In the book, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, author William Cronon address the permanent environmental changes and concerns that took place at the hands of Native Americans and colonists in New England. With references to Henry David Thoreau, the first part of the book lays the ground for the reader to feel nostalgic towards the original beauty of New England that was assumed to exist prior to when the Europeans arrived. Cronon expands upon this imagery of New England environmental beauty through an arrangement of sources by presenting the drastic landscape changes that happened after the interaction of two different civilizations. Extensive evidence from this book shows how Native Americans were slowly …show more content…
The Natives only took what they needed to live from the land, unlike the colonists who were interested in luxuries. This can be seen as one of the major differences shown throughout all the interactions between Native Americans and colonists. Native Americans did not see the point in the luxury of owning land, simply having agreements among tribes about where to live, hunt or plant their crops. The English could not even comprehend such an arrangement because they believed it was a natural born right to own land. The Natives were also unbothered by property rights and lacked the desire to own objects that were not useful to them. For example, why would a female Native want to own a hunting knife if her job was to harvest the corn fields? The Natives also worked as a community, willingly giving away objects and tools that no longer served a purpose to them to others that needed them. The lack of desire for ownership confused the English colonists greatly, but also allowed them to easily take advantage of the Native Americans since they were not aware of the land they were sitting on. The only way that an English colonist could own land was if it was given to him by the Crown or if it was purchased from the Natives, which led to colonists making ridiculously unfair deals with Native Americans for monumental amounts of land. For example, one …show more content…
The biggest issue with the colonists was their desire to increase their wealth and their ability to exploit their natural resources. Unlike the Native Americans who kept a balance of what they took from the land, the colonists excessively cut down trees for ships, houses, and other uses. They also brought livestock and other animals with them from Europe, letting them roam into the ecosystems they were not accustom to and throw off the natural balance. The livestock that colonists brought (cows, horses, and pigs) increased the wolf population drastically, ultimately creating problems for both civilizations and resulting in fences being built. The colonists did not pay attention to the impact they were having on the landscape from turning forests into farmlands or by letting their animals graze and destroy previously existing ecosystems. The manure that was brought over by the livestock even changed the type of grass and plants that grew in New England. Colonists even created dams, millponds and canals in the years to come, which resulted in major changes in the fish population, mosquito diseases, and also changed the water flow in some areas. These are just some of the ecological changes that the colonists caused on New England from trying to make a completely different ecosystem into the one in
They fenced the land to raise livestock. They saw a distinct difference between community and individual property. At first, the Native Americans believed that it would be fine to share with the English. But when the English took over the land and began to raise livestock, destroying Native American crops and preventing new ones from being planted, the leader of the Wampanoag (known as King Philip to the English) led several American Indian nations to war against the English and some of their allies.
“Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England” was published in 1983 by historian William Cronon. The book focuses on environmentalism and history of New England. Cronon describes the shift from Indian to European dominance, the European’s view of nature through an economic lens, and the anthropogenic changes to the environment that occured. Throughout the book, Cronon argues that the European colonists used various tactics to assert dominance over the Indians.
The Native Americans also desired goods they could not produce (guns, alcohol, and blankets). This brought about rapid change which destroyed the culture of the natives. Alcohol disrupted daily life for the natives and blankets were carriers for
The colonists were taking the Native American's property and taking advantage of the native Americans in the trade by getting them drunk so they could get more land. King Philip, the religious leader the Native Americans.
The colonist came to the New World they need a lot of things from the Indians such as food and survival. The Indians were loyal and kind, and helped the colonist with their needs. When the colonist was able to stand on their own without the Indians they respected the Indians rights, so they said, and agreed to the treaties but the colonist always put their needs before the Indians rules, even if it meant breaking treaties. As the colonist continued to break treaties, and new policy was formed called the Albany Plan of Union stating that the only one who could settle Indian treaties, trade with the Indians, declare war and make peace was the government of British. This all happened after the Revolutionary war.
