The Emperor Has No Clothes A Practical Guide for Environmental and Social Transformation (8 page)

The Maya Kingdom of Lamanai was located on
the shore of a lagoon of the New River in Belize. As a result of
the location of this settlement, it had a more diverse resource
base that incorporated locally obtained aquatic fresh water foods
comprised of fish, shellfish, and turtles. In addition to
freshwater fish, there also is evidence that seafood was a part of
their diet. It is thought that the seafood was transported by boat
on the New River from the Atlantic coastal areas where a maritime
trade network was in place. The maritime trade network was large,
it extended along the Caribbean costs of Mexico and Belize. The
most prominent of the oceanic trading settlements were Jain Island,
Frenchman’s Kay, Moho Cay, and Wild Cane Cay [20]. Wild Cane Cay
occupied a position as the last link of the coastal network. It was
also the start of the New River connection to the inland kingdom of
Lamanai. All of these settlements survived the classical Maya
collapse and persisted into post classic times.

20. The coastal trading centers were
comprised of traders and did not have large central monumental
types of architecture associated with the kings. For example, Wild
Cane Cay was densely populated but only occupied an area of 10
acres.

I would hypothesize that the Lamanai kingdom
and maritime trading settlements were able to weather the classic
collapse as the result of the availability of external sources of
food. These more diverse food sources were provided by a more
capable transportation system based upon boats. Boats were used to
ship marine resources inland by river while also providing access
to the contiguous river waters. This larger subsistence base
reduced the degree of dependency on locally derived agricultural
food. Thereby, reducing the sensitivity of Lamanai to agricultural
food shortfalls allowing it to carry on.

North America: During the initial
establishment of the American colonies a nonexistent to rudimentary
production capability existed. As a result of this deficiency, the
early colonists were dependent upon trade with the parent European
countries to provide manufactured items. [21] In order to pay for
these necessities the colonists had to produce trade items that
were of high enough value in Europe to produce a significant net
profit. The profitable high value trade items that were obtainable
by the early colonists were wild animal skins (fur) obtained from
the hinterlands, and tobacco which was cultivated on farms and
plantations. Most of the fur was obtained from the Indians through
trade by the French and English colonists who had established
porous territorial trade networks with the Indian tribes. The
preeminent source of wild animal products was the Iroquois
confederation, which was comprised of five tribes: The Mohawk,
Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and the Seneca [22]. This confederation
was also by far the most powerful group of Indians, it is estimated
that their population was around 80,000 in the British sector and
20,000 in the French sector in what is now Canada. They had highly
skilled “professional” diplomats referred to as sachems who were
appointed for life giving them high levels of experience which
resulted in great political savvy and negotiating skill. Their
diplomatic strategy was to play the French and British off against
each other, and it was quite successful until the American
revolutionary war disrupted the balance of power.

The monoculture cultivation of tobacco is one
of the most taxing crops on the soil to grow, it was also the most
lucrative crop. Because of its high returns, the colonial farmers
grew as much of it for a cash crop as possible. The colonists
farming practice was to plant it time after time until the soil
became too depleted to produce significant yields. Once the yields
became to low, the colonial farmers would abandon the depleted
croplands and relocate in an area with virgin soil. This pattern of
land usage was practical because land prices were very low. It has
been argued by Montgomery in his excellent book Dirt, that the loss
of soil fertility and the resulting decline in crop yields in the
south Atlantic colonies plantations were a significant underlying
driving force for the adoption of slavery in order to reduce labor
costs, thereby enabling the planters to continue to produce a
profit from their property.

21. The British colonial policy with respect
to trade was based upon mercantilism which operated by the transfer
of raw materials from the colony to the mother country where these
materials where manufactured into finished products. It was illegal
to transfer manufacturing technology to the colonies to maintain
colonial dependency on the mother country and also to have a
captive market for English products to produce profits for the
English industrialists.

22. The five tribes were the primary members
of the confederation and undertook diplomatic endeavors for
themselves as well as other tribes such as the Cherokee who were
referred to as “props” and did not have their own negotiators.

By the 18th century soil depletion and
population expansion was creating a strong incentive among the
citizens of the British colonies to expand westward past the
Appalachian mountains to acquire more land. There was an impediment
to this expansion though. The Iroquois confederation had negotiated
treaties with the various colonial governments operating under the
authority of land grants made by the British crown. These treaties
provided the basis for the Iroquois to regulate trade. The method
the Iroquois preferred for this purpose was to restrict commercial
access to enclaves in their domains. The colonists operating on the
principle that they were here and the British government was far
away, ignored the treaties and expanded into Indian territory. The
members of the Iroquois confederation became vexed by the blatant
violations of the treaties. To rectify this situation four sachems
were dispatched to England to lodge a protest against the
violations. In England they were granted an audience with queen
Anne for discussion of the problem. Later a treaty addressing their
complaints was embodied in the Royal Proclamation of 1763
forbidding any settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains.
However, the colonists continued to encroach upon the Indian
territories and further treaties ceded land in West Virginia,
Kentucky, and ended with the treaty of Lochabar in 1770 that
relinquished Cherokee land that extended as far as Kingsport
Tennessee. Even with these large transfers of land the colonists
continued their land grabs. The land grabs were given a bogus
appearance of legality by establishing unauthorized land offices in
Indian country that were used to produce illegal titles to transfer
ownership of these lands. Many of the land speculators engaged in
these activities were the colonial elites who later agitated for
independence from Britain and also participated in the
revolutionary government. After the war of independence the new
American government recognized these titles making their holders
owners of vast tracts of land.

