Guns Germs and Steel

1. Guns Germs and Steel The Fates of Human Societies Jared Diamond Text extracted from Chapters 1-10

2. Why is Africa arguably the least powerful/poorest continent on the planet?

3. Why is The united states arguably the wealthiest/most powerful country to ever exist?

4. Human timeline • Human evolution 1 million years • Homo sapiens 120,000 years ago • Paleolithic • Old stone age • Agricultural revolution • 10,000 years ago • Neolithic • New stone age • Industrial revolution • 1750 A.D. http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=79536&rendTypeId=4

5. After the Ice Age • Human societies began to change 13,000 years ago • when the last ice age melted http://trylobyte.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/ice_age_map.gif

6. After the Ice Age • Different societies resulted: • Some literate • industrial • Some illiterate • agricultural • Some hunter gatherers • retaining stone tools http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/v38_1_05/images/a07_city_full.jpg http://www.yafa.com/images/delta/maori/maori_image.jpg

7. Inequality and Extermination • “Historical inequalities • have cast long shadows on the modern world, • because the literate societies with metal tools • have conquered or exterminated the other societies." http://www.mysteriousworld.com/Content/Images/Journal/2003/Autumn/Osiria/Hunter240.jpg

8. Yali’s Question • Yali, a New Guinea politician asked • "Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, • but we black people had little cargo of our own?" http://farm1.static.flickr.com/137/367722210_449080d013.jpg?v=0

9. Distribution of Wealth • To rephrase, • “Why did wealth and power • become distributed as they now are, • rather than in some other way?” Distribution of World Wealth http://www.dba-oracle.com/images/gnp_country_map.jpg

10. Common explanations • Racial or genetic superiority? • No objective evidence for this theory http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/5/24/children_globe_0012.jpg

11. Common explanations • Cold climate stimulates inventiveness? • But Europeans inherited from warm climate peoples • agriculture, • wheels, • writing, and • metallurgy • Japan inherited • Agriculture, metallurgy, writing • Industrial Revolution http://images.easyart.com/i/prints/rw/en_easyart/lg/3/0/Scene-of-butchers-and-servants-bringing-offerings-Tomb-of-Onsou-Egyptian-Art-302241.jpg

12. Answer: • People in Eurasia had ageographical advantage • Not smarter, more inventive • Best plants for domestication • 5,000 years earlier than Americas • Best animals for domestication • East-West orientation • Climate similar • Crops spread easily • Populations • Cultures • Technologies • Eurasians easily conquered other continents

13. Cro Magnons • Cro-Magnons moved into Europe 40,000 years ago. • Technologies: • Tools, needles, fishhooks, harpoons, bows and arrows, sewn clothing, houses, carefully buried skeletons, art, hunting big prey. • Displaced or killed off Neandertals Cave Paintings, Lascaux France http://bp0.blogger.com/_CrooQ_qwmmU/RhgKzd3VQMI/AAAAAAAAAE4/Fw-lm-s1k6g/s1600-h/Lascaux-salle-des-taureaux.jpg

14. Spreading Out • 40,000-30,000 years ago • Technology: • water craft to cross from Asia to Indonesia to Australia and New Guinea. • Time period correlates to • massive extinction of large game in those places. http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/aencmed/targets/maps/mhi/T045820A.gif

15. Large Game in Eurasia • Diamond's theory: • large game survived in Eurasia because • humans took a million years • to develop tools • become lethal predators of large game • Gave Eurasian game time to adapt.

16. Spreading to the Americas • 20,000 years ago • Technology • clothing and shelter to survive Siberia • led to migration to Americas by 12,000 BC. • It took 1,000 years for humans to get to S. America. • Time period correlates to • massive extinction of large game in Americas: • Horses, lions, elephants, cheetahs, camels, and giant ground sloths.

