COLONIAL RESILIENCE CYCLE: As Europeans began to colonize New England, there was a dramatic shift from sustainability to exploitation (5). Unchecked population and economic growth facilitated abuse of the land and its people, causing resilience thresholds to be crossed (22).
COLONIAL PRACTICES/BELIEFS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSES: In contrast to Native American societies, colonists worked to maximize resource production and extraction, without regards to the health of the land or the people who occupied it (5). By investigating colonial beliefs and practices, we can better understand the unsustainable nature of colonial communities.
References: (2) (3) (5) (23)