The Colonization Of New England

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”

The colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut made up the New England colonies. Most of the Europeans in the New England colonies were there to escape the religious persecution they faced in England. They practiced a lot of different things in these colonies compared to the middle and southern and colonies of colonial america.

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.

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.

During the sixteenth century European pilgrims migrated across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America. North America had just been introduced to the Western Civilization. The America’s were home to the indigenous people, that were made up of several tribes that were called Indians by the early settlers. Together the Indians and settlers began to thrive. Growth and development in the new world was made possible by the abundant amount of natural resources.

The Massachusetts bay Colony was found y the puritans and religious minority group who migrated to the New World seeking to create a model religious community The Puritans believed that the anglican church needed to be purified of the influences of catholicism.

Behind its neighbors, England finally decided to invest in settling in the New World during the 17th century. Many of the expeditions to North America were made by private organizations; stock companies and the rich alike shared a common ideal of having a fresh start from outside their homeland. Two colonies with one common nationality, however, became two diverse establishments in North America. The colonies in New England and the Chesapeake region developed into two substantially contrasting ways of life. The main colony in the New England region was Massachusetts, which included the Puritans, a group of religious settlers who wanted to purify the Protestant Church of England.

Beginning in the Sixteenth Century, Europeans sought to escape religious and class persecution by engaging on a journey to the New World. However, they were unaware that this “New World” was already inhabited by many groups of Native Americans, who had been established on the continent for thousands of years. At first, the two ethnic groups lived in relative peace. The colonists of Jamestown survived due to Powhatan’s tribe teaching them how to cultivate the land. However, things took a twisted turn as the colonists grew greedy. Due to cultural differences, there was stark tension between the Indian groups and European settlers in New England prior to 1750, which tremendously influenced early political means, social life, and the economy.

The New England colonist living in the new world in the early 1600’s went from a society that had a few slaves, to a society that accepted slavery as a way of life by the early 1700’s. Not one single event or year can be definitely set as to when slavery became a permanent staple of the colonies. The institution of slavery was introduced over time. It took a little over a century of perpetuating laws, codes, and failed rebellions before African slavery became a corner stone of colonial life.

The people of the New England and Chesapeake colonies, although came from the same people, turned into very different cultures. For example, in New England, Puritanism was favored while in the Chesapeake region Christianity was practiced. Often times, religion would dictate a certain peoples way of life. Although both religions were strict, both had different ideas. Also, there were disagreements that occurred between the people within a colony. Many other ways of life were established in each of these areas independent of each other.

New England and the Chesapeake Region were both settled primarily by people of English origin, however, by 1700 they had both transformed into two unique societies. This is because their motives for colonization, their geographies, and their governments were all different. For example, the New England colonies typically had much harsher winters than the Chesapeake region and their people came to America to escape religious persecution in their mother country. On the other hand, the people of the Chesapeake region experienced warmer summers and came there in search of gold.

While the Chesapeake and New England colonies were similarly the earliest successful English colonies in North America, the colonies developed quite independently of each other. When looking at the differences and similarities in the development of these colonies, it seems as though the differences far outweigh the similarities. These colonies varied in regards to their religious beliefs, their societal organization, culture, economy, and relationships with local American Indians. The differences and similarities between the colonies can be further understood by analyzing the individual colonies’ geography, economy, religious beliefs, and cultural practices.

Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England authored by William Cronon discusses the history of the ecological changes of colonial New England in consequence to the relationship of Native American and European Settlers and the land. Cronon exemplifies this by helping readers understand the effect of the change of dominance in New England from Native Americans to Europeans had on landscape and ecosystems.

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,

The English settlement of New England was distinctive how it came to be formed and governed in the way that it was. The region was originally founded on the principles of the ‘Puritan’ religion, which was drastically from the ideals of the Catholics in Maryland and the Protestants of Virginia. They did not land in Virginia as they had planed they instead landed at Plymouth Rock, in what is present day Massachusetts. This group, prior to their landing at Plymouth, drew up the “Mayflower Compact” which framed how the colony would be ran. The settlers to this area of the English settlement were more or less an equal balance of male and female settlers as opposed to the mostly male settlers of the Virginia and Maryland colonies.