FREE ESSAY ON HOW THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIST ALTERED THE ENVIORNMENT

HOW THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIST ALTERED THE ENVIORNMENT

How the New England Colonists` Altered the New England Environment 
In Changes in the Land, William Cronon points out the European colonists` pursuits of a
capitalistic market and the impact it had on the New England ecosystem. Native Americans
and colonists had different views on the use of land resources. The Natives viewed the
land as something not owned, but as a resource to sustain life. They believe in a
hunting-gathering system, hunting only when necessary. In the long run Native Americans
lost their old traditions and were forced to adapt to the colonists` traditions in order
to survive. This change contributed even more to the alteration of the ecosystem during
the colonization period. In contrast, colonists viewed the land as capitalistic market in
which they used more of the land resources without taking into consideration that one day
they would run out of resources. 
Before the colonists arrived in New England land resources were in abundance. 
The only ones to use these resources were the Natives, but the type of resources they
used where divided in regions. Northern Indians lived entirely as hunter-gatherers, while
the Indians south of the Kennebec River raised crops. (p.38) Even though the Indians used
a large amount of the land resources it had very little affect on the land because of
techniques in which they regained some of the land resources each season. The Southern
Indians changed their farming spot each season; this actually allowed the land to
recuperate and become fertile once more. 
Rather than raising crops all year the Indians only planted in March and June. They also
used their fields to plant more than one crop; such crops included corn, beans, squash,
pumpkin, and tobacco. Grain made up half of their diet; this gave the natives an
advantage because grain could be easily stored for the winter. They also planted crops
that fertilized the land with resources that were lost with the plantation of other
plants. Indians raised crops moderately; they cultivated enough to live off of without
exhausting the land. 
Northern Indians depended on hunting and gathering. During the spring they lived near the
river which allowed them to catch fish, whales and seals. Children would catch birds and
bird eggs for food. They kept their hunting to a moderation which allowed animal
populations to be sustained. They also ate native plants such as strawberries,
raspberries, and other wild plants. During the months of October through March Indians
moved to the forest where they hunted beaver, moose and deer. They tried to use every
part of the animals they hunted; they used the animals' skin as clothing and their bones
as tools. Certain tribes had rules on what to do with left over animal parts. They kept
population from increasing in the winter by not storing enough food, which caused some
Indians to die during the winter. They also set big forest fires during the summer and
fall, which in the long run increased nutrients in the soil. An abundance of grass for
the animals made the soil warmer and drier, which allowed oak trees to grow. When the
colonists arrived everything changed, the land began to be altered. 
As more and more colonists came to New England they began to see things that no longer
existed in their mother country, such as an abundance of trees and unused rich land. The
colonists viewed Indians as idiots who did not take advantage of the rich land they had.
Colonists tended to promote New England as best as possible in order to increase the
amount of colonists who immigrated to the New World. (p.34) This caused over population
that forced the colonists to cut down forests in order to make more room for new homes
and also to get more supplies of wood to build their homes. The clearing of the forest
had consequences; weather conditions that did not damage the land now began to have great
affects on it. The clearing of the trees made the land become dry right after a big storm
due to the lack trees that kept the land moist. Creeks and rivers no longer formed
because of overexposure to sunlight. The wind also began to have a great affect in the
land. The trees that once stopped the dry wind from hitting the ground and damaging it
were no longer there to prevent this. Due to this, the land began to loose its richness
in fertility; became dry and hard making it more difficult to harvest. The surface of the
land also became extremely hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. (p.122) The
land was no longer capable of consuming any water; this caused all the water from the
rainfall to over flood the rivers that did exist. Colonists harvested in large amounts.
They believed in using all the resources of the land. They stayed on the same piece of
land until the land was no longer fertile. In other words they drained it dry. This
practice of draining the land dry made the recuperation process of the land longer and
harder. On occasions some land never regained the richness it once held. This made
Southern Indians lives` more complicated, no longer allowed to live in the old
traditional ways. By this time the Indians saw resources dwindling.
By this time the colonists had been introduced to the marketing of animal furs to their
motherland. As the fur market increased, the population of animals decreased which meant
less food for the Northern Indians who hunted. This was one of the big factors that lead
to the Indians integration into the capitalistic market. Colonists` would offer Indians
worthless items in exchange for beaver, deer, moose, bear skin and fur. These items
became very popular among the Natives, which caused more and more of them to hunt these
tradable goods in vast amounts. That also contributed to the decrease of certain animal
populations. As Indians traded with colonists` more and more Natives began to interact
with New Englanders. This may have seemed good at the time, but in the long run this
relationship greatly affected the Indian population. 
As more and more colonists immigrated to New England more of them began to bring their
domestic animals to the new country. In doing this they wanted to create a replica of the
motherland in New England; This had big affects in the ecosystem. It was at this point
that death among natives began to increase. Due to exposure to foreign animals natives
began to get sicknesses of the mother country. The common cold would lead them to their
death. Domestic animals began to eat the native plants and in their place foreign plants
would grow. Small animals such as the gray rat, mosquito's, Hessian and black fly,
cockroaches, honeybee, mice and worms became common in New England. (p.153) "There were
even mammalian weeds."(p.153) These new insects would damage the natives harvest;
domestic animals` such as cows would roam around freely and also damage the Native crops
that would create tension between both populations. (p.130) This lead to the enforcement
of territory distribution among Natives and colonists`. (p.130) 
In Changes in the land, we see how populations of Natives and the environment have gone
through a drastic change. The introduction of a capitalistic market increased the value
of furs and animal skins that caused deer, moose and beaver populations to decrease in a
short time period. Cutting down trees led to drastic weather changes on the land; the
weather suddenly began damaging the land. Rainfall caused rivers to flood and causing
snow to freeze and harden the land. Domestic animals began to bring Old World sicknesses
to New England that caused the Indians sickness and eventually caused death. This lead to
the decrease of the Indian population in a short time period. As we see colonization had
a drastic affect in the ecosystem that helps us understand why things are as they are,
this helps us to understand and think about how our actions may affect us in the long
run.