How Colonialism Negatively Affected Human Ecology

How Colonialism Negatively Affected Human Ecology

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How Colonialism Negatively Affected Human Ecology

Introduction

Colonialism refers to a practice of domination and an exploration, settlement, conquest, and exploitation of land by European explorers that lasted 400 years. Environmental colonialism is the numerous ways through which colonial practices affected the natural habitats of indigenous people. Historian Alfred Crosby argued that colonialists were partly successful as they managed to change native ecosystem. Colonialists exposed native communities to exotic invasive species and foreign markets, inhibiting their capacity to defend themselves against both biological and economic invaders. For some native populations, recovery from the damage done proved difficult. Colonial powers made the problem worse by developing global infrastructure, which encouraged rich countries to excavate natural resources from poor countries while at the same time destabilizing sustainable native cultures. This essay delves into how colonialism negatively affected ecology, including the introduction of disease, environmental changes, increased population, global trade networks and medicines from new plants.

Introduction of New Diseases

Disease emergence is possibly the single greatest effect that European colonization had on the North American environment. Native inhabitants did not have any immunity against some of the new diseases. For instance, in all sectors where Europeans settled, Microbes caused sickness and death. Between 1616 and 1618, along the coast of the New England, disease epidemics claimed 75 percent of the lives of indigenous population (Amira, 2021). During the 1630s, half of Iroquois and Huron population that lived close to the Great Lakes succumbed to smallpox. The very old and young population seemed most susceptible and posted highest mortality rates. Losing the older generation also meant loss of traditions and knowledge. Notably, losing younger generations only made the trauma worse. Some of the natives and indigenous individuals viewed new diseases as weapons employed by hostile spiritual forces against them. At one point, these individuals went to war to perform an exorcism to get rid of the disease. In eastern Northern America, the mourning wars were made in such a way to acquire captives that would either be ritually tortured or executed or tortured to get rid of grief and anger that was caused by loss.

Environmental-related Changes

The presence of Europeans in America sparked numerous environmental changes that negatively affected natives and people. There was overhunting of beavers in the Northeast. It was caused by the desire Americans had for European weapons and growing recognition of beaver-trimmed hats across Europe. The loss of beavers brought loss of beaver ponds that functioned as habitats for fish. Additionally, the beavers’ ponds also served as a water resource for various, including moose and deers. Consequently, Europeans also brought pigs with them to America and allowed them to roam the forests alongside other wildlands. The pigs ate the foods that deers and other indigenous animals relied on. This led to food scarcity in the game which the natives also relied on as traditionally hunted food. European ideas regarding land ownership as a private agenda did not agree with the understanding of land use of the native and indigenous people. Native Americans did not subscribe to the ideology of private ownership of land. However, they saw land as a resource that should be used for the benefit of all. The European colonizers erected fences, fields, and all forms of private property demarcations. Indigenous individuals that moved according to seasons to make use of natural resources now came across areas marked as off-limit that had been claimed by colonizers.

With the exchange of plants and animals being the most obvious impact of colonialism, some of the plants that and animals that were transferred to the New World from Eurasia include citrus fruits, peas, peaches, cherries, apples, bananas, sugar, rice, wheat, and chickens, goats, sheep, pigs, and horses. Some of the food plants that made it from Africa to the Western hemisphere include okra, yams, collard greens and coffee. Similarly, the New World also sent various items to the Old World including maize, beans, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, manioc, peanuts, avocados, guavas, cacao, and pineapples. Most notably, tobacco exchange, with its highly addictive qualities also became a lucrative market.

New Medicines Made From New Plants

Another effect of colonialism is that new medicines were made from the new plants that Europeans brought with them. The European expansion into American brought with it an unprecedented exchange of plants across the Atlantic Ocean. An example is tobacco, that has since become a valued export as the European smoking culture continued to grow. Sugars are also another product that was moved across the Atlantic into America. Explorer, Christopher Columbus ferried sugarcane from Spain to the Caribbean during his second voyage in 1493. Afterwards he brought a variety of items, including roots, seeds, herbs, and flowers. Worth noting, Europeans also started traveling to America to gain knowledge about new medicines. The technique of cataloging new plants they found in America led to the development of botany science. Some of the early botanists incorporated English naturalist Sir Hans Sloane, that had come from Jamaica in 1687 and made a record of hundreds of new plants (Whyte, 2018). Additionally, the Native people had a vast knowledge of the local plants and properties of the New World. They would have been a source of information for European botanists that sought to identify and catalogue plants that would be potentially useful. Enslaved Africans that employed the use of medicinal plants in their land adapted to the new surroundings by learning to make use of the plants of the new world. They did this by learning from indigenous inhabitants and through experimentation. Africans and Native Americans used their knowledge in their own communities effectively.

Increased Population

Population growth is another effect that came with colonialism. Although the demographic decline of the American population was extreme, the long term ecological effects of colonialism lead to a global population boom. The exchange of animals and plants that had rich nutritional value contributed significant to the enrichment of diets in many parts of the world. Between the 16th century and 19th century, the global population skyrocketed to nearly a billion from 425 million people. While population explosion is a good thing, it leads to negative effects such as hunger, conflicting views and deteriorating human welfare.

Global Trade Networks

Colonialism affected global trade networks in the sense that a link was established between previously unconnected Western and Eastern Hemispheres. This explains how humans, diseases, plants and animals spread across the world. This connectedness happened because of commercial ties and trading posts that European nations had established all over, from the Indian Ocean to America to Pacific Islands and beyond. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, Dutch, English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese formed colonies in the Atlantic basin (Moura, Scariot, Schmidt, Beatty, & Russell-Smith, 2019). It was from these colonies that global trade flourished. For example, manufactured goods entered the New World from Europe, where they were traded with gold and silver from Spanish American mines. The goods were also exchanged with staple products such as sugar and tobacco that both in high demand in Europe. Moreover, the trade also linked Europe, Africa and the Americas from selling and buying of human beings as labor slaves.

Conclusion

In closing, without a doubt, colonialism had unprecedented effect on the human ecology. The environment suffered both positively and negatively from the Americas contact with the Europeans. Environmental changes took place that impacted both people and animals. Diseases such as smallpox emerged causing death and sickness. New plants that the Europeans brought with them also helped make new medicines. Additionally, the global population also skyrocketed and global trade networks were developed. Resistance efforts should come together in the global struggle of protecting local ecologies from the negative effects of outside interference.

References

Amira, S. (2021). The slow violence of Israeli settler-colonialism and the political ecology of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Settler Colonial Studies, 1-21.

Moura, L. C., Scariot, A. O., Schmidt, I. B., Beatty, R., & Russell-Smith, J. (2019). The legacy of colonial fire management policies on traditional livelihoods and ecological sustainability in savannas: Impacts, consequences, new directions. Journal of environmental management, 232, 600-606.

Whyte, K. (2018). Settler colonialism, ecology, and environmental injustice. Environment and Society, 9(1), 125-144.