Analysis Of ' The Land '

William Cronon’s Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England is all about the changing condition of the land, New England in the newly discovered world. It talks about the ecosystem, plants, and animal communities and how they were affected by the new settlers. As the inhabitant of the distant world were introduced to the New England drastic changes took place and both world eventually started to become same, as William states in his thesis “the shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes—well known to historians—in the ways these peoples organized their lives, but it also involved fundamental reorganizations—less well known to historians—in the region’s plant and animal communities”

In William Cronon’s book Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, he discuses the ecological history of New England from the late sixteenth century to the early nineteenth century. He demonstrates how the New Englanders changed the land by illustrating the process of the change in the landscape and the environment. In the Preface Cronon states, “My thesis is simple: the shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes—well known to historians—in the ways these people organized their lives, but it also involved fundamental reorganizations—less well-known to historians—in the region's plant

In “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon illustrates the paradox within the notion of wilderness, describing that if wilderness is that which lies beyond civilization -- beyond humankind, then so is the notion of nature outside the realm of the human... that humans are therefore, unnatural. Further, he explains that if our concept of nature (and ultimately our concept of God) is outside of humanity, then our existence is synonymous with the downfall of nature. That wilderness is purely a construct of civilization is central to this argument.  For example, Cronon asserts that “the removal of Indians to create an ‘uninhabited wilderness’---uninhabited as never before in human history of the place---reminds us just how invented, just how constructed, the American wilderness really is” (pg.79). Instead of in isolation from civilization, Cronon finds that his most spiritual experiences with nature have always been closer to home… a sense of wildness (versus wilderness) can be found in one’s backyard, gazing from a front porch, and in the melding of the human experience with mother nature. One of Into the Wild’s final scenes drives home this idea by altering the literal point of view that main character, Chris McCandless, has had of both himself and of the world since the beginning of his two year journey.  Into the Wild attempts to dramatizes Cronon’s argument to rethink wilderness; we will examine how the film succeeds, and where it fails, to support its premise.

In a chilling recollection of mankind’s current misdeeds towards the environment in “The End of Nature,” McKibben’s call for action is one paramount to the survival of the human race. In essence, McKibben argues that the futures of both nature and ourselves are delicately yet undeniably interconnected. Furthermore, he urges that “we” (ALL humans) are the deciding chip in said bond. By doing so, McKibben implies that action must be situated if we are to expect any change in such bleak a situation. This argument can clearly be found when McKibben speaks out on a myriad of environmental issues in the past, present, and future. McKibben begins to accustom readers to a pattern in which human ignorance juts out from past environmental experiences.

The book “Changes in the Land” by William Cronon in summary is based on environmental history where science, social science, the way society affects human nature and vice-versa is all combined into his narrative. With that being said, he believed that humans are dependent on nature, and nature is something that’s either made or broken by humans. Same goes for vegetation and land area. He wrote about conflicts between two cultures, where when the settlers came in to New England, they took over the Native American’s home. The power the settlers had over the Native Americans grew so strong that it got to a point where the rule of usufruct was put in place, where Native Americans could make use of any natural resource on earth as long as it wasn’t being needed by another person.

The possesion of land has proved to greatly amplify and draw out several different stereotypes and conflicts between societies in the world 's history. From Many different accounts all over the world today there has always been a dispute over land. However other disputes shadow in that of the colonial New England settlers and the Native Americans, both virtually revolving their lives around this concept of land distribution. For the settlers it meant wealth and prosperity, for the natives it meant staying alive. William Cronon 's book, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, illustrates the differences between these two separate societies and describes what life was like during the period of exploration and settlement in the New World. There are several other facts or opinions that one could take away from this passage, but the three main points are differences in the Colonist and Native conceptions of property, as well as how cultural stereotypes and eventual conflict emerged from mutual understanding of the land and use of property by each group.

The novel, A Land Remembered, is the epic saga of three generations of MacIveys. The novel begins with a flash back, from the last generation MacIvey, Sol. Sol was a real estate tycoon in Miami and the surrounding areas. He has chosen to give up his life in Miami to live his last hours in the cabin in Punta Rassa , Florida; the cabin his grandfather had built. Thus, the three generations of MacIveys in Florida ends.

