Wilderness used to be thought of as frightening and useless. It was ‘other’ than the civilised and homely fields and pastures of the humanised world. Uncultivated areas such as moors and mountains were seen as bleak and dangerous, and travellers would move through them quickly to get to their destination.
Anyone willing to cut down forests, drain marshes or reclaim heaths was admired because they were ‘improving’ the landscape, and some even considered it to be ‘God’s work’ to tame the wilderness. This was the mindset of the Europeans who settled the Americas and other parts of the world, and their intention of dominating the land extended also to controlling indigenous populations.
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