ES Midterm Study Guide

Fences Identify - Made in late 1630s by European colonists who settled in New England - Composed of wood, later switched to stone Historical Significance Cronon: fences created new ecological mosaic that would change New England ecosystem (pages 119-120, 128-145, 159) To colonists represented the most visible symbol of an improved landscape John Winthrop colonists denied Native Americans possessed anything other than a natural right to property in New England because they didnt enclose crops and didnt keep cattle Fences and livestock were pivotal elements in the English rationale for taking Native American lands Colonists held responsible for their animals that destroyed Native American cornfields (no fences) o Colonists built fences on behalf of Indian villages o 1653 New Haven promised 60 days of labor to build fences for Indians Gave Native Americans theoretical legal standing Forced Native Americans to conduct their agriculture in a new way o Adopted fencing as farming strategy different from usufruct rights Drew new property boundaries on New England landscape Native plant species didnt survive land that was enclosed for grazing because animals ate them - introduction of European weeds, grasses, and plants Deforestation fences initially made entirely of wood o Oak only lasted 6-8 years, chestnut and cedar were longer lasting Wolves preyed on cattle because easy to catch in enclosed areas o 1645 - towns offered money to kill them o Created a market for wolves and ensured their extinction o Colonists used it for justification to drain and clear land 1640 - Fence laws unfenced properties didnt get legal protection against cattle trespassing o Increased amount of fences, redrew the New England map Land as a commodity owned by individuals and distinguished between economic activities and ecological relations Yeoman Farmer Identification Farming as a self sufficient way of life 19th and 20th century - American society changes from agrarian to commercial and people moved from rural areas to towns

American citizens became nostalgic about the past, see rural life and farming as sacred Linked to formal philosophy of natural rights to the land o Thomas Jefferson the fundamental right to labour the earth

Historical Significance Change in property values occupancy and use of land are true criteria of ownership so working landholders have special claim to land Jeffersonians used for strategy of continental development of internal structure of small farms Recyclic shifting cultivation Identification Plots of land cleared for farming or wood harvest, remaining vegetation is burnt, land cultivated temporarily, soil loses fertility, abandoned by humans, reclaimed by natural vegetation Used in south for sugar cane (Solomon Northrop reading, pg 209-211) o Land must be ploughed and planted every three years o Second year produces higher yield and sweeter crop than first year and third year more than the second Indians in Northern New England, 1600s (Cronon, pg 45) o No technology to transport fish for fertilizing crop land o Indians abandoned land when soil lost fertility Indians in Southern New England, 1600s (Cronon, pg 48) o Mobility of village sites and shift between various subsistence bases European colonists in New England Historical Significance Indians use of Recyclic shifting cultivation in Southern New England, 1600s (Cronon, pg 48) o Increase available food surplus o Enabled denser Indian population o Decrease potential strains on ecosystems o Kept overall human burden low o Clear land for cultivation and concentrating the food base in a specific area reshaped and manipulated ecosystem European colonists in New England did not wait as long as the Indians between crop cycles, which resulted in: o Degradation of soil (land) quality and productivity o Deforestation soil erosion because roots no longer hold soil to specific place, destroys habitat of organisms, loss of biodiversity o Introduction of exotic weeds

 Native species sometimes arent able to adapt to change in land use o Extinction of some species that inhabited cleared land Solomon Northup Identification Slave of Edwin Epps from 1841-1853 Wrote a first hand account of slavery, crops and life in Louisiana Published 1855 Historical Significance Uses the perspective of the slave to describe life on cotton plantation in Louisiana Primary source, so more trustworthy than Cronon or Spences account of Native Americans The detail in descriptions of growing cotton and sugar cane show how that slaves had a greater understanding of the surrounding environment than the legal owners of land o Plantation owners owned more than one plantation and didnt spend as much time in fields Romanticism Identification Who o 1832 - George Catlin in Missouri River o 1833 - Thomas Cole o Thoreau Walden What o Exalted intuition and personal experience over formalism and scientific precision o Celebrated the individual soul the egotistical sublime Vilified urban life and turned to wild nature for inspiration o Wild = most direct means for experiencing the Divine o Idea of the natural man as perfect expression of humanity Native Americans before contact with western civilizations o Emotional, passionate response to life Where In Europe and Western part of America When since 18th century, impacted US in 1810s Historical Significance (Spence pg. 10-12) - Cultural/national idea of wilderness - Differed from European romanticism movement more distinct kind in America because of the War of 1812 o Gave a sense of nationalism

