American Literature

John Smith in A Description of New England portrayed an extraordinarily optimistic and ambitious portrait of the new land and the lives that people could live were they to fully recognize and take advantage of the rare benefits the new land offered.  The scale of this optimism was buttressed by the fact that Smith had a great deal of international experience and that he was able to compare the perceived riches of these new lands, both in terms of commercial and philosophical possibilities, with lands that he had previously encountered and studied in parts of Asia and Africa.  These were, in his view, virgin lands with abundant natural resources which could be developed in ways that settled lands in other parts of the world could not because of well-entrenched settlement patterns and indigenous belief systems  by other peoples.  More, Smith viewed these American possibilities broadly and in his description he effectively offered up the riches and the openness of these new lands as a type of New World within which almost anything was possible.  These possibilities, significantly, extended to both the affluent and to the common human being.  Everything, in short, seemed possible in Smiths view.  This paper will discuss these possibilities by examining the benefits and the advantages that Smith presented and described in A Description of New England.  Rather than discussing how particular social classes might benefit in isolation, such as the affluent and the ordinary man, this essay will examine the larger context in which such a thriving existence was thought possible by Smith to this end, this paper will sketch and outline the perceived benefits in terms of natural resources, commercial opportunities, and the population vacuum within which political and religious flexibility and freedom could be pursued.

As an initial matter, and perhaps the most profound set of descriptions provided by Smith in A Description of New England, the sheer abundance of natural resources was treated as an extraordinarily rare find.  Smith described these resources comprehensively and referred to them in terms of land-based resources, water-based resources, and the seemingly infinite scale of the land.  These resources included such things as lumber and fish.  There were minerals and lands both more fertile and more abundant than in Europe.  He envisioned settlements constructed from the timber, supported by farming, and a growing domestic and international trade in which the farmers could improve their standards of living and in which the affluent could expand existing commercial operations.  Indeed, it was by comparing the size of these new lands to European states through which he predicted in certain ways the future of an American empire.  Size and natural resources were the primary advantages indeed, Smith noted that these lands constituted a Country farre bigger than England, Scotland, France and Ireland, yet little knowne to any Chriftian (pdf, p. 21).  He also characterized the coast lines as an advantage because the inland natural resources could be extracted and incorporated into the international trade of the time.  He saw an inland farming empire, a coastal fishing network, and opportunities for the creation of even more sophisticated networks for domestic and international trade premised on the natural resources and the seemingly unending potential for expansion and growth.  These lands, in his descriptions, seem almost inexhaustible and infinite.
   
Smith also articulated and described an interesting connection between these bountiful lands and seas and the men there at work.  A close analysis of the text, and particularly the word choice and the comparisons made, suggests that Smith believed to a certain extant that the nature of the land had an almost infectious effect of the inhabitants.  He noted with respect to the profitable harbors, for example, that profits were larger and that commerce raged as wildly as the seas to which they were attached (pdf, pp. 30-31).  In the same way that the lands were bigger, so too did he seem to romanticize the sailors and the ships and the commerce.  Everything in this new place was bigger and better and more able to stand on its own terms.  This would also affect Smiths descriptions of the type of political and religious orientations of the people engaged in settling these lands.  These people, in his view, were stronger and more independent than other men.  They were more willing to take risks, they therefore reaped greater rewards, and they were beginning to forge an identity in which the individual was more dependent on himself and his particular notion of God than on a sovereign entity or authority far across the seas.  Just as these were new lands, so too were these new men and women.  This is the crucial nexus, new lands and new people, that ties Smiths work together most substantively.

There were other benefits and advantages which were more softly presented or implied.  Smith, for example, digresses at points to marvel about the climate and its varieties.  The climate and the fertility of the land create in his view an almost magical blend that will yield the finest grains, fruits, and seeds for the future (pdf, p. 34).  These lands, in addition to being fertile and amenable to farming, are also teeming with wildlife.  He writes of fox, otters, and martin.  These can provide meat and fur pelts for domestic use or be used as a part of a growing trade network (pdf, p. 38).  He also speculates as to as of yet unknown riches.  While indicating the presence of gold and silver, for example, he imagines buried somewhere to be other minerals such as lead and alum (pdf, p.39).  The descriptions are therefore not simply about what has been discovered already, but include a fairly firm conviction that much has been undiscovered and is awaiting discovery.  These descriptions, to a substantial extant, truly underlie what will later become the spirit of the American Dream.  More particularly, there are accessible and hidden riches that may be secured if individuals are knowledgeable, hard-working, and willing to do what is necessary to extract these riches. 

For some, this may involve braving the rough seas in the coastal cities in order to be rewarded with bountiful harvests of the largest fish ever seen.  For those in the interior this may involve becoming closer to the land, tilling the land, and engaging in farming that will first feed the immediate family and then be used in trade to secure greater wealth and security.  Finally, for those brave enough to risk pursuing the hidden riches of the as of yet unknown frontier further inland, the rewards may be gold and fame.  In sum, a synthesis of all of Smiths varied descriptions yields the skeletal outlines of what is now known as the American Dream.  This dream was premised on vast lands, abundant and varied natural resources, new types of men willing to work hard and independently, and a spiritual or religious conviction that viewed these settlement and commercial efforts as being a part of Gods plan.  The American Dream, in many important respects, can be traced to John Smiths descriptions and the accompanying visions that he had for the new lands and its people.  Politics and religion would be affected by commerce and the frontier lifestyle rather than commerce and individuals being molded by rigid notions of political authority and religious dogma imported or otherwise imposed from Europe.  The American Dream, in sum, was grown from these seeds and it truly represented a new view of the individuals relation to the land, to authority, and to religion.

In the final analysis, it can be seen that John Smith was in many ways both prescient and wise.  He was prescient because he foresaw in many ways the vast potential of these new lands and the precise reasons for this potential.  His vision of an embryonic country that could one day become very powerful and successful was grounded on the size of the lands, the natural resources attached to these lands, and the potential to exploit these natural resources for commercial gains that would benefit the affluent as well as sustain and provide unique opportunities to the ordinary man willing to work hard and to persevere.  Additionally, he anticipated the unique philosophical, political, and religious opportunities that lands so far from the centers of European power and authority offered.  There were, in effect, opportunities for the development of a more secular land premised on hard work and strong values.  That many of Smiths predictions have been realized is a testament to the specificity of his descriptions and how he considered these factors to be of relevance to commercial development and individual freedoms.