the environment are common themes which appear throughout much of Islamic literature other than the Koran. Nature and environmental imagery is present in many Sufi poems and other writings. Sufism is a mystical sect of Islam that tries to become one to God and thus reach paradise. This is accomplished through various means, among them by going on solitary retreats in the wilderness in order to become closer to nature, and thus, God.29 Nature and wilderness were seen as very close to God and made in God’s likeness. The Koran teaches that Islam as a religion encourages its followers to seek knowledge through reflection on nature as God’s creation.30 Sufi poet Iqbal Nafisi shows the relation between God and nature in a line one of his poems, “all that exists is a mirror of your perfect beauty”.31 Another Sufi poet, Tufail Hoshiarpuri, uses water imagery to describe God’s love for his people.32 This use of water imagery is especially interesting as it is yet another example of multiple uses of water in Islamic text and scripture. Another major Middle Eastern religion, Christianity also has many teachings on the environment. Similarly to Islam, Christianity teaches that humans must protect the earth in the name of God, as it was given to them as their responsibility, as the bible says that humanity has dominion over all living things on earth.33 The bible also teaches that although people were given control over the earth by God, the world and all in it still belongs to God and the people are just temporary caretakers of it.34 This is important because it shows that other religions other

29

From Muhammad Emin Er, Laws of the Heart: A Practical Introduction to the Sufi Path, Shifâ Publishers, 2008 Fairak, Amani, and X. Dai Rao. "UNIVERSAL PRACTICES ACROSS RELIGIONS: ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF ISLAM." Dialogue & Universalism 15, no. 7/8 (July 2005): 65-72. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 20, 2009). 71 31 Iqbal Nafisi verse 4. http://www.unc.edu/depts/sufilit/Mabel.htm 32 Hoshiarpuri, Tufail “A Rosary of Love”. 33 Genesis 1:26-29. 34 Leviticus 25:23. 30

than just Islam care about the environment, and it was a very important part of ancient man’s life. Like the Koran, the Bible also teaches its adherents not to purposely harm the environment, even in extreme circumstances such as war. In one passage, the Bible says “when thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege”35. This essentially warns against the common practice of cutting down trees for the common practice of building siege weapons. However while advising of this; the bible also contains many passages of environmental destruction in war against other societies by the ancient Israelites, including most frequently writing about chopping down and destroying all trees in their enemies land.36 Thus in some ways unlike the Koran, the Bible is a bit more confusing on just what its teachings are. The imagery of the tree is used repeatedly throughout the Bible over 130 times. Perhaps the most famous passage in the Bible about trees is the passage about eating the forbidden fruit of the tree in the Garden of Eden.37 This passage is important because it just one of the many examples in the Bible which show the close interconnection between the Bible and the environment. The tree is an important symbol in Judaism and Christianity which is used over and over in many different ways. Christians like Muslims says that nature and the environment was created by God in his image, as Schama said when he described divinity as being “self-embodied in natural forms like

35

Deuteronomy, 20: 19. Bible, many passages, for example 2 Kings, 3:25 “And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.” 37 Genesis, 3:1-13. 36

the greenery of the world and its running water”.38 However until recently, some things were not seen as good creations made by God. Mountains went unmentioned in the account of Creation given in Genesis unlike so many other things of the natural world.39 This is surprising, because in Islam, mountains are seen as important places where God’s voice can be heard, and is where Muhammad retreated in the desert to receive his revelations.40 Although Christianity and Islam have traditionally throughout history been at odds with one another, on the environment they have much common ground. Both teach responsible stewardship for the environment, and respect for all things living in it big or small. While the Koran contains countless passages dealing with the environment and proper treatment and respect for it, the bible also has its fair share of passages dealing with the importance of respecting all life in general. The problem of the environment in the world today would perhaps be most easily solved if people followed the wisdom of the ancients. Since many people throughout the world are strong believers in a religion, it is important to note what exactly their religion teaches about the environment, and how the environment is used. Islam is a very much environmentally conscious religion that cares deeply about the environment, and this can be used to help protect the environment in areas of the world where Muslims make up the majority of the population. While not being as clear on protecting the environment as Islam, Christianity also encourages it’s believers to be good stewards of the land, and to try and protect God’s creation. While science and religion are often seen as being on opposite sides of many discussions, on the environment both can agree that it needs to be protected and conserved. For followers of Islam and Christianity as well as Judaism, their respective Holy Books and teachings of their 38

Schama 250. Ibid 426. 40 Koran, many passages. 39

prophets provide an excellent framework for looking at the environment. If these teachings were to be properly followed and applied, the world and the environment would be in very good shape.

Works Cited Anonymous. The Holy Bible King James Version: King James Version. Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004. Anonymous. The Koran. London: Penguin Classics, 2004. S. A. Nigosian. Islam: Its History, Teaching, and Practices. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004:43. Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom. Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002:12. Simon Schama. Landscape And Memory. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Buntzie Ellis Churchill, and Bernard Lewis. Islam: The Religion and the People. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing, 2008. Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, Adnan Z. Amin, S. Nomanul Haq, Joseph G. Jabbra, Nancy W. Jabbra, Tazim R. Kassam, Fazlun M. Khalid, Nawal H. Ammar, Saadia Khawar Khan Chishti, L. Clarke, Mawil Izzi Dien, Hashim Ismail Dockrat, Yasin Dutton, Nathan C. Funk, and Safei-Eldin A. Hamed. Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust (Religions of the World and Ecology). Cambridge: Harvard Center For The Study Of World Religions, 2003. Fazlun Khalid. Islam and Ecology (World Religions and Ecology Series). London: Cassell, 1992. Fairak, Amani, and X. Dai Rao. "UNIVERSAL PRACTICES ACROSS RELIGIONS: ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF ISLAM." Dialogue & Universalism 15, no. 7/8 (July 2005): 65-72. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 20, 2009). Jonathan Benthall. “The Greening of Islam.” Anthropology Today 19 no. 6 (December 2003): 10. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3695241. (March 14 2009). Sayed Sikander Shah Haneef. “Principles of Environmental Law in Islam.” Arab Law Quarterly 17 no. 3 (2002 jstor

