Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900

The concept of the “Neo-Europe” was one of Alfred Crosby’s most important contributions to academia. Neo-Europes, by his definition, are defined as countries and continents that were transformed to such an extent by European colonialism that their cultural and ecological makeup became almost entirely European. This category includes places like northern North America, coastal Australia, and almost the entire country of New Zealand. Ecological Imperialism explains the variety of reasons these particular places became Neo-Europes while other areas managed to survive years of colonial settlement with their native cultures and biodiversity largely intact.

The history of the Neo-Europes begins with the breakup of Pangaea; to become a Neo-Europe, a land mass first had to be geographically distant from the original Europe for enough time that evolution began to diverge. Human populations in these areas arrived from Eurasia very early in human history and then for one reason or another were cut off from populations in other parts of the world. Thus, human cultural evolution in what would become the Neo-Europes diverged extensively from that of Eurasia as well. In many locations, such as Australia, the population base was relatively small, so there was less cultural exchange and in turn less advancement of technology than in more populated areas like Eurasia. These factors combined to make the burgeoning Neo-Europes ripe for takeover. Native plants and animals had had little competition in any given niche and were vulnerable to European invasive species. The local humans lacked the resources to fight against well-developed European armies and had no immunity to non-native diseases.

Neo-Europes almost all have climates similar to Europe, another important piece in the colonial puzzle. While Africa, East Asia, the Arctic, and the South American jungle were exploited by colonial forces to a huge degree, surviving in these difficult conditions was not an attractive option for many European settlers, and the native populations were accustomed to living in these environments where Europeans struggled. This caused many colonized tropical areas to evolve like Mexico, a place that was fully colonized by the Spanish but where almost every citizen has indigenous Mexican heritage; the native populations themselves could not be fully eradicated because there were not enough fully Spanish settlers to build a functional society. Meanwhile in places like the East Coast of the United States and the Canary Islands, the temperate climate helped Europeans establish themselves rapidly and successfully. European crops grew with little alteration in growing techniques, and European lifestyles were already suited to the climate.