Notes #1

THE COLUMBIAN ENCOUNTER AND LAND-USE CHANGE
by B.L. Turner II and Karl W. Butzer

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- immediate and long term effects

- millions of dollars (modern day amounts) of gold melted down

- Aztecs nearly killed off by the invasion

= a lot killed off by diseases brought by the Europeans

- "The destruction of Amerindian populations changed the character of land occupancy in the Americas and ultimately created the "wilderness" awaiting the arrival of the late European settlers." (Turner)

- "An estimated 76 percent of the population of the Americas south of the present-day United States was eliminated between 1492 and 1650." (Turner)

- "The scale of depopulation in the Americas far exceeded the number of Europeans settling there in the 16th century. One hundred years after the encounter, in fact, only 175,000 Spaniards had colonized the Americas in the wake of the precipitous decline in the Amerindian population." (Turner)

-agricultural lands left empty: not used
= no one there to use them

- "These changes in the rudiments of the system of cultivation in the highlands had two broad implications for land use and land cover. First, the changes concentrated settlement in the highlands and, thus, reduced the relative importance of the occupation of the tropical lowlands. Secondly, use of the plow allowed vast areas to be cultivated in the highlands with a small labor force and, along with irrigation of winter wheat crops, shifted the balance of cultivated lands to the well-drained soils of highland valleys and basins. This shift stood in contrast to the Amerindians' use of high slopes and bottom wetlands, which did not handicap their less discriminating horticultural tools. Furthermore, Spanish preference for highlands favored the drainage of valley bottom wetlands and contributed to the demise of many wetland agricultural systems." (Turner)

- "Livestock production, of course, was the pastoral complement to wheat production among the Spaniards in the highlands. Initially, the uncontrolled cattle grazing wreaked havoc on agriculture because of the large numbers involved, and it may have led to the deteriorating of pastures in Mexico." (Turner)

- "Changes in the political economy of the Americas following the Columbian encounter also played an integrative role with technological and biotic changes to affect land use and land cover." (Turner)

- "The Amerindians were not completely eradicated, however, particularly in the highlands, where the impact of European diseases may not have been as harsh as they were in the lowlands. Amerindian agriculture not only survived the initial encounter, but it also became a source of exchange between Amerindian and Spanish farmers. Each borrowed from and experimented with the other's practices and, over time, a new set of hybrid landscapes emerged that integrated many of the crops and cultivation techniques of both systems. In this process, however, many Amerindian cultigens were lost or forgotten, as was expertise in certain systems of production, such as the construction of wetland fields." (Turner)