Overview
This submodule we consider a couple of key questions, namely: What did the Americas look like when Europeans first arrived? How did they think about the environment and natural resources they encountered? What role did Indigenous populations play in shaping this ecology? How did European colonialism, and particularly the drive for new forms of commodity extraction, transform the landscape and the environment? Understanding these attitudes and actions are important for understanding the ways that Europeans thought about their ability to control, transform, and change the landscape and natural world they encountered to their benefit.
- To get started, begin by looking at the assigned images (Image Collection folder). Make a note of the date of each. How does each depict the land and natural resources of New England? Humans and human settlement? What kinds of opportunities and risks to European settlement are depicted?
- Then look at John Smith’s 1616 Description of New England. (Readings folder) Using the search function, search the text for the term commodities. Read the descriptions of the commodities that Smith identifies as present in New England.
- Next read William Cronon’s “The View from Walden.” (Readings folder)
As you read, pay particular attention to the descriptions that Cronon offers of environmental change in the Northeast. Consider the following: What, for Cronon, is the relation of humans to nature? What was the relationship of Native Americans to the land before European arrival? What kinds of changes occurred in the Northeast landscape and environment since the arrival of Europeans? How has the relationship of humans and nature changed? What does Cronon mean by the concept of “instability” and how is it important for his understanding of natural and ecological transformation? How might this idea of instability be useful for thinking about natural occurrences and the role of humans in shaping the impact and outcomes of these natural occurrences.
Finally, spend some time contemplating this passage from Cronon's chapter: “Environment may initially shape the range of choices available to people at a given moment, but then culture reshapes environment in responding to these choices. The reshaped environment presents a new set of possibilities for cultural reproduction, thus shaping up a new cycle of mutual determination.” (13) What does he mean by the term "mutual determination?"
- Then read the remaining assigned readings (Readings folder):
- Robert Marks, “The (Modern) World since 1500” in A Companion to Global Environmental History, pp. 57-78
- Sven Beckert, et al., “Commodity Frontiers and the Transformation of the Global Countryside: A Research Agenda” Journal of Global History (16,3 (2021): 435-450
- John Richard, “Introduction,” The Unending Frontier?: An Environmental History of the Early Modern World, pp. 1-14
As you read, think about the natural and environmental changes that these authors trace. What are the major kinds of transformations that each identifies as resulting from European colonization? What is the relationship of colonization to the rise of capitalism? In addition, identify definitions for the following concepts: frontier regions; settlement frontiers/frontiers of settlement/settler frontiers; and commodity frontiers; commodity regimes. What examples do these readings offer that help to illustrate what Cronon describes in the passage on page 13?
As you read, identify (4) four passages from each reading that you think are useful for answering the above questions and defining the identified terms. Transcribe them verbatim with page numbers. You should have 12 quotes total.
- Return to the maps and re-analyze them in light of the readings. Identify settlements (European and Indigenous), frontier regions, commodity frontiers and/or natural resources to be exploited for commercial gain.
- Then choose one map that you think is most useful for thinking about the above concepts and annotate it (using markup with Adobe, Preview, or similar programs). Then, write up a short reflection (250-300 words) in which answer the following questions: What can your annotated map tell us about how Europeans settlers saw and understood the risks and opportunities offered by the land in New England? How might these understandings have shaped thier settlements patterns and commercial ventures? How in turn, did these choices potentially shape the environment in ways that created new risks and opportunities. Finally, how does understanding humans and the environment as in a dynamic cycle of mutual determination potentially shape the way we think about what is natural about natural disasters?
- Post your reading quotes (12 total; 4 for each reading), annotated map, and reflection to the 1.3 Colonialism, Capitalism, and Ecological Change Discussion Board forum as a new thread.