Matthew Itell Capstone Self Assessment Throughout my college career at Shippensburg I have written a variety of different papers for a variety of very different subjects. These papers have employed a variety of very different writing styles in order to fulfill various requirements. Every paper has had its own particular strengths and weaknesses which should be noted. The assignments throughout the time I have spent here in Shippensburg have greatly contributed to increasing my own knowledge about global history, and helped to refine both my research and writing skills. Taken together, the three works of this historiography represent the overall work which I have done here in Shippensburg. My paper Islam: The Green Religion was the most ambitious and difficult papers I have ever written due to the lack of material on this subject. This paper was a look at how the environment effected the shaping of one of the world’s major religions. This paper portrays Islam as a far more positive influence in the world when many people see Muslims in a very negative light in the West. This paper also offers Islam as a possible solution to environmental issues in third world countries such as the Middle East. The Green Religion takes a look at passages from the Koran, and what Muhammad and other scholars of Islam have said about how the environment should be treated. The paper also compares Islam to another Middle Easter religion; Christianity. This paper’s main strength comes from the fact that it looks very closely at what the Koran says about a particular subject in one of its Suras. The Green Religion is a very good paper for examining the direct impact that Islam has on the way that Muslims are supposed to

look at and treat the environment. The paper also employs a wide variety of other sources from Sufi poetry, to modern Islamic scholars. The paper’s greatest strength overall comes from its exploration into how Christianity and Islam compare to each other when dealing with themes of nature and ecology. The Green Religion shows that while Christianity and the bible are often inconsistent on how the environment should be treated, the Koran never wavers in the fact that people should treat it with a great deal of respect and care. This paper also contains some very glaring weaknesses as well. While it does include some information on how Islam was shaped by the environment, it would have been very interesting to flesh that out even more. The paper writes about how because Islam was founded in a land with very few natural resources, those that the land around them did have were very precious, and had to be carefully conserved. According to the paper, even water had to be carefully conserved and used properly. Another major problem that the paper had was having a variety of primary sources outside of the Koran and Journal of Islamic Law due to the fact that few documents were ever translated into English. Another paper closely related in theme to The Green Religion was a paper titled The Impact of the Environment on Russian History. This paper closely looks at how the environment has had a great impact on Russian history. This paper primarily deals with quantative statistics, such as the amount of ground in Russia that is permafrost, the growing season, and crop yields in Russia compared to Western Europe and the United States. It also contains a variety of information on how the character of the Russian people has been shaped by the incredibly harsh environment in which they live

The main strengths of this is the in depth look it provides on just how poor the Russian soil’s crop yields are compared to other countries, and the very short growing season. Through this analysis, this paper clearly shows how Russia is at a massive disadvantage compared to other countries, and struggles just to be able to feed its own people. Another critical strength of The Impact of the Environment on Russian History is its ability to clearly show how the relatively poor environmental conditions in Russia has helped shape its history and how it continues to influence the policy making of the Russian government to this day. This paper does not have any glaring weaknesses, and instead is a good overall look at a variety of ways in which the Russian environment has shaped both the people in the country, and the way in which the people and rulers have shaped the environment in Russia from the country’s origins to the present. However, this may also be the greatest weakness of the paper, as it does not devote a substantial amount of time, or focus on any single subject regarding the environment in Russia. While it may be a weakness that it did not focus on a particular part of Russian environmental history, the intention of the paper was to give a broad overview of all areas of the Russian history with regards to the impact of environmental factors. The final paper of this self-assessment is a paper done in Theory and Practice of History. The topic of this paper is The Eradication of Smallpox. This paper provides a history into the massive and successful effort to eradicate smallpox off of the earth, and provides interesting insight and analysis into how and why smallpox is the only disease that has been successfully removed from this planet. This paper talks first about the impact smallpox has had on human populations throughout the world, from Europe to the Americas, before continuing on to the beginning of the drive to successful rid humanity of this incredibly terrible disease.

The paper’s main strength is the very clear look at the eradication effort from both governments, to individual scientists. The paper charts the entire known history of the disease, and shows how the effort to eradicate it began through the use of vaccinations from the 18th century through 1979 until it was declared to be completely wiped out. This paper also contains a massive variety of primary sources dealing with smallpox, from Jeffery Amherst’s orders to give blankets to the Native Americans, to the overall report submitted to the World Health Organization detailing the entire eradication effort. The paper also uses information written down by Bernal Diaz on the great impact that smallpox had in aiding the conquistadores’ conquest of the Aztec empire. This paper truly does not have any great weaknesses other than just the massive amount of information contained within it. It is an extremely broad yet at the same time in depth look at smallpox throughout its history, from the earliest known origins, to the movement to get smallpox completely eradicated. Perhaps it might have been better to divide the paper up into several smaller papers instead of a single massive paper. However, this is also a very big strength of the paper, in the fact that it employed a wide variety of sources to give a very clear picture of the impact of smallpox on humanity. Throughout my career at Shippensburg I have written a variety of papers on many different subjects. The three which this historiography covers I feel are representative to my overall body of work that I have completed here in Shippensburg. The papers I have written have aided greatly in my development as a scholar here in Shippensburg, and have helped teach me how to research and write a successful history paper. The papers which are discussed in this historiography are a blend of both primary and secondary research which is a very important skill as a historian to have.