The book Changes in the Land by William Cronon explores how the different ways of living – Indigenous and European – caused different altering effects on the New England environments. This review will note the main thesis of the book and how the author utilized evidence as support. Following this summary, the review will delve into the strengths and weaknesses of the book and their ultimate effect on the reader. The book’s main thesis is that: “New England ecology was transformed as the region became integrated into the emerging capitalist economy of the North Atlantic.” Thus explaining that European capitalism was integral for shifts from Native culture to actions which complemented European lifestyle. It was these shifts that irreparably
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Cronon makes concessions in the first chapter in which he is explaining how he collected the information, noting the majority were testimonials, followed by various types of records and then from pollen collections or tree rings. However, he concedes the biases, generalizations, and “fuzzy nomenclature” make testimonials difficult to trust at face value. The purpose behind this concession is to secure his argument from a refutation based on testimonials. The concession in itself does strengthen his argument, however, Cronon does not consistently continue throughout the book to note the possible inconsistencies of the many testimonials. The reader is told to keep a healthy wariness and yet the majority of Cronon’s evidence is testimonial. Readers are then forced to judge which testimonials should be trusted, and because the majority of book is testimonial readers must question the truthfulness of the entire book – thereby undermining Cronon’s …show more content…
Using property perception and trade economy to explain how said shift caused irreparable damage to New England’s ecosystem. The strengths of his argument lie in his formatting and use of multiple points of view. However, his weaknesses of consistency and placement of his concessions undermine his book. Ultimately, Cronon succeeds in explaining how much colonialism changed the environment despite the lack of technology. The reader should keep in mind how much more can be changed with our new
Cronon makes concessions in the first chapter in which he is explaining how he collected the information, noting the majority were testimonials, followed by various types of records and then from pollen collections or tree rings. However, he concedes the biases, generalizations, and “fuzzy nomenclature” make testimonials difficult to trust at face value. The purpose behind this concession is to secure his argument from a refutation based on testimonials. The concession in itself does strengthen his argument, however, Cronon does not consistently continue throughout the book to note the possible inconsistencies of the many testimonials. The reader is told to keep a healthy wariness and yet the majority of Cronon’s evidence is testimonial. Readers are then forced to judge which testimonials should be trusted, and because the majority of book is testimonial readers must question the truthfulness of the entire book – thereby undermining Cronon’s …show more content…
Using property perception and trade economy to explain how said shift caused irreparable damage to New England’s ecosystem. The strengths of his argument lie in his formatting and use of multiple points of view. However, his weaknesses of consistency and placement of his concessions undermine his book. Ultimately, Cronon succeeds in explaining how much colonialism changed the environment despite the lack of technology. The reader should keep in mind how much more can be changed with our new