17. A Natural History Experiment • 1835 • Chatham Islands discovered by British Seal Hunting ship • 500 miles off coast of New Zealand • News told to native New Zealanders • Chatham Islands: • Abundance of fish, food • Inhabitants numerous • Don’t know how to fight • No weapons http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/images/ship.jpg

18. Chatham Islands http://static.flickr.com/55/119944394_0401a2e0bb_o.jpg

19. Maori of New Zealand • Nine hundred of the native Maori people of New Zealand, • armed with guns, • arrived in the Chatham Islands • announced that the Chatham Islands people (the Moriori) • were now their slaves, • and killed those who objected. Maori Warrior http://www.iiirm.org/Events/Film%20Festivals/festival_films/filmography_photos/utu_275.jpg

20. Moriori Slaughter • An eyewitness account said • "The Maori commenced to kill us like sheep... • We were terrified, fled to the bush, • concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. • It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed • -- men, women, and children indiscriminately". Maori Warrior http://www.ace.net.nz/larryogden/graphics/Maori.gif

21. Maori Explanation • A Maori conqueror explained: • "We took possession...in accordance with our customs and we caught all the people. • Not one escaped. • Some ran away from us, these we killed, and others we killed -- but what of that? • It was in accordance with our custom". Maori Warrior http://www.goway.com/downunder/newzealand/nz_img/scenic/MAORI_f.jpg

22. Natural History Experiment • This is a natural history experiment. • Both the Maori and Moriori • descended from the same Polynesian farmers who settled New Zealand.

23. Moriori • When the the Moriori moved to the Chatham islands • hundreds of years earlier • could not farm due to the cold climate, and • became hunter/gatherers. • They learned to live peacefully • because their resources were so limited. http://www.taiko.org.nz/Moroiri1.jpg

24. Maori • The New Zealand Maori • continued farming • dense populations • more complex technology and political organization • ferocious wars: • The difference was • geography. • Competing agricultural societies • are prone to warfare Maori Agriculture http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/Bes02Maor/Bes02Maor368a(h280).jpg

25. Conquest of the New World • "The biggest population shift of modern times • has been the colonization of the new World by Europeans, • and the resulting • conquest, • numerical reduction, • or complete disappearance • of most groups of Native Americans".

26. Pizarro • The Incas were conquered by the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro. http://students.umf.maine.edu/~greenwsd/pizarromap.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Pizarro.jpg/461px-Pizarro.jpg

27. Pizarro’s Forces • Pizarro had 168 soldiers. • They were in unfamiliar territory, • ignorant of the local inhabitants, • were 1000 miles away from reinforcements, • and were and surrounded by the Incan empire • with 80,000 soldiers led by Atahuallpa. Machu Picchu, Peru http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghosthunting/hauntedcities/Machu%20Picchu.jpg

28. Guns, Germs and Steel • Pizarro had • steel armor • swords • horse mounted cavalry • guns • a minor factor http://faculty.ircc.edu/faculty/jlett/CoverforGunsGermsSteel.jpg

29. Treachery • Pizarro • ambushed and captured Atahuallpa • used religion to justify it. • collected a huge ransom in gold and silver, • killed him anyway. Inca Gold http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth3618/images/gold1.jpeg

30. Eyewitness Reportsent to the King of Spain • “The prudence, fortitude, military discipline, labors, perilous navigations, and battles of the Spaniards – vassals of the most invincible Emperor of the Roman Catholic Empire, our natural King and Lord– will cause joy to the faithful and terror to the infidels. For this reason, and for the glory of God our Lord and for the service of the Catholic Imperial Majesty, it has seemed good for me to write this narrative, and to send it to Your Majesty that all may have a knowledge of what is here related...” Charles V: Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/8/8e/250px-Emperor_charles_v.png

31. Eyewitness Reportsent to the King of Spain • “It will be to the glory of God, because they have conquered and brought to our holy Catholic Faith so vast a number of heathens, aided by His holy guidance. It will be to the honor of our Emperor because, by reason of his great power and good fortune, such events happened in his time. It will give joy to the faithful that such battles have been won, such provinces discovered and conquered, such riches brought home for the King and for themselves; and that such terror has been spread among the infidels, such admiration excited in all mankind…” http://www.rubycavalierfinearts.com/image.html?image=1181569493.18jpg

32. Eyewitness Reportsent to the King of Spain • “The booming of the guns, and the rattles on the horses threw the Indians into panicked confusion. The Spaniards fell upon them and began to cut them to pieces. The Indians were so filled with fear that they climbed on top of one another, formed mounds, and suffocated each other. Since they were unarmed, they were attacked without danger to any Christian. The cavalry rode them down killing and wounding, and following in pursuit…” http://www.sbceo.k12.ca.us/~vms/carlton/Pizarro1.jpg