Native Americans believed land was like the air, it could not be sold because it belonged to everyone (American History). The Algonquian were taken advantage of by the Europeans early on. The Europeans would present the Algonquians with a deed for their land; the Natives thought it was a friendly gesture to share land, not a death sentence (Native
“Preventing our obtaining more subsistence by cultivating of new lands, [the French] discourage our marriages, and keep our people from increasing; thus…killing thousands of our children before they are born,” wrote Benjamin Franklin. Franklin regarded the importance of expanding westward necessary for the American colonists; more land was needed for the colonists to keep growing, but the French were in their way. As the continent of North America was tossed repeatedly back and forth from the hands of the French to the hands of the British, the American colonists could not wait to devour the heavily contested lands west of the Appalachians. But through a combination of politics and economics, the colonists were not allowed easy access to those rich lands. Land was of such importance to the colonists that it caused the American Revolutionary War.
The development of agriculture and the rise of industrialization generated new cultures and innovations in the new world. Native people in early America developed cultural distinct , men were in charge of the fishing, hunting, jobs that were more exposed to violence, and the women stayed closed to the village, farming, and child bearing. The way of life possessed by natives Americans did not compel them to conquer and transform new land. As opposed to European colonizers, Native Americans subscribed to a more “animistic” understanding of nature. In which they believed that plants and animals are not commodities, they are something to be respected rather than used.
In his 1995 essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon declares that “the time has come to rethink wilderness” (69). From the practice of agriculture to masculine frontier fantasies, Cronon argues that Americans have historically defined wilderness as an “island,” separate from their polluted urban industrial homes (69). He traces the idea of wilderness throughout American history, asserting that the idea of untouched, pristine wilderness is a harmful fantasy. By idealizing wilderness from a distance, he argues that people justify the destruction of less sublime landscapes and aggravate environmental conflict.
The Spanish based their colonies on the promise of finding gold and possessing it, while the English Settlers based their colonies on the preaching of Christianity all while believing that the land they possessed and owned was how they would gain their liberty, independence, and ultimately their freedom. The Native Americans believed that the land belonged to not one person, but to a community instead; as long a you showed deep respect for it and cared for it as so mandated by the great spirit. Whether it be by the use of violence, religious education, or respect, every society and every person had different views on how the land and its resources should be
The Indian Removal Act forced the Native Americans to move away from their ancestral homes. Gabrielle Tayac, Edwin Schupman, and Genevieve Simermeyer noted, “Native peoples have created thriving societies along the shores of numerous rivers that feed into the beautiful and environmentally rich Chesapeake Bay. They lived in connection to the seasons and the natural resources of the region” (“Chesapeake Natives: Three Major Chiefdoms”). Prior to the arrival of the colonists, the Native Americans built and maintained successful communities in their ancestral homes for generations.
First of all, Native Americans were settled on a hotbed of natural resources which included oil and precious metals such as silver and gold. There was also much fertile land that would entice farmers and frontiersmen to move out west. On this land there was so much potential economic opportunity for farmers, cattle drivers, miners and many other occupations. The government developed the popular public misconception that the indians were misusing the land and that Americans had the right to take advantage of the opportunities that lie in the west. These ideas led to the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which authorized encroachment of Indian lands by the US government in order to divide up reservations and control Indian activity.
William Cronon’s Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England Interprets and analyzes the changing conditions in New England’s wildlife communities such as plant and animal that happened to shift from Native American dominance to European dominance. Cronon explains that the transition from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes, commonly known to historians, on how these people organized their lives, but it also involves basic reorganizations, less well known to historians, in the region’s plant and animal communities (Cronon, xv). As the distant world and occupants of Europe were bit by bit introduced to North America’s ecosystem, the limits between the two were obscured. Cronon utilizes an assortment of proof to clarify the circumstances that prompted the dramatic ecological consequences following European contact with New England such as deforestation and different understandings that result in confusion.
Name Professor Course Date Book Review: Everyday Life in Early America The book ‘Everyday Life in Early America’ by David Hawke provides a comprehensive account of the history of early settlers in America. It maintains that the geographic concept including the physical environment is a chief factor that influences the behavior of individuals. The author assumes that early settlers came to America in the hope of taking forward their customs and traditions while starting afresh in a foreign land.
The Natives believed that the Europeans are “edgy, rapacious, and remotely maladroit.” Sure enough, the settlers in Jamestown kenned little about farming and found the environment baffling. It was conspicuous that the colonists needed the avail of the Natives. Despite their inexperience the English dominated the Indians. From “the beginning the Virginia Company indited that the relationship would ineluctably become bellicose: for you Cannot Carry Your Selves so towards them but they will Grow Discontented with Your habitation.”