The realization of human domination over the environment began / in the late 1700s with the industrial revolution.

Advances in manufacturing / transformed societies and economies / while producing significant impacts / on the environment.

American society became structured / on multiple industries’ capitalistic goals / as the development of the steam engine / led to the mechanized production of goods in mass quantities.

Rural agricultural communities / with economies based on handmade goods and agriculture / were abandoned / for life in urban cities with large factories / based on an economy of industrialized manufacturing.

Innovations in the production of textiles, iron, and steel / provided increased profits / to private companies.

Simultaneously, / those industries / exerted authority over the environment / and began dumping hazardous byproducts / in public lands and waterways.