In English society, men got high status by accumulating property through market transactions, rather than by redistributing property as did the Indian chiefs. In the wild plants and animals of New England, the colonists saw potential commodities as particular items that could be harvested, processed, shipped, and sold to make a profit. Consequently, the New English disdained the Indians as “Lazy Drones [who] love Idleness Exceedingly” for failing to create more property from their abundant nature. Indeed, ignoring the Indians’ horticulture, the colonists dismissed the Indians as little better
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