Question

Write a paragraph about the role that nature played in the early American settlements and how this influenced literary themes.

Answer 1

Many others came because of the stories of unbridled beauty. Thousands of stories were sent to Europe documenting the first site of the land from sea. Descriptions of the lush trees, and endless beauty of the land spread. No one had seen this type of landscape in Europe. It had long been torn away for industry and communities built to house the many residents of Europe. Artist’s traveled to survey and paint landscapes of “The New World”, others came to study the trees and animals unknown to them before. The land inspired many poets to write about the strength and wonder of the land such as Anne Bradstreet in her works named “Contemplations”.

Throughout her writings she refers back to the beauty and strength of nature. She directly says that nature can sustain everyone and outlive humans. She acknowledges that all pearls and gold come from the earth, and she seems to be in complete wonder of the world around her. She mentions the sky, the animals, and the plants. It is probable that her thoughts reflect the thoughts of many of the early settlers and explorers. Although the new discoveries also meant that these people had not experienced this type of life in Europe and they were not prepared for the long harsh winters or the shortages of food. Many who came were not farmers they were business men and religious leaders.

During ‘The Starving Time” in 1609 a group of settlers landed in Virginia and founded the Jamestown settlement. Bad planning and little farming skills cost most of the new settlers their lives. The placement of the settlement was ill planned. They placed it next to a swamp that was infested with mosquitoes which bit them and caused a Malaria outbreak. They also did not account for the location when thinking of food. There were not enough fertile hunting grounds in the area to supply them with food. They were relying on shipments from England that either came late or never came at all because of shipwrecks. The winter was cold and there was not enough time to plant for ample food supplies. They were unable to trade freely with the local Indians because of frequent and violent disputes with them over land leadership. This ultimately lead to a mass attack on the settlers and most of them were killed. The few that survived were dead or dying by the time help arrived. The harsh elements of nature including weather and the massive power of the ocean caused many of the problems that Jamestown experienced.

Thick brush and forests also made travel difficult for the early explorers. They were not used to the harsh landscape in which they traveled. They often got lost and suffered from extreme sun, heat and cold exposure. Traveling through the landscape to track Indians, hunt or look for safe places to settle was difficult and dangerous. The native Indians had the upper hand in these matters and were more easily able to ambush settlers. Travel was slow and dangerous, they would send a party out to find food or a good place for shelter and be gone from the rest of their group for days and sometimes weeks. But nature did not always have negative effects on the settlers there were many that profited from nature.

Prior to 1500 Jon Cabot came to New England and began to trade with the Indians. He traded European goods for fur. This was very profitable for Europe and the early settlers. Fur was abundant in “The New World” and scarce in Europe. This became a booming business for many business men. European land had been cleared for harvesting and industry and little forest remained. What did remain was mostly areas considered to be the King’s forest and off limits to the layman. The native Indians at that time were willing to trade with the Europeans for items of little value. This was convenient for the early settlers because they didn’t have hunt and clean the fur. This saved time and money. In Europe and in the new country beaver felt hats were in high demand and the fur obtained from the Indians produced high profits.