The Europeans looked at America through the eyes of opportunists. From their viewpoint America, “Had no past, no history- it was a continent of the future” (Merchant 97). When honestly, it did have a past; one that was filled with the rich culture of Native Americans, but I digress. Their view of this “new” land was so different from that of the Native American as well because the Native Americans truly cared about Mother Earth. They only took from her what was needed to survive, however, that also changed when the Europeans came in. The Native Americans “were pulled away from their own agricultural and hunting traditions to serve in a wider European economy” (Opie 37). The new comers to the land looked at their fresh start with wide eyes. They began to strip the new world of all its wonders. They cut down forests, trucks at a time, which eventually caused the extinction of the passenger pigeon. They also killed animals for their fur and other resources which made the buffalo endangered and almost caused the American beaver to become extinct as well. Not all Europeans coming to the new world wanted mass domination; some truly wanted a fresh start in a new place. Painters would convey scenes of this new world and, “Upon this bare canvas poured the visions and dreams of the European soul” (Merchant 97). Everyone looked at it in a different way. Some people wanted money, the favor of the King, a new start, or just an adventure. One thing is for sure though; they all began a journey filled with the ups and downs of living in a new land that was already owned by someone else.
Merchant, Carolyn. "Chapter 3." Major Problems in American Environmental History: Documents and Essays. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Opie, John. "Chapter 1." Nature's Nation: An Environmental History of the United States. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College, 1998. Print.
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