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US Environmental History Class at CSW
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#Post#: 298--------------------------------------------------
Reading 4: New England...
By: TeacherRachel Date: February 15, 2019, 11:22 am
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Read
"A Hideous and Desolate Wilderness," Bradford
"Potential of the New English Canaan," Morton
"Fate of the Abenaki in the Colonial Ecological Revolution,"
Merchant
"Eden," Krech
Head's up: This is a longer reading. It's in 2 parts, and the
first part does not need to be read actively, while the second
part does.
Part I: "A Hideous and Desolate Wilderness" by William Bradford,
"Potential of the New English Canaan" by Thomas Morton, and
"Fate of the Abenaki in the Colonial Ecological Revolution" by
Carolyn Merchant (pp. 44-47)
Part II: "Eden", from Shepard Krech III's The Ecological Indian:
Myth and History (pp. 84-97)
Please post your ideas and responses. Share the ideas that you
develop on your own, but also be sure to respond and discuss
each other's posts. Posts due by 10 pm on MONDAY (Have a good
long weekend!!)
#Post#: 299--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: asantello Date: February 18, 2019, 2:10 pm
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These readings were my favorite so far. I think the main reason
was because they connected back to New England. Learning about
the history of this land is equally fascinating and devastating.
The shift from natural resources that are sourced from the land
and able to decompose to the man made materials is an
interesting progression. It also surprised me a bit about how
much of it is considered environmental history. I guess when I
think about it, it makes sense, but I forgot how all
encompassing this topic is. I forgot that the main theme was the
environment sometimes, because it seemed like a general overview
(in a good way). My favorite part was learning about the
different types of wood. For my capstone I am learning some
basic woodworking and this was interesting to put in the context
of the different materials I have used.
The second reading, Eden was quite dense. It outlined the
horrors of the diseases well, but sometimes it went into so much
detail everything started to blur together. I’m also still not
sure what the generally accepted estimate is for the population.
The main question it brought up for me is how would life and
nature have progressed if America wasn’t colonized.
#Post#: 300--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: amacdonald Date: February 18, 2019, 2:29 pm
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In “Eden” from Shepard Krech III, there is a lot of information
to digest. I thought that the main point of the passage was that
“the higher a population’s size and the greater its density, the
more significant the impact on resources” (97). Throughout the
passage, this point was proven by using the Europeans and the
Native Americans as examples. The Natives were never able to
completely deplete their resources, as they moved away when an
area’s resources became scarce. This gave nature time to
replenish and heal. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the
Europeans deforested their land faster than nature could
support, leaving “examples of deforested lands” (98) in places
like Scotland, Attica, Wales, and central and western Europe.
On the darker side of things, most of the passage is dedicated
to explaining the detrimental effects of the Europeans arriving
on “virgin soil” and the subsequent effects of diseases like
smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis, and whooping cough on the
native populations. Something that I had not thought about
before is how “mortality was related as much to extreme hunger
and actual starvation as to the disease organisms themselves”
(91). I also had not thought about how a disease like whooping
cough could have an adverse effect on hunters. It prevented them
from stealthily and quietly tracking their prey, in turn making
it extremely difficult to feed their family and community.
#Post#: 301--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: samfarley Date: February 18, 2019, 3:34 pm
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There were several aspects from these readers that interested
me. In the Bradford reading, it was interesting how the
Pilgrim’s views on the inhabitants (natives) of New England
severely affected how they viewed the land itself. Because they
saw the natives as savage and backwards, they also tended to
view the land itself in these terms, often referencing the
interior of New England as savage and desolate. Even though
Massachusetts was abundant in resources, the perceived threat of
the natives overruled this judgement. As for the New England
Canaan reading, it of course makes sense that pilgrims and
settlers valued land merely in terms of the resources they could
find in such lands. These are people who found themselves in a
place that was new to them, and they had to survive, so of
course resources were their main interest.
In the Eden reading, there were a few points that stuck out. It
was interesting to hear about the notion that America was
‘empty’ before settlers arrived, and how the natives were often
thought of as good caretakers of the land, that the settlers
found it in pristine condition when they arrived. However, as
the author states, some of the tribes just moved around a lot or
fled from the colonists, so that when they reached the areas
that the natives had been, the forests and ecosystems had
restocked themselves in a way. It was also interesting to read
about how some deadly diseases had in fact existed before
contact was made, as diseases are often thought of as distinct
to the settlers.
I agree with Addie’s point that because the author went into
such depth about diseases, it did seem to blend together a bit,
but one can’t help but walk away from this reading without at
least getting a feel for how devastating they were.
#Post#: 302--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: smartins2019 Date: February 18, 2019, 5:20 pm
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Some thoughts-
What are the sources we’re reading for the first part?
Ok no offense, I don’t mean to sound like a pain, but why are we
reading these? It is totally a nice break from the readings that
we’ve been doing but I’m still a bit thrown off as to why?
The first part of the reading kind of remind me of what I’ve
been reading for my American Gothic class, they have sort of
similar writing styles and wording (probably because of the time
period).
On page 74, is William Bartram referring to Massachusetts?
Reflection-
I really enjoyed these readings. I have a way easier time
understanding (and I’m more interested) in these types of
readings, rather than the sort of lectures we’re have for the
past couple nights. Going back to Sam's point about how ‘Eden’
they said that North America was ‘empty’ before settlers
arrived, I had a hard time reading this. Not to be the black
girl that constantly is talking about history is so messed up,
but that's exactly what I’m saying. I always think about how
when the Europeans came along to America and supposedly ‘shared’
their culture and ideas with the Native Americans, did they
really want that? I mean, I can’t imagine people coming into MY
land and telling me that how I’m living is barbaric and wrong.
