Changes in the Land
In this book, William Cronon sets out to demonstrate why New England habitats changed as they did during the colonial period and how this was all a process of change. Cronon does this by illustrating how much the landscape and the environment was drastically changed by the arrival of the Europeans. He also argues that the shift from Indian to English dominance in New England saw English property systems taken into effect and the domination of domesticated animals as well . One fact, often not realized, that Cronon brings out, is that America was not an untouched wilderness when Columbus landed here. The Native Americans had been living on, using, and even managing the land for centuries. And finally, another argument suggested by Cronon reveals that the Industrial Revolution would transform New England ecology by opening up industries to urban centres and building canals to connect cities. Cronon's argument reveals that the change in New England's landscape and environment, was not only brought on by the arrival of the Europeans but also made possible by the active participation by the Indian people. Indeed, Cronon reveals that the New England landscape during the 1800s were drastically different from what the first Europeans
Indeed, the Industrial Revolution transformed the New England ecology from being a pristine environment to an unnatural environment. As Cronon illustrates, swamps had to be drained as more and more money was used to improve the agriculture. Many trees were cut down to build new roads and dams were built to flood the lands for irrigation and canals. And so, this caused the destruction of beaver dams and reversed the drying of land. The advancement of iron furnaces, especially in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, raised the wood consumption and increased the cutting of trees. In turn, local forests were cut to be used as fuel in these iron furnaces. Cronon explains that these industries would thrive in urban centres only and where there would be large populations. described. He uses Henry David Thoreau as a reference to explain how he also saw changes in the land during the 1800s. As Cronon suggests, animals which were once native to the land are now extremely rare due to the domesticated animals of the Europeans. Because these domesticated animals were able to adapt and reproduce themselves quickly , they were able to takeover the lands. He also explains certain species of trees which used to be in abundance now grow scarce because of its attractiveness as a fuel. In addition to that, the deforestation affected local temperatures t
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Approximate Word count = 911
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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