For Pomp Essay

Submitted By jebup
Words: 923
Pages: 4

Since the beginning of forest history, the United States’ forestlands have always been in conflict from domination for their rich resources. In the 1600’s the first sawmills made its way to York, Maine, under The New World’s regiment. The New World, a word coined by Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci, is used to describe the Americas in the early 16th century when Europeans discovered America during the age of discovery. Starting with Maine in the 1600’s, lush in its resources, forestlands in the United States began rapid clearcutting and timber harvesting without questioning what consequences of environmental impacts it would have on the soil and lands. Harvesting timber began to shape the economic market for Northeastern US, exporting lumber under the rulings of the Crown in England. Eastern white pine found a market that would be dominant for the next 250 years. Before the water-powered sawmills came, sawyers had to harvest timber by hand requiring great physical strengths in order to accomplish the task, this allowed for regular traffic ship mast for white pine. In 1691 the king of England declared that all white pine 24 inches in diameter and one foot off the ground would be under the Broad Arrow Policy, which was branded with “the king’s arrow” markings. This meant that trees with these markings were to be set aside as property of the crown, harvested and shipped for the Royal Navy’s use, and anyone caught damaging or stealing were severely fined. This method continued until 1774 where shipment to England finally ceased, awaiting the impending American Revolutionary War. Heavy timber cutting and severe grazing quickly took its toll on the soil when sand started to invade Cape Cod Massachusetts in the early 1700’s, prompting regulation practices to protect the soil from erosion and injury from forest fires. Policies from the French in Canada also started to limit the amount of timber allow to be harvested, these restrictions were the beginning of the Industrial Revolution Era that reigned from 1760-1870. In this era the nation went from using wood and bio fuels to the use of coal, creating sustainable growth in population and the economy. Tension between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies reached its capacity and the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775. Weary and fed up by Great Britain’s oppression, heavy taxing, and depleting resources for the Royal Navy, the colonies opted to annex from England’s domination, hence the war that will win America it’s new found freedom. After winning the Revolutionary War, America was faced with tremendous debt and although England acknowledged America’s independence, they still prohibited trade over seas and to the last of the sugar colonies, which further crippled America’s economy into high inflation and instability. For the next two decades, America struggled for economic stability. Under the recently ratified Constitution, Congress passed the Federal Tariff Act of 1789, collecting tonnages, tariffs, and taxes in order to pay the debt of war and to establish a new central government. President James Madison declared war on Britain again in 1812, known to some as The Second Independence War. To finance the war of 1812 most of the economy’s wealth was in the South rural areas on farm lands, agricultural crops, and plantations that had slave labor. To make room for agricultural farmlands, forestlands have been cleared for livestock grazing and food production. During this time period, 90% percent of the population of The United States were living on rural lands therefore the majority of the nation’s finances were tied