The social climate essential to support
slavery was changing though. In the late 18th and early 19th
century an efflorescence of religious feeling which condemned the
practice of slavery took place in Britain resulting in it's
practice being declared illegal in 1807. Shortly thereafter, the
British government dispatched naval forces to interdict the
shipping of slaves from Africa, and to be an instrument of condign
punishment to the shippers. This resulted in a large decrease in
the number of new slaves being landed in the United States and an
increase in their value (this will be returned to shortly).

After freedom was gained from Britain, the
United States entered a period of vigorous expansion, no longer
being hindered by British treaties with the Indians. As these new
territories were occupied by settlers from the original colonies,
they soon wished to change their status from being a territory to
that of a state to obtain political representation and other
benefits from the federal government. These applications to the
federal government for statehood became a bone of contention that
eventually culminated in the civil war. The conflict occurred
because southern plantation states wanted slavery to be a legal
practice in new states, while the northern non-slave states were
adamantly opposed to the expansion of slavery. The question is why
was it so important to the southern states to extend the practice
of slavery? In Soil, Montgomery's analysis of the economies of the
southern slave states showed that the progressive depletion and
loss of fertility of their soil by the first half of the 19th
century had reduced crop yields to such a degree that breeding
slaves had become a major industry. The importance of this industry
was greatest in Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia.
Without the economic prop of slave transactions in these states the
plantation system would have collapsed. For example, in the 1850's,
Georgia’s slave breeding business was the largest source of income.
Slave industry estimates at that time indicated that if Missouri,
Texas, and California were to become slave states the value of
slaves would double while also providing vast new markets.xiv

The same pattern of feckless land
exploitation has continued, in 1930 a drought that lasted till 1940
occurred in the southern great plains which is referred to as the
Dust Bowl. It was characterized by numerous intense episodes of
dust storms. The dust in these storms originated from the rapid and
severe wind erosion of the soil. The affected area was 39.25
million hectares (97 million acres) encompassing southeast
Colorado, Northeast New Mexico, west Kansas, the panhandles of
Oklahoma and Texas. It is a roughly potato shaped area having a
north – south axis of 644 km (400 mi.) and 482 km (300 mi.) on the
east – west axis. The dust storms took place during the windy part
of the year in February, March, and April. They did not occur over
the entire area at one time. The first severe storm occurred in
1931, and the peak of the entire series of storms occurred in the
mid 1930's. In 1938 the amounts of precipitation started to
increase which produced a tapering off of the storms, by 1940 the
episode was over.

Agricultural development of the dust storm
area was initiated and fostered by the US government. The
instrument used was the 1862 Homestead Act which was passed by the
US congress to encourage settlement in the Dust Bowl area. This act
was formulated and implemented without consideration of the
conditions prevailing in the area. During the period from 1862
through 1930 a number of severe droughts occurred the first from
1860 – 1864, another in 1910 – 1918. All of these droughts were
accompanied by severe wind erosion events that gave rise to large
dust storms. Having experienced a number of these drought induced
dust storms, the inhabitants of this area were well aware of these
types weather events. They also were cognizant that cultivated land
using traditional plowing methods were prone to erosion.[23]

Starting in the mid 19th century great
strides were made in agricultural technology that enabled
progressively more land to be worked by a farmer through
innovations in plowing and harvesting machinery. In the early part
of this period a number of draft animal powered implement
improvements appeared such as the sulky plow which allowed the
farmer to ride on it, and the Lister plow that combined several
operations, incorporating a seed hopper and seed drilling device
that operated during plowing. These types of innovations greatly
increased the area that could be plowed and seeded per day. In
addition to improved planting implements, harvesting innovations
that combined multiple operations also appeared, such as the header
which cut only the heads of the grain and left the straw. By 1885
steam traction engines were in wide use, their greater power and
versatility allowed the use of multiple furrow gang plows and
powered threshing machinery. The combination of these technical
innovations greatly augmented production capability. Ultimately
internal combustion equipment appeared producing even greater
capacity for tillage and planting. At the same time the combine
appeared which is an automated system that incorporates all the
harvesting operations.

23.
More recent studies have shown that droughts were a periodic
occurrence in this area, after the last ice age dendrochronology
(tree ring studies) indicate that 21 major droughts that lasted at
least 5 years had occurred in this area. From 1210 CE – 1958 CE the
average drought persisted for 12.8 years and droughts that lasted
for at least 10 years occurred every 55 years.

More recent studies have
shown that droughts were a periodic occurrence in this area, after
the last ice age dendrochronology (tree ring studies) indicate that
21 major droughts that lasted at least 5 years had occurred in this
area. From 1210 CE – 1958 CE the average drought persisted for 12.8
years and droughts that lasted for at least 10 years occurred every
55 years.
The result of all this increased capability was
the expansion of farm size, for example from 1910 to 1920 farm size
increased from an average of 188.4 ha (465. 5 acres) to 312.4 ha
(771.4 acres). To accommodate the increasing farm sizes much virgin
land had to be put into production going from 4.05 million ha (10
million acres) to 7.128 million ha (17.6 million acres) in the same
period (1910 – 20). Much of this newly exploited land was
submarginal for growing crops. All of the newly converted virgin
land in this area was comprised of native grasses that shielded the
land from erosive forces. In addition, the number of cattle
increased from 506,583 to 894.859 head (Hurt, p. 23) which further
reduced the grass cover by grazing. In tandem with the agricultural
expansion, the transportation system was greatly enlarged and
improved. By integrating the dust bowl area into the wider national
transportation network, access was enhanced which brought in
greater numbers of newcomers. The expansion of transportation also
augmented the available market area introducing a further driver
for increasing exploitation.