How the New England Colonists Altered the New England Environment

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 the early 1600’s, English people, attempting to escape the economic crisis that had plagued England, began migrating to the Americas and establishing colonies. The New England colonies and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by populations of people of English origin. Despite this similarity, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. The difference in the kind of people that settled, the shared communal values, and the profitability of the land in these areas are what shaped these regions into contrasting societies.

In comparison to the Europeans, depending on the region, a lot of Native Americans were largely migrant people who followed resources as needed. Tribes would stay in one area for as long as they could utilize whatever was in season and then moved forward once the land’s resources had nothing left to offer. Hunting and gathering forced tribes to relocate quite often due to the different seasons’ impact on game and plants. Even though agriculture was not a reliable source of sustainability for these people, Indians often found ways to make use of whatever herbs and plants grew around them. Low environmental impact and zero waste are two very important values to Indians as they have a very spiritual connected to the earth. In other parts of the country, Indians used agriculture quite a lot and even found ways to make their crops last through the winter. Some tribes established themselves fairly prominently in one area, but a key difference between their establishment and the English’s was their inherent view that no matter what they yielded from the land, it was not their property to claim forever. The Native Americans really

Obtain Food: They grew crops of corn, beans, pumpkins, and squash. The rainfall made the land very potent for growing crops and keeping up with a farm. During the winter they hunted buffalo, although they are mainly agricultural. Animals in the area included Bison, deer, elk, bear, porcupine, antelope, prairie dogs, eagles, and wolves.

Although the Chesapeake and New England colonies were the earliest English colonies to flourish in the New World, they were both extremely different in the ways that they developed. Similarities between the colonies can be found, but the colonies were mostly different. The colonies differed most in religion, society, culture, economy, and their relationships with the American Indians of the region. The reasons for such differences can be understood by realizing that the colonies were settled by incredibly different people who possessed different cultures, religious beliefs, and motivations for settling in their respective colonies in the first place. The Chesapeake and New England colonies had similarities and differences in their development, including how each colony affected nearby American Indians. Their differences and similarities can be understood by analyzing each colony’s geography, economy, religions, and cultures.

Climate: The colonists experience long winters and short summers. The growing season lasts about five months therefore, a bulk of food has to be harvested to last throughout the winter season. Cold winters help diminish the escalation of disease throughout the colonies. The weather in the colonies is compatible to England’s (in most parts), making adapting less difficult.

The Europeans changed the land of the home of the Indians, which they renamed New England. In Changes in the Land, Cronon explains all the different aspects in how the Europeans changed the land. Changing by the culture and organization of the Indians lives, the land itself, including the region’s plants and animals. Cronon states, “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,” (Cronon, xv). New England went through human development, environmental and ecological change from the Europeans.

Additionally, Royal gives clarification for Native Americans’ positive stereotypes. He explains, “ But this is far from modern concepts of ecology. Native Americans in fact overhunted deer and beaver even before the arrival of the white man, and did not seriously try to preserve the resources in the vicinity of their villages. As a result, the typical woodland village, having exhausted local soil and game, had to move on average every eight to 10 years” (Royal 47). Although the Native Americans did not destroy the environment like Europeans on such a large scale, they are not trying to protect the environment either. This opposes the stereotypes that Native Americans are model ecologists. Royal also examines the inhumane sides of Native American tribes. Royal reveals, “The

Many people are under a false impression that early Native Americans are the original environmentalists. This is an impression that many people share. The Abenaki tribes that resided in Maine from 3700 BP were not by our traditional definition, environmentalists. In fact they were far from ecologically sound. This paper is meant not to criticize the Native Americans of the age, but to clarify their roles in the environment. To better understand this subject some background is needed.

The Native Americans would offer the Europeans almost everything they had, which included fish and turkey to bread and the companionship of the chief’s daughter. The Europeans mistook the Native American’s generosity as evidence they were childlike. The old land in Columbus’ time was luscious and full of many different types of wildlife. Today that land is used and farmed down to provide food and tools for the Americans living here in the United States. “The land they left is different now. The white pines that towered over New England became masts for the Royal Navy's sailing ships. The redwoods that stretched from the Rockies to the Pacific exist in pockets smaller than the Indians' shrunken reservations. The hours long thunder of bison hooves no longer shakes Kansas or Nebraska, where only a few stretches of grassland remain on the prairie (pg. 6 Lord,

Throughout the passage of human life, the desire to expand and live beyond the boundary of a civilization’s borders is an incredibly potent factor of the migration of human kind. The drive of experiencing the unknown has served as a catalyst for the human races movement and evolution since the dawn of mankind. However, with every extension or relocation of civilization comes the establishment of differing settlement structures and beliefs. A prime example of this varying factor is epitomized by the English colonies founded in the New World such as Virginia, part of the Chesapeake region, and Massachusetts, part of the New England region. While being similar in the sense of both being English colonies,

In 1620, the people of the New England villages were a close and religious community. There was no religious freedom in the northern colonies. There were small farms, fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding. In the 1630, the shipbuilding industry grew because Europeans began to buy the ships from this part of the region. In 1636, New England developed as a trading town. In the northern colonies the farming was really difficult. There are rocky coastlines along the Atlantic and many bays, lakes, wetlands, and rivers support the fishing industry. New England also have the Appalachian Mountains and Connecticut River Valley. The mountains and rocky soil and trees were thick and crops could not grow. However the geography of North consisted were subsequently

Before the Europeans arrived, most of the Native American tribes were hunters and gatherers. They grew the three sister beans, corn, and squash. They also grew tobacco, melons and peas. Some documents say they grew wild rice other say that they did not . The Potawatomi were farmers and with growing crops like tobacco you can quickly use all the nutrients in the soil. When the soil was depleted of nutrients the tribe moved to new locations . The Potawatomi tribe hunted Buffalo for food which used to live in the Great Lakes area.

As to the European settlement, Indians had interacted with the land in a way that minimized their impact. Indians were marked by greater mobility, changing their location of living depending on the season; from agriculture to hunting. Like the "golden age" of Indians living in harmony with nature, their relationship was one in which they changed the landscape but done in a way that was less of any cause of damage as in using fire to clear

Woodland Indians inhabited the large geographical area in eastern North America. The varying climates and four seasons affected how each individual group of Indians lived and ate. The Appalachian mountains and Great Lakes prohibited movement of people to some extent. Some people were able to harness the shoreline water as a means of transportation. Gardening and harvesting of crops became a way of life for these people but was sometimes complicated by the harsh winter conditions in northern Wisconsin. Utilization of natural resources controlled the economy. These Indians were very knowledgeable about the trees and plant life in their area. They used the abundant wildlife as part of their