These natures work cooperatively and lead to such historical events that we consider. Having said this, Fiege uses these natures as lenses to show that nature is thus the final determinant of human history. Other historians may disagree with Fiege's standpoint on said claim, but Fiege proclaims this point well throughout the book. In "Land of Lincoln," Fiege claims that "whatever form nature takes, people have arranged their societies, economies, and governments to turn it into food, clothing, warmth, shelter, weapons, art, architecture, and many other things. The complexity of means by which people have sought to realize these ends--and the biophysical and social consequences of their actions--constitutes an enormous part of environmental history" (Fiege 10). By using the various forms of nature, Fiege wishes to prove the point that nature is the determinant and cause of history. He realizes that it may not be the be-all and end-all flawless interpretation of history and its course of events, but merely provides reasoning and looks into one way history can be explained.
To expand on physiological nature, one should begin with the chapter of "Satan in the Land." This chapter shows the use of the nature lens to be useful in the way such that Fiege describes as the supernatural and disorder. In Andover, healthy farm animals perish for no apparent reason, families die from smallpox, diabolical and inhumane crimes are committed, and other natural events that the Puritan society considered to be supernatural. And because of these events, the Puritan society presumed that witches, harnessing the power of evil spirits, were the cause of such events. In cause of the natural events, they led to the famous Salem Witch Trials, in which people were prosecuted and blamed for the unfortunate, but certainly natural, events. These events showed that the use of nature as a lens is very useful in considering American history because one can see the transition from such a fundamental viewpoint such as natural events, and see how they eventually transition into larger events with bigger factors such as religion playing into the natural events.