HIST 2120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Wolf Hunting, Metacomet, Wampanoag People
Document Summary
Unit 2 autonomous animals, 1600 - 1850. This week we begin to study north america and the colonial and early national period. During the time period of 1607-1850, north america looked like this: Thousands of european immigrants and many thousands of african slaves arriving on the continent and disrupting the first nations and native american groups who lived here. Many large land animals had been hunted to extinction centuries earlier by ancestors of the native american groups however the continent still had many animals coexisting with the mostly-nomadic human population. Aboriginal people hunted for subsistence and at rates designed for sustainability of animal populations. Take what you need and no more since hunting is difficult and exhausting. Exception to the rule was the beaver trade to supply the european fur market. By mid 18th century, aboriginal, british and french trappers and traders had nearly destroyed the beaver population.