Had to abide by American cultural ideals of wilderness o Forced to leave when they were no longer a part Yellowstone, Blackfeet, Yosemite Preserved areas still here today o Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota Ideal wilderness used as symbolism for general unhappiness about America o No unity among classes and races o Result social and economical reform

Columbian Exchange What: -Dramatic widespread trade of exchange of crops, animals, diseases, human populations, and culture between the New World (The Americas, Pacific & Atlantic islands) and the Old World (Europe, Africa, Asia). -New World received crops that included corn, avocados and potatos and animals such as domesticated animals such as donkeys, horses, chickens, sheep, dog. -The Old World received crops such as rice, wheat, barley, rye, turnips, tomatoes, maize, etc. -Exchange of diseases: Old World diseases (i.e. smallpox) had a devastating impact on Native Americans (who lacked immunity) in New World, causing major deaths. The smallpox epidemic was estimated to decimate 80-95% of Native American populations in a span of 100-150 years (after 1500s). Significance: -Introduction of horses in New World changed Native American lifestyle. Horses allowed Indians to travel long distances and hunt Bison and other animals -The deaths in New World caused by European diseases paved the way for the European domination of the New World after the 1600s. -Increased diversity of foods caused increased trade and activity First nature/second nature What: The transformation and reshaping of nature from its natural state (first nature) into commodities (second nature) that are bought, sold and

traded. 4 Examples: (1) Wheat is transformed in Bread, (2) Beavers are made into beaver hats, (3) Sea otters are turned into waterproof coats and otter pelts (4) Whales are used to produce Ambergris, Baleen and Whale Oil. Significance: -Nature is turned into commodities that are traded in global markets and supply demand of a commodity (Sea Otter pelts in New World supplied demand for otter pelts in China) -At times, can disrupt ecology of an area (Sea otters are keystone species and when removed from ecological system, causes cascade reaction and fundamental changes) -Demand and trade of second nature goods caused populations of animals/plants to go extinct or be severely affects (i.e. Beaver skins in the 1600s in Cronan) Rice plantations What: -Rice plantations were the main crop of the South. Plantations were set up in orderly grids -Flow of nutrients from the North allowed rice to be grown all year round without needed crop rotation system as seen in the North -Used a Tidewater rice irrigation system that made use of the coastal tides -Used a Task system of slavery where workers are given tasks to complete, which can vary and have a wide range. -After Civil war, plantations collapsed due to lack of cheap labour and slaves expert knowledge Significance: -Because Europeans lacked the expertise for rice cultivation, slaves were brought over from Africa for their knowledge of the tidewater system and rice cultivation, and to meet the large labour requirement of this system. -This brought about class differences between blacks and whites, and questions of morality since Africans had dire living conditions. These tensions paved the way for the civil war Henry David Thoreau

What: A writer, naturalist and environmentalist. His writings reflect on the natural surroundings and often contain personal experiences, observations and themes about simple living in nature. He writes about the Maine Woods in Ktaadn where he reflects on his journey through the woods using vivid descriptions and a focus on the natural surrounding. Significance: -Thoreaus extensive writings on nature, natural history and environmentalism inspired the preservation of nature and put forth the idea that nature is of beauty and value.

