William Cronin
Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New
England
New York: Hill & Wang, 1983.
Cronon points out how European colonists' sense of property and
their pursuit of capitalism had profound effects upon the
ecosystem of New England. Fields and fences took the place of
woodlands and meadows, which in turn gave way to industry. The
book's closing line is chilling: "...the people of plenty were a
people of waste."
