In Part One of American Colonies, author Alan Taylor accentuates the natural disharmonies that transpired due to humanity, throughout the colonization of the New World. Taylor attributes humans as the most endangering species to the environment, both Native Americans and the settlers. Prior to and during the settlement of the North American colonies, all of humanity’s survival depended on the environment and how they used it. If the Natives or the settlers did not use their surrounding to the fullest advantage, themselves or others potentially could die. The first example of environmental demise that Taylor illustrated was the “…the extinction [of] two-thirds of all New World species…including the giant beaver, mammoth…” and others,” (Taylor 8). He accredited the extinction of these extraordinary animals to the “…combination of climatic change and the spread of highly skilled hunters,” (Taylor 8). The natives did not know how their excessive hunting would have such an effect - they just did what they had to do to survive. …show more content…
The tribe would “…kill wild animal faster than they could reproduce, [had an over-reliance] on maize, [and] chopped down most of the nearby forest,” (Taylor 16). The waste that the tribe produce was the breeding grounds for disease, as well. The environmental strains became so significant that Cahokia’s people started to doubt the paramount chief, which to an extent, led to the abandonment of the Cahokia. The purpose of Taylor going into such depth about the diminishment of the Cahokia was to demonstrate that even environmental issues can affect such a group of established
The Middle Colonies are located in between the New England and Southern Colonies. The Middle Colonies consist of New York founded in 1624, Delaware in 1638, Pennsylvania in 1643, and New Jersey in 1660. These four colonies were different, economically and socially, in many ways because they got a mix of the other two colonies and made it their own. New York was founded the British acquired more land from the Dutch. New York was called New Netherlands and was ruled by the Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant before the British took it over.
Josh: The New England Colonies is a great place to live and this is why you should live here. Payton: The geography is great because there are large mountains with abundant trees. Josh: And trade routes are great with the Atlantic Ocean in such close access.
“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.
Cronon’s final conclusion and overarching theme in Changes in the Land was that the ecological alterations made between the 1600’s and 1800’s were directly related to European settlement. I agree with the conclusion made by Cronon because Cronon conveys through his book that the European colonists were greatly motivated by money and used the land as if there was a “limitless availability” (Cronon 169). The land in New England in the eyes of the colonists was simply “a form of capital” (Cronon 169), a way to make a profit leading them to overuse the resources, greatly altering the ecology and depleting resources. The majority of the information in Changes in the Land, and our textbook, Experiencing History: Interpreting America’s Past are equivalent, but it is rather evident that the information is conveyed through different lenses.
This also shows how hunting doesn’t just cause extinction, but also makes an area less protective. The protaganists made sure that people such as Drake McBride and Jimmy Lee Bayless should always be avoided in the wilderness. Even though some of the animals are dangerous, they taught us that anyone should have some type of shelter no matter what the cause
By the mid-eighteenth century, tensions between the Native American tribes and English settlers had mounted to an all time high. Mistrust was frequent, as was betrayal. Fighting could break out in a minute, and then be finished the next. Political relationships were broken because of a war and massacre; the economy boomed because of barbaric markets & fur trade. Yet, a lasting effect took place after a war and fruit picking that shattered relations with the tribes for years to come.
Historians estimate that around ninety percent of the first Americans had died in between 1492 and 1650, the era of Columbian Exchange (Nunn, Qian). This loss is still considered to be one of the largest and the most horrifying demographic disasters in human history (Nunn, Qian). The massive transfer of plants, animals, ideas, people, and disease between the Old World and the New World was the cause for this disaster and many other dramatic transformations made in America. The Columbian Exchange had more negative than positive effects on America, as this exchange greatly benefited the Europeans and their colonies while bringing catastrophe to the environment, the people, ideas, and the culture of America.
Historians differ on what they think about the net result of the European arrival in the New World. Considering that the Columbian Exchange, which refers to “exchange of plants, animals, people, disease, and culture between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas after Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492,” led to possibly tens of millions of deaths on the side of the American Indians, but also enabled agricultural and technological trade (Henretta et al. 42), I cannot help but reflect on whether the effects should be addressed as a historical or a moral question. The impact that European contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be understood as a moral question because first, treating it as a historical question is difficult due to lack of reliable historical evidence; second, the meaning of compelling historical claims is contestable as the academic historian perspective tends to view the American Indian oral history as invalid; and finally, what happened to the native Indians is morally repulsive and must be discussed as such. The consequences of European contact should be answered as a moral question because historically, it is hard to be historically objective in the absence of valid and dependable historical evidence.
Northern colonies started as just state all bunched into one. They are now there own separate states now. The northern colonies are now the states of Plymouth,Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and finally New Hampshire. Plymouth Colony: Plymouth colony was an English colonial venture in North America from the years of 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith.
Over the past few months, business has been stable throughout the colonies. The leading occupation in these colonies is farming. Although farmers produced a lot of crops, their income was dependent on the value and quality of the crop itself. Agriculture plays a vital role in American economy, and there is evidently some strengths and weaknesses in this business.
Ecological imperialism is a theory that was developed by Alfred Crosby that says European settlers were “successful” in colonization because of their introduction of animals, plants, and diseases that were not native or found in original native lands. However, it was the “success” of the colonists that led to declines and suffering in native populations. Crosby believed that this is what led to major shifts in the ecology of the colonized areas and declines in the indigenous populations. In the United States and Central America, ecological imperialism affected the native populations in destructive ways. Notably, in Central America, ecological imperialism is considered a catalyst in the collapse of many native populations due to the superior
This week we discussed ‘“The Tempest” in the Wilderness: A Tale of Two Frontiers’ by Ronald Takaki. In this article, the author discusses the differences between savagery and civilization. The main argument in this argument is shown in the form of examples of how the Indians and Irish were simply harmless at first when discovering the New World, but quickly made into monsters by the English men. I’m sure we’ve all learned in history of John Smith’s description of how the Powhatans cared for the sick and dying English men.
Merrell’s article proves the point that the lives of the Native Americans drastically changed just as the Europeans had. In order to survive, the Native Americans and Europeans had to work for the greater good. Throughout the article, these ideas are explained in more detail and uncover that the Indians were put into a new world just as the Europeans were, whether they wanted change or
The 13 Colonies are broken down into 3 parts, Middle, Southern, and New England Colonies. There were many similarities and differences between all of the 13 Colonies. Many of them ranging from their climate and geography to the role women and African Americans played. A variety of people came from all around the world to the 13 Colonies for many different reasons. In the Middle Colonies, there was a very diverse population.
Colonial Books began with the work of English people (who like exciting travel) and colonists in the New World benefit the readers in the country. Some of these early works reached the level of books, as in the truthful account of his fun trips by Captain John Smith and the newspaper-related histories of John Winthrop and William Bradford in New England. From the beginning, however, the books of New England was also directed to the improvement and instruction of the colonists themselves, meant to direct them in the ways of the gods. The first book-related work was published in the Puritan (groups of people or other living things), was the Bay Religious song Book, and the whole effort of the discovers wrote angrily/desperately to explain in