Pastoral What: -A type of farming that involves domesticated animals or livestock (such as pigs, sheep, oxen, cows) grazing pasture. Europeans brought over domesticated animals to North America in the 1500s and Pastoral farming dominated the landscape from the 1600s to the 1700s. -Pastoral farming required fences to keep livestock from damaging crops The Cornel Farm by Edwards Hicks depicts pastoral farming and displays the immense valued livestock had in the 1600s. Significance: -Was key in transforming the land from a patchwork/maize landscape to a World of fields and fences where the land was dominated by running fields of pasture -Introduction of domesticated animals allowed fields to be plowed at a much faster rate, therefore transforming the land -Pastoral farmers were required to build fences, which affirmed the European ideology of property rights in North America.
Neo-Europe -Colonists brought with them the belief that man should shape nature to his advantage. This manifested itself in the accounts of colonists upon arriving in America, noting the presence of resources that they valued In Europe. -They saw vast expanses of trees, plentiful game for hunting; items that they could harvest, collect, and accumulate to enhance their lives and create wealth according to the European sense of wealth. These commodities were largely seen as separate from nature, resources waiting to be extracted and put to productive use. This

reaction to the eastern North American environment was shaped by the resources that were valuable and scarce in Europe. -Colonists appreciation for the land and nature was confined to what sorts of resources the land could produce. Lowell Mills -mill town in Lowell, Massachusetts -used young, single women from the MA countryside for cheap labor -was seen as a social reform, a new kind of capitalism -a closely supervised, wholesome and moral atmosphere -mill workers end up missing nature, writing letters home to relatives about how they miss open space and more natural surroundings -one of the first industrialized towns in the U.S. Southern Tradition of Environmental Determinism -The environmental conditions in the South, such as long summers, the soil fertility, the type of rain, etc. were ideal for tobacco and cotton -The environmental determinism view essentially holds that due to the favorable environmental conditions, southerners were destined to use the land as they did (using land until it was unproductive and moving onto new land) and using slaves -implies that southerners were forced into the practice of slavery because of env. conditions, does not give any agency to the slave holders and doesnt deal with causation. -a dated tradition that is dangerous to use to try to explain because it removes culpability on the part of the slave owners George Perkins Marsh -Acknowledges the negative environmental impacts that human influence had on lands in the Roman Empire -Introduction to Man and Nature is written by him, only 8 pages, worth looking over -Important because Marsh recognized that humans could be destructive to nature, which could have served as a warning for what would unfold in the United States. The overwhelming sentiment in the time period was that nature was too big to be negatively impacted by human activities. Nobody considered long-term consequences, or considered that they might run out of resource. Wilderness -the concept of wilderness is an understanding that there is untouched land, which is a false reality. In most cases, land considered wilderness is actively used by Native Americans who have shaped the land. -as people move westward, they see the Rocky Mountains and are proud of the vast expanses of land that is seemingly devoid from human influence and disturbance, uninhabited by humans -there is a deep, intense feeling of nationalism associated with wilderness, people feel that a connection to the wilderness is an essential part of being an American -wilderness means different things to different people at different times, it is a social construct that represents other social issues of the time period.

Virgin soil epidemic What: European settlers brought European diseases to Native American populations that had never been exposed to them before. Native American populations were profoundly affected, with sometimes an entire tribe dying off at once. The impact of each epidemic depended on the location and lifestyle of each Native American group - for example, Northern Native Americans lived in smaller groups that were more spread out, so they didnt die off as rapidly as Southern groups whose farming kept them in larger, more settled communities for at least part of the year. Significance: European settlers saw the massive elimination of the Native American population by disease as a confirmation of European right to the land. God-given or not though, the virgin soil epidemic definitely cleared the land of people, allowing new settlers to take over what had once been Native American land. Municipal water in Boston What: In the 1840s the Cochituate Aqueduct was constructed to distribute water around Boston. Significance: The conception of water as property and power. Water drives development as it allows for faster transportation. Cotton kingdom What: The Southern U.S. became a cotton kingdom in the mid 1800s because of the Souths long growing season and cottons nonperishability that made it a valuable export. By 1860, cotton comprised over half of American exports. Significance: Cotton expansion prompted the removal of Native American tribes (e.g. Trail of Tears), and ravaged the soil. Cotton is known as a heavy feeder and a soil miner, meaning it saps the soil of nutrients very quickly, forcing farmers to move or turn to outside sources of fertilizer like guano. Sublime What: Wilderness as an awesome and religious experience. Part of the

transcendentalist view of nature as divine. Emerson and Thoreau along with other followers of Transcendentalism and Romanticism. Significance: Pushback against the social and industrial change in the early 19th century. Reversal of the earlier Judeo-Christian thought that wilderness was evil and needed to be subdued.