ePub Colonial Living by Edwin Tunis in History

Description

James D. Rice’s fresh study of the Potomac River basin begins with a mystery. Why; when the whole of the region offered fertile soil and excellent fishing and hunting; was nearly three-quarters of the land uninhabited on the eve of colonization? Rice wonders how the existence of this no man’s land influenced nearby Native American and; later; colonial settlements. Did it function as a commons; as a place where all were free to hunt and fish? Or was it perceived as a strange and hostile wilderness? Rice discovers environmental factors at the center of the story. Making use of extensive archaeological and anthropological research; as well as the vast scholarship on farming practices in the colonial period; he traces the region’s history from its earliest known habitation. With exceptionally vivid prose; Rice makes clear the implications of unbridled economic development for the forests; streams; and wetlands of the Potomac River basin. With what effects; Rice asks; did humankind exploit and then alter the landscape and the quality of the river’s waters? Equal parts environmental; Native American; and colonial history ; Nature and History in the Potomac Country is a useful and innovative study of the Potomac River; its valley; and its people.