The first Europeans to colonize North America believed the abundance of gold and jewels found in Mexico and Peru also existed in northern lands. Finding these riches was priority one! Gentlemen adventurers clamored aboard wooden ships, driven by gold fever. They were sure they would find fabulous wealth in the New World! Instead, most became victims of starvation, disease and violence.
The Europeans carried a limited supply of food. They were promised regular resupply by ship. This rarely happened.
You would think after the first colonists build log cabins and a stockade wall they would focus on growing food as well as learning to hunt, fish and gather foods in this new land.
Instead, the Europeans exploited the local natives. When supplies ran low, the colonists traded metal tools and trinkets for the small amounts of surplus food the Native Americans grew and gathered. Soon this food was consumed. The colonists then demanded and ultimately confiscating (by force) all the food of the Amerinds. As the colonists were armed with guns and cannon, they usually won the day. However, the friendship and cooperation of the knowledgeable neighbors was lost.
Many American Indian tribes practiced slash and burn farming. They cleared a piece of land and burned the brush and trees. Burning released nutrients that fertilized the soil. Next, they planted corn, squash and bean seeds together in many small hillocks. As the plants grew, the corn stalk supported the bean vine while the squash vine covered the ground and discouraged weeds. Many Native Americans also exploited an abundance of salt and fresh water resources as well as woodlands and plains.
As an example, in the early years of European colonization, lobster was abundant in shallow waters. It has been said that a ships’ boy could catch 40 to 50 lbs. of lobster in an hour or two.
A little later in history, New England farmers used lobsters to fertilize their fields.
In fact, lobster was so cheap and plentiful that indentured servants often insisted upon a stipulation in their employment contract that they not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week!
Oysters, clams, scallops, crabs, cod and many other varieties of fresh and salt water fish, whales and eels filled the coastal waters, bays, lakes and rivers of North America. Even the Maple tree produced sap which was boiled into sweet syrup or sugar!
The St Lawrence river was filled with such an abundance of migrating eels each year that it was nicknamed the "Manna of New France".Wild grapes and various berries grew in the northern climes.
Among the wild game a hunter could harvest were bear, deer, woodland bison, buffalo, elk, moose, turkey, assorted water fowl and many other critters that roamed the continent’s various ecosystems.
Over time, the colonists tamed the wilderness, cleared and planted the land, harvested the rivers, lakes and seas and found fabulous wealth. Some New World plants and animals (like corn, potatoes and turkey) were introduced to Europe and other Old World areas. In return, the Spanish introduced orange trees in St Augustine, Florida as well as horses, beef cattle and pigs. Some of these animals escaped and populated the South, Southwest and the Great Plains. Feral pigs, a big nuisance today in many U.S. states, were introduced by De Soto and other Spanish explorers.
The invasion of new species continues to this day with the Zebra Mussel. It hitch a ride across the Atlantic on freighters, traveled the St Lawrence Seaway, and has found a new home in the Great Lakes.