He discusses this by explaining how everything was when the Native Americans had control and further how is changes as Europeans gained dominance. I found it interesting how Cronon describes how to Europeans viewed the land. “Their image of the area that came to be called New England was shaped by a variety of circumstances that had little to do with the ecology itself” (Cronon 19). With this the settlers saw many things they were not used to seeing in Europe such as large numbers of birds and fish, which led to the Europeans overusing the vast resources. Since the Europeans viewed the land so differently then the Native Americans, their view of Native Americans reflected that. Europeans saw the land having much potential and the Native Americans were not fully utilizing it. Therefore, they were viewed as a lower class; “Many European visitors were struck by what seemed to them the poverty of Indians who lived in the midst of a landscape endowed so astonishingly with abundance” (Cronon

Just like many other things and situations, Cronon studies the ecological changes in New England through the meeting of the Indians and European settlers and their relationship to the enviroment. As for Cronon, it is a story of the victory of capatilist commoification of nature.

Cronon’s work meticulously details the chasm between the colonial and Native American outlooks on the environment and on each other. Europeans were grounded in a mercantile economy and judged the environment by the resources it afforded an aspiring entrepreneur who had to find a way to turn a profit and repay debts and other capital expenditures (20). Many letters sent back to the Old World by colonists detailed the abundance of flora

In “Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England”, William Cronan breaks down the changes in New England that occurred after the shift from Indian to European dominance. In the first chapter of the book, Cronan goes into detail about the ecological history of New England. This detail expands on the changes that plant and wildlife population encountered during this shift from Indian to European life. As the shift occurred it created changes in the way those inhabitants live their lives, but it also created changes in plant production and wildlife. Cronan introduces us to his argument by stating that the physical affects that were created are from the Indian and European peoples due to agriculture, hunting, establishments,

Cronon uses multiple viewpoints in time to tell the story of changing ecology, most noticeably through journal records and written letters from settlers in the past. Henry David Thoreau was a

Cronon’s book Changes in land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England is an intricate ecological history of the environment of New England between the sixteenth and nineteenth century. It describes the environment in New England before the arrival of the Europeans and subsequently after their arrival. The book is easy to read and gives accurate information on the lives of the native Indian communities that lived in the land. It also explains how the Europeans found the land when they first arrived. In contrast to previous preconceptions, New England was not the unspoiled and pristine wilderness. The Native Americans had shaped the land long before the arrival of the Europeans. In his preface page, Cronon stated his thesis:” the shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes – well known to historians- in the ways these peoples organized their lives, but it is also involved fundamental reorganizations- less well known to historians- in the region’s plant and animal communities.”(Cronon, Preface pg. VII).

The interconnection between the human race and nature is complex, and can be interpreted an infinite amount of ways. Mark Jenkins’ ‘King of the Dirtbags’ and Wendell Berry’s ‘An Entrance to the Woods’ are both very similar in the ways they represent philosophical ideas regarding the relationship between the modern man and nature. Both literary pieces discuss the benefits of simplicity, and explain how mankind has a tendency to overcomplicate much of what they develop. The two authors also share the idea in their writings that the ability to adapt to different environments is a crucial trait in evolution and progression as a society. Another major concept that is prevalent in both of the author’s pieces is that man must be able to reach beyond his comfort zone to understand nature’s consistency throughout time.

The book Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England is written by William Cronon. He gives an interpretation and analyzation of the changes in the plant and animal communities in New England. This took place when there were changes in authority from Indian to European authority. It influenced the lives of Native Americans in terms of society and culture, which lead to major changes in the community. It uses ecological and historian ways to construct an analysis of the way the people and the land influenced each other, and the way the hardships of relationships created the New England community. Cronon states, “the shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes – well known to historians – in the ways these people organized their lives, but it also involved fundamental reorganizations – less well known to historians – in the region’s plant and animal communities” (Cronon xv).