Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126
Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127
In George E. Brooks’ and Kupperman’s works, one of the main themes featured is the relationship between migration and social change. “Ecological Perspectives” discusses the impact climate change had on migration, and how migrants themselves impacted their environment through language and commerce. Wet or humid weather allowed an opportunity for local peoples to travel to other parts of Africa to cultivate crops or engage in business interests (Brooks, 28). In doing so, these people initiated shifts in their lifestyles in order to live in new territory, and often spread their culture to surrounding areas. Dialects much as the Mande dialect were often spread to different groups and were eventually adapted as the norm (Brooks, 133). As various groups began to adapt to change in their surroundings, they also brought their lifestyles along with them.
In The Jamestown Project, Kupperman briefly talk about migrants in the colonies and their impact on settlements. Jamestown was viewed as a “profitable colony,” a place where migrants would earn a living by their own hands and not worry about an authority figure controlling their lives (Kupperman, 284). By engaging in servitude or land ownership, new colonists were able to contribute to the expansion of Jamestown and be participants in its economy (Kupperman, 286). By all means, it was not an easy process for migrants to create establishments in North America. Their impact on colonist society would lead to more sufficient commerce and a diverse population, helping ease newcomers into a system different from an European social structure.
I agree with Matthew that settlements often failed unless there were available resources to sustain it. Ethnic groups in Africa were aware that climate change would make a serious impact on their resources and commerce unless they moved to a new area that would benefit their settlement growth. The migration process discussed in Kupperman’s article reminded me of Chapter Five in our Atlantic World textbook (Egerton et al, 161). Europeans immigrated to the colonies for a variety of reasons; religious freedom, escaping hardship, and servitude. As they settled, arrivals began to impact social structures and make a name for themselves in their new homelands. They now had the power to work their own territory, practice their own religion, and ultimately participate in a democratic society. George E. Brooks’ discussion of social expansion through migration in Africa is similar to Europeans’ impact on to colonies in terms of bringing their ideals and cultural lifestyles. Whether through language, religion, or economic ventures, migrants altered the social landscape in their countries and created variants that would dramatically impact their lives.