President Theodore Roosevelt signed the American Antiquities Act into law on 8 June 1906. It was the first piece of legislation that gave the federal government, and specifically the president, the authority to protect and preserve areas of public land or resources with cultural or historic value. Public interest in American archeological sites and prehistoric ruins had increased drastically in the late nineteenth century, resulting in the looting of many historic Native American burial grounds in the western United States. The Antiquities Act allowed for protection of these “national monuments” and gave the federal government the power to redirect resources for management of national monuments and national parks. Sixteen United States presidents have used the Antiquities Act to designate national monuments and the Congress utilized it to expand the National Park system.
Contributed by Madeline Sheehy
Course: Modern Global Environmental History
Instructor: Dr. Wilko Graf von Hardenberg
University of Wisconsin–Madison, US
- Harmon, David, Francis P. McManamon, and Pitcaithley Dwight T. The Antiquities Act: A Century of American Archaeology, Historic Preservation, and Nature Conservation. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2006.
- Hartman, Brent J. "Extending the Scope of the Antiquities Act." Public Land & Resources Law Review 32 (2011): 153–91.
- Rothman, Hal. Preserving Different Pasts: The American National Monuments. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.