American Agriculture History Minute: Learning from the Squanto Indians in Plymouth Colony

I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.

The first settlers in Plymouth Colony primarily planted barley and peas brought with them from England. But soon their most important crop would become Indian corn, or maize, as they were shown cultivating and fertilizer techniques from the Squanto Indians. Fertilizer came in the form of small fish.

Plantation agriculture would follow, as would crop expansion to include tobacco into Maryland and North Carolina.

Most early settlers consumed what they grew, but soon realized there was value in trading meat from animals they could not store in exchange for furs and fruits.

That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.