William Cronon’s Changes in the Land is a ground-breaking study of the impact of European settlement on the environment and inhabitants of early New England. Cronon’s study reveals that New England’s environment was hardly the unspoiled and pristine wilderness portrayed by early European explorers and settlers. That region’s Native American inhabitants had reshaped New England’s environment long before the arrival of Europeans just as the unique character of that environment directly influenced the lives, society and culture of those Native Americans. Cronon also demonstrates how fundamental differences in the ways Native Americans and Europeans conceived of the environment and their place in it would lead to decades of conflict and change. Finally he shows the dramatic ways that European settlement changed New England’s environment even more.
My purpose in assigning this book is fourfold: to give you a sense of the relationship between environment and human existence; to provide a detailed look at the lives of Native Americans both before European settlement and thereafter; to explore the relationship between Native Americans and European settlers particularly in the light of their different views of the environment; and finally, to demonstrate the dramatic impact of European settlement on the environment of North America.
Although I am interested in what you think of this book, this paper is not a standard book review. Rather it is to be a short research paper based entirely on your reading of Changes in the Land. In reading the book and then writing your paper, you should be prepared to address the following questions and topics.
Topics
Your opening paragraph should briefly address these two questions: In general, what is this book about? What is Cronon’s thesis?

When Europeans first arrived in New England, what did they find? What were the most important ways the New England environment differed from that of Europe? In what ways did they find that environment to be of value to them?

Explain how the New England environment –plants, animals, climate, topography- accounted for the diversity found in the Indian tribes that lived there? For example, how does it explain why northern New England tribes differed from those in southern New England? What were those differences? In what ways did the New England environment shape or influence the development of the lifestyles and society of the tribes that lived there? How did Indians shape and manipulate the environment to fit their lifestyles?

Describe the respective roles of men and women in Indian society.

The Indian view of property and land possession differed significantly from that of Europeans. Briefly discuss how the Indians viewed property and the possession of land. How did the European’s views on those subjects lead them to be critical of the Indian way of life and to justify their taking of Indian land?

Discuss the impact of European diseases on Indian populations and society. Why were the Indians so susceptible to these diseases? In what ways did disease change and devastate Indian society?

How did the European conquest of New England dramatically alter its environment? In particular, discuss how the European demand for certain plant and animal products change the character of that environment. How did European farming practices affect New England’s environment? Your discussion should include two key examples cited by Cronon.

What did you think of the book? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?