The Concept of Improving Nature - Essay Example

?Improving Nature Introduction Cronon postulates that the concept of ‘changing the environment’ has radically shifted due to the power of culture in changing people’s choices towards the environment (13). As the years fly, the humanity resorts to a particular concept of improving the environment that fits their everyday needs plus their evolution into capitalists, overlooking the nature of our relationship with the environment as something that is needed to be changed instead. Nature has existed since time immemorial, and its transformation from being pure and unexploited can be traced. This essay is a brief account of the environmental history of the United States, anciently called the New World, from the colonial period in the fifteenth century to the present day. These eras are characterized in the essay based on the environmental situation of the Americas and its ways of improving the nature. Lastly, a comparison of the previous and past concepts of improving the nature will also be briefly discussed in this essay. The Colonial Period The Columbian Era October (1492-1502) The highlight of the environmental history of the United States started with Columbus’ arrival in San Salvador. Changes in the Land, written by William Cronon, documented how Columbus’ and other colonists’ arrival marked the beginning of people’s different attitude towards the environment. Columbus’ “Columbian Exchange” made possible the exchanges of diseases, plants, animals, and others that strengthened the link between Europe and America (Magoc 6). Loss of lives was a result of the natives’ willingness and active participation in trading. Mercantilism, which entails the extraction of natural resources for trading, existed between the native Indians and the colonists. By saying so, the gradual destruction of the native Indians’ environment was a result of their willingness in forging trading with the colonists which entails extraction of anything that can be exchanged to the Europeans. In other words, the natives were not forced to engage in trading; they simply did what they think could serve their needs. The precolonial and colonial period were marked by an abundance of natural resources, or as Cronon suggests, “limitless and overflowing” resources (168). The natives believe that their resources are endless, but the arrival of the Europeans made their beliefs changed. The colonists instilled in them the idea that nature’s abundance is limited. Nature, by all means, can be altered, diminished, or affected depending on how and to what extent the resources are used. Furthermore, land ownership has also altered the way the natives view possessions. The Europeans made them believe that even lands can be traded. The natives’ relationship with the land is a transient one, something that made them utilized the land based on how much it can provide them in a given period of time. What they believed to be traded with the colonists is not the land itself, but the rights associated with its use, such as the rights to till and hunt. However, that is not how the Europeans viewed mercantilism. This is enough to say that complacency and confidence towards the Europeans eventually started the destruction of the environment. Using land to trade is environmentally devastating because no one knows how it is going to be utilized. Altering them for mercantilism purposes destructs the whole naturality of the land. Worse, when one gets benefits from the land after a commercial venture, he or she is not satisfied and wants even more from changing the land. Humans are innately not contented creatures. The evidence, as documented by Cronon, was the European’s demand for fur bearing animals and beaver. As a result, beaver’s population diminished and affected the ecological balance. In Cronon’s words, “Beaver dams provided a natural alteration of the ecosystem. Eliminating the dam makers meant recreating the environment” (107). When there were acres of arable land, colonists also flocked the area, and this created a “continued cycle” (Cronon 107). Our perception of ‘improving the nature’ is not a nineteenth or twentieth century idea; rather, it is rooted deeply since the colonial period. Our relationship with nature dates back to the native Indians’ view towards it, and the influence that the colonists’ created in changing our views towards nature. Cronon believes that people’s relationship with nature goes with a particular process, i.e. urbanization (170). When mercantilism was introduced, the natives’ perception towards nature changed from being functionalist to capitalist that nature’s resources do not only provide for their needs, but rather can be used as products to be traded with other people. This idea is the cornerstone of our present-day environmental problems. When one no longer realizes the basic role of nature and started to exploit it to the fullest, that is the beginning of more catastrophes. It is but noteworthy to look back at the way the natives adore the nature. Since they were dependent on nature’s abundance, they held their “reverence” to Mother Nature on a higher notch (Kline 18). This is consistent with the ancient Americans’ way of worshipping nature as it is evident from their belief called “animism” (Kline 19). It is realistic to conclude that as years passed by, technologies for hunting and planting became sophisticated. Because of that, ancient inhabitants acquired the Euro-American mentality that nature and its resources are to be used to benefit themselves and survived in their environment. They came to thinking that they were in control of the environment and the riches therein “in the name of civilization” (Kline 22). 