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Article: Sanitation, Environmental
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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SANITATION, ENVIRONMENTAL
SANITATION, ENVIRONMENTAL.
To the first settlers the fresh clean air and sparkling waters of the New World contrasted sharply with the ingrained dirt and filth of ancient European cities, and the vast reaches of the new continent made it difficult for them to contemplate the possibility of dirt and crowding. Nevertheless, humanity's unhappy faculty for befouling its environment soon made governmental action necessary. Shortly after the establishment of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, a law in 1644 forbade its residents from urinating and depositing filth within the fort. In 1657 other ordinances prohibited throwing dead animals, rubbish, and filth into the ...