33. Spanish Conquest Government King of Spain Economy Ideology New World resources: gold, land Religious justification

34. Conquistadors • In addition to horses and steel, conquistadors had: • Superior ocean going ships • Superior political organization of the European states • Carried infectious diseases that wiped out 95% of Native Americans • smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, bubonic plague • Superior knowledge of human behavior • from thousands of years of written history. http://www.greenwichschools.org/uploaded/north_mianus/MVEE/ship_b_6.jpg

35. Inca Empire • Started as the Inca tribe • City-state of Cusco • Expansion by conquest of neighboring regions • Began 1438 • Successful conquest and assimilation • along coast of South America • Cusco was capitol • Wealthy • Collected tribute from conquered parts of empire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Inca-expansion.png

36. Why not the other way? • Why did Europeans have all of the advantages instead of the Incas? • Inca empire brutal, successful • Why didn't the Incas • invent guns and steel swords, • have horses, • or bear deadly diseases? • Answer: • Adopted agriculture 5,000 years later • Population and technology behind • No horses in the new world • No large animal agriculture (only llama) • Eurasian epidemic diseases originated in animal agriculture Inca Inca Warrior

37. Advantages of Agricultural Societies • More food so more people • Technology development • Metallurgy • Tools, weapons • Writing • Labor • Agriculture • Public works • Warriors • Conquest • Land • Slaves • Resources http://www.markchurms.com/Merchant2/graphics/caesar-l.jpg

38. Agricultural Revolution Hunters & Gatherers Agriculture Food production Expanding population & environmental destruction Conquest for land Population Growth Technology Culture

39. Agricultural Society Hierarchy Elite Conquest Wealth, Tribute Food, Resources Conquered & Exploited: Peasants, Slaves, Workers

40. Advantages of Agricultural Societies • Domestic animals • Meat • Pull plows and carts • Transportation • War and trade • Furs and fiber • Fertilizer • Deadly germs • Transfer to humans • Become epidemic diseases http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2183/2277349299_0b5f1b4bc6.jpg?v=0

41. Advantages of Agricultural Societies • Sedentary Existence • Short birth intervals • higher population densities • Grain Storage • Support specialists: • Kings • bureaucrats • soldiers • priests • artisans. http://www.logoi.com/pastimages/img/pharaoh_3.jpg

42. Unequal Conflicts • "Much of human history has consisted of unequal conflicts • between the haves and the have-nots: • between peoples with farmer power and those without it, • or between those who acquired it at different times." http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/proud-native-american.jpg

43. Independent Crop Domestication • Middle East (8,000 BC) • Wheat, pea, olive • Asia • Almond, apple, soybean • China • Rice, common millet • Mexico (3,000 BC) • Maize, squash, beans • South America • Potato, Cassava, Peanut • Africa • Sorghum, pearl millet • USA • Sunflower Other people adopted these crops (and domesticated animals) later as a cultural package http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v418/n6898/images/nature01019-f2.2.jpg

44. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Feature2originmap600.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Feature2originmap600.png

45. Adoption by Hunter-Gatherers • Sometimes domesticated plants and animals were adopted by hunters/gatherers • Native Americans in U.S. • Sometimes hunters/gatherers were displaced by agriculturalists • European expansion in Australia, Tasmania Trugannini, last Remaining Tasmanian Aboriginal, 1868 http://www.tasmanianaboriginal.com.au/images/hist/Trugannie.jpg

46. Head Start • "The peoples of areas with ahead start on food production • thereby gained a head start on the path leading to: • guns, germs and steel. • The result was a long series of collisions • between the haves and have-nots of history." http://www.sonofthesouth.net/union-generals/custer/pictures/custer.jpg

47. Food Production • Food production often led to: • poorer health • shorter lifespan • harder labor for the majority of people. http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t012/T012972A.jpg

48. Early Plant Domestication • Humans unknowingly selected for traits: • seed size, fiber length • lack of bitterness • early germination • Self pollination • dispersal mutations • wheat that does not shatter • seeds that stay in pods http://www.union.ku.edu/traditions/desktops/wheat.JPG

49. Sowing by Broadcast • Grains in Eurasia were sown by broadcast, • later in animal plowed fields to give monoculture.

50. Digging Sticks • In the new world, • planting done by digging stick • no domesticated plow animals • Result: mixed gardens.