17th Century The seventeenth century was marked by further devastation of the environment’s natural resources due to an evolving concept of mercantilism. The colonists influenced the natives’ understanding of the role of nature into their lives. This ‘brainwashing’ style though had already started during the early colonial period. This time around, the natives succumbed to the idea that there are more to nature than being a provider to their needs. The introduction of tobacco plantation in mid- seventeenth century marked a milestone of land exploitation. Planting seasonal crops, those that will be replaced after a few months are hazardous to the land because the crops gradually absorb nutrients from the land until it has no more to produce. As a result, idle lands increased which humans can no longer benefit. Moreover, the great migration wave in 1642 further aggravated the case of land owning and exploitation. Now, more and more people were exploiting the land and its resources while population growth had its time. The word-of-mouth, announcing the wonders of mercantilism is a powerful tool in furthering land exploitation since people’s testimonies were effective advertisements. Native inhabitants were influenced in the kind of mentality of the colonizers and migrants to extract something from nature that is worthy to be traded, among them were “furs, fish, and forest products” (Merchant 30). It would be fair to note that the natives fought for the restoration of their lands, or the preservation of their plantations, but the resistance was not enough compared to the heavily armed conquistadors. Kline even states that the native Indians were considered as pioneers of today’s environmental movement (18). The colonists’ proposition was fairly a realization among the natives. It was not an entirely bad idea for the natives to consider the new concept introduced by the colonists. Cronon analyzed that it is also fair to consider the shift of nature relationship among the native Indians because the idea of protecting nature is falsely premised since the beginning (11). If nature has to be preserved against the greediness of the humanity, it is highly impossible to achieve because for one, our definition of nature excludes us from being part of it. We defined nature largely as an undiscovered one, virgin and unexploited, which means it is uninhabited by humans. The definition alone, according to Cronon, maintains “the culture-nature dualism” (80). As a result, humans protect more of the hidden parts of the environment that are not inhabited by humans while continue to exploit those that we inhabited and used. 18th- 19th Century It is also noteworthy to mention that the New England economy, as a major location of the New World’s transformation, was characterized by a three-way relationship between and among Africa as a source of manpower, Europe as the hub for manufacturing, and the New World as the source of natural resources (Merchant 32). A capitalist society and its growth contributed to the destruction of the ecosystem. One way of assessing the changes in the environment is through changes in climate. Jefferson noted the transition from cold breeze to a gasp of warm air in the state of Virginia, which equated the “ordinary heat of the human body” (77). Cronon’s sentiments about humans’ protecting the uninhabited part of nature still continued in this era. Kline stated that Thomas Jefferson’s love for territorial expansion, or the so-called “taming the wilderness”, entailed environmental damages (26). Cronon agrees and states that the evolution of trade did not impact the nature’s situation positively because of our misguided attitude towards nature (12). This attitude of exclusion ourselves as separate entities from nature is shown in the rampant cases of large-scale mining, deforestation, and various forms of polluting the earth. Humans see these activities as not affecting people’s lives in the future because if so, how come these exploitations continue? The Present Concept of Improving the Nature The 20th century characterization of improving the nature was more of conservation (Kline 59). Since the colonial age was the only concern of utilizing what nature had given the humanity to achieve economic prosperity, the 1990s were considered as the Progressive Era and marked the beginning of the campaign for a “responsible use of nature’s resources” (Kline 59). The Progressive Era was concerned about saving the environment and saving the people from harmful vices. Progressive members knew that their goal is to campaign for the responsible dealing with the environment, and influence the federal government to impose rules aimed at regulating the use and exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of the corporate groups. As part of the continued rise of population in urban areas due to the Industrial Revolution, people now grew concern of combating pollution. Businesses such as manufacturing plants required manpower and likewise entailed pollution. However, it is also impossible to dismiss the idea that the destruction of the environment is a pervasive problem that is hard to solve. Urbanization still prompts us to destroy the nature, intentionally and unintentionally. The present generation has shifted its idea of improving the nature, but only in terms of the medium used. This is not the real solution to the pervasive problem. Cronon states that the problem lies with our misguided relationship with nature (12). There must be an emphasis on engaging ourselves as part of nature rather than as separate entities from it. Conclusion There is a strong need for people’s eyes to be opened from the reality of nature’s condition. This entails understanding our relationship with nature as important drivers of its destruction or preservation. The idea of improving the nature has gradually changed in the present times, partly due to the present era’s understanding of the implications of calamities, both natural and man-made, and due to the influence of various works of environmental experts. Changing our relationship with nature is what Cronon suggested until the moment we realize that we live and die with nature. Works Cited Cronon, William. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. New York: Hill and Wang, 1983. Print. Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia. London: John Stockdale, 1781. Print. Kline, Benjamin. First Along the River: A Brief History of the U.S. Environmental Movement. 4th ed. Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Print. Magoc, Chris J. Chronology of Americans and the Environment. California: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011. Print. Merchant, Carolyn. American Environmental History: An Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Print. Read More