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Before reading Kevin Rozario’s article “What Comes Down must Go up”, I believed the outlook of viewing a natural disaster as an opportunity was a more recent invention from the late nineteenth century. Rozario argues that the perspective of looking at disasters as an opportunity for development is actually ingrained in American society. The earthquake that devastated the American colonies proves this perspective. In 1727 an earthquake caused mass damage in the New England area. While many colonists were angered by the disaster, a significant amount of people greeted the destruction with elation. Ministers considered the earthquake a blessing upon the survivors, and God chose the survivors to follow the path of righteousness. Disasters of the nineteenth century, such as the Great Chicago Fire, also were portayed as an opportunity. In the case of the fire, businessmen who had investments in the city portrayed the disaster as an opportunity for growth. Similar to this exploitation, the earthquake of 1727 was portrayed positively in the interest of evoking a religuous revival.
Rozario also associates the religious fervor ministers evoked after disasters in the colonial period with the shaping of America’s urban spaces. As ploopy1 stated, victims of a disaster can either recover as an individual or collectively rebuild. The religious meaning injected by religious leaders seemed to help bring communitites together after destruction. Thus, the rapid growth of large, American cities can be attributed to the continuous adversity from natural forces.