Although I wasn’t there, it doesn’t seem like the Europeans gave
the Native Americans much of a choice to develop (and ultimately
conform to) their standards of a civilized society. Sorry for
the mini rant.
#Post#: 303--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: afreitag Date: February 18, 2019, 5:45 pm
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In Eden, the lack of information on conflict between Native
Americans and colonizers paired with the abundance of defenses
on behalf of colonizers leaves me with loads of questions. My
understanding is that this paper’s objective goal is to explore
the Native Americans’ relationship to environmental destruction
pre-colonization and go into the decline of their population.
How can this article focus its energy on providing answers to
the decimated native population without touching on the war
between colonizers and natives?
There was not much mention of genocide besides the defending of
it. Disease most definitely killed massive amounts of the
population, but what were the fatalities of disease compared to
fatalities of war between Native Americans and colonizers? I
want to know what the colonizers were thinking besides the
instance of thanking god for sparing them while the Indians were
dying out. Did they thank god not only for sparing them but also
for killing off the natives?
I’m skeptical of the account of biological weaponry followed up
with “there is no need to accuse Europeans of mass continental
genocide”. What else was conveniently left out? The overwhelming
amount of background on disease and repetition seemed to be
overcompensating for something.
The curious idea that Native Americans were destroying the
environment before Europeans arrived is, to my understanding,
largely unexplored and also very interesting, but doing so in
the name of diverting blame is a little irresponsible.
#Post#: 304--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: afreitag Date: February 18, 2019, 5:51 pm
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I had a similar reaction to Sof. I feel as though my
understanding of the information has been stunted by someone's
agenda. The article Eden has become something to sort through
for information, as it's status as an unbiased scientific paper
has been compromised. I can't tell if it was written as a piece
about environmental history or if it just has relevance, or if
it was even written to inform, as I felt it was trying to
convince/prove me of something. That being said, it did offer a
great deal of valuable information and I am happy to have read
it.
#Post#: 305--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: yzhu2020 Date: February 18, 2019, 7:01 pm
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These readings were fairly interesting but also very confusing
to understand (for me at least). It was surprising of much of
the information was considered environmental history. They seem
like conventional history but the more I think about the more it
makes sense that it should be considered at environmental
history. In half of the readings discusses trade in the New
World which I thought was very interesting as we can see how
different regions have "industries" and changes over time.
Eden was a very dense article and was pretty confusing for me to
understand. However, I did enjoy reading the part about
diseases. It is shocking to learn about how demographics affect
the spread of infectious diseases and how it changed the lives;
just as the article said "it is difficult for most of us to
imagine what it is like to lose, through horrible death,
one-quarter, one-half, or more of one's community overnight. In
addition, the author also uses these information to make
inferences such as the population of North America which I
thought was very interesting given that it is hard to connect
the dots sometimes.
#Post#: 306--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: zwalker2020 Date: February 18, 2019, 7:38 pm
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These readings, especially the first two ones, were obviously
pretty different from the kind of text we read last week in
class, but it's still really interesting to me because of how we
are able to see historical events from contemporary
perspectives. Something that stuck out to me in the second
reading was the unusual comparison between the Native Americans
and beggars who were living in England. This comparison was
apparently made because both American natives and English
beggars "lived so poorely, in so rich a Country", but to me
that's what would be the only thing the two groups would really
have had in common. Were natives approaching European colonies,
begging for food or money? Probably not, since he even said that
they were living a "contented life", even if these lives were so
poort. This comparison was likely made because writers such as
Morton saw these two groups as below him, both in an economical
way and in a societal way. Though the text is hard to understand
at times it's pretty clear that this is an opinion Morton had.
Morton continues on to write about his "survey" of the country,
and describing different parts of the environment there, but his
description of the natives was what really stuck with me after
reading the text. I guess it's because I was trying to decipher
what he was really thinking while he was writing. Does anyone
else know why he'd make the comparison that he did? The 17th
century was a time of change in the Americas, but its European
residents likely had traditional ideas that would last for
centuries after.
#Post#: 307--------------------------------------------------
Re: Reading 4: New England...
By: nanaafiaba Date: February 18, 2019, 7:54 pm
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Tonight's readings discuss the "North American Eden," named by
Europeans who emigrated to North America. The last piece
especially seemed to provide the bulk of the information and
thoughts on the reasoning behind European-Americans' shock over
North America. This reasoning encompasses in it the relationship
between America's native people and the land. This relationship
is such a complex one, for Native Americans had a deep
understanding of nature but did not fully comprehend the
influences of their actions. Groups of North America's native
people had a trend of settling in an area, overutilizing its
trees for house and fuel, burning down surrounding trees
annually, then moving into another area and starting the process
again. This deforestation left a vast impact on the land.
However, disease and war, more so disease, annihilated millions
of the Native Americans, providing the overworked land time to
replenish itself. As a result, when the Europeans found North
America, a land so rich in its nature when compared to the
densely populated and urbanized Europe, they were understandably
amazed.
I found "Eden" to be very intriguing and relevant. It introduced
to us another key to understanding and interpreting
environmental history, population. As stated on page 96,
"population is a prime transforming agent for the simple reason
that our species demands basic levels of food, water, fuel,
clothing, and shelter for subsistence. Therefore, as population
size increases so does basic biological demand." The author
means that essentially, population has a straightforward
connection to the state of humanity.
Noting the fact that Native American population depletion
primarily led to the recovery of North American land, "Eden"
proposes the question, if the native peoples of North America
had survived and continued the annual burning of trees and
deforestation in general, would the land has been as attractive
to Europeans, who were coming from a ruined environment
themselves? Would they rather have chosen to linger in Europe
and thus, changing what North America is today? This is
something I think we should all consider.
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