The History of Human-Animal Interaction - The Move To America

During the seventeenth century, many Puritans fled England for the New World—North America. The Puritans brought their unique perspective on animals with them. In 1641 the Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted a Body of Liberties that set out the fundamental rights of the colonists. Included in these rights was Article 92, which stated that "No man shall exercise any Tirranny or Crueltie towards any Bruite creature which are usuallie kept for man's use." This is generally considered the first modern law against animal cruelty; however, it did not have a major effect on American laws or customs regarding animals.

Animals and Indigenous Americans

The Puritans were far from the first visitors to America. Anthropologists believe that domesticated dogs traveled from Asia into North America with prehistoric humans before the Ice Age ended. Spanish explorers who visited in the 1500s left behind domesticated horses. By the time the first colonists arrived a century later, they found that dogs and horses were the only two domesticated animals on the continent.

The Native Americans who had inhabited the regions that would become the United States and Canada for thousands of years had no domesticated cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, or chickens. Their cultures had not undergone the transition from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture in the European/Asian way. These Native Americans were more nomadic, moving from place to place to find better hunting and fishing grounds. Grain crops, such as wheat and rye, were unknown to them. Corn was their major agricultural crop, along with pumpkins and squash. These crops could be sowed and harvested by hand, so Native Americans had never needed large animals to plow fields and pull hay wagons. They used dogs as beasts of burden or ate them for food. After their introduction by the Spanish, horses were used by tribes in the Central and Western Plains to hunt large game, like buffalo.

Native Americans also believed in animal spirits. Many tribes thought that some animals, particularly the eagle and the buffalo, had special powers and great spiritual significance. But these beliefs did not keep Native Americans from eating animals or killing them for other purposes. The European settlers provided new markets for meat, fur, and animal goods, and they introduced guns to hunting tribes. By the 1800s the wild buffalo of the Plains had been driven to the brink of extinction.

The Colonists Shape the New World

The early colonists were impressed by the wide variety of wild animals that lived along the eastern shores, including elk, deer, beaver, turkey, and quail. But the Europeans were accustomed to agricultural life based on captive livestock and grain crops. They had difficulty surviving and had to import livestock from Europe. Dogs and cats came along as companions and working animals. Although intended for breeding purposes, the early shipments were eaten by hungry colonists, and more had to be brought.

Livestock became vitally important to the new colonies. Laws were passed making it a capital crime to kill a farm animal without the owner's permission. Livestock herds eventually built up enough to support the expansion of villages and towns. The colonists began exploring and took their animals with them as they migrated south and west.