Matthias essays

Matthias essays The colonization of New England by English colonists sparked many changes throughout an environment that was already inhabited by the local Native Americans. This change occurred at many different, correlated levels. Both the economical and environmental states of this area, as well as all of North America would change forever. The most dramatic change occurred on an ecological level that can still be observed today. Ecologically, the coming together of both the Native Americans and the English colonists within such a rich and naturally abundant environment sparked an enormous decimation. The result is the exploitation and overall destruction of an ecosystem that existed untainted for thousands of years. As stated by Cronon, Whereas the natural ecosystem tended toward a patchwork of diverse communities arranged almost randomly on the landscape-its very continuity depending on that disorder-the human tendency was to systematize the patchwork and impose a more regular pattern on it (Cronon 33). By analyzing the two contrasting views of nature, by both the Native Americans and the colonists, it is possible to claim that the cause of this demise in the New England ecology was a direct effect of the labeling of the ecosystem as a commodity by the European colonists. In order to completely understand the cause of the destruction of the New England wilderness, a person must look at the manner in which both the Native Americans and colonists viewed nature as a whole. These two conflicting views allow for the ecological changes that occur after the colonization of New England in the 1600s. The Native Americans treated nature as a source of life and were solely dependent on it for survival. This dependence sparked a great respect that the colonists lacked. With this respect came a greater understanding and usage of the abundant ecosystem they strived on. The natives viewed nature as a...