1. Why Did Europe Conquer the Americas?

2. European Conquest
Beginning in 1492, the Spanish quickly took control over large areas of North, Central, and South America
In some cases, they were able to defeat much larger forces
In 1532, 168 Spanish conquistadors faced off against an army of 80,000 Incas and won
Later, the English and French would dominate most of North America
Spanish colonies in
the Americas

3. What are the roots of inequality?
Why didn’t Native Americans (or Africans) dominate Europe or Asia?
Since ancient times, why have some societies progressed faster than others?
What allowed the Egyptians, Greeks, Maya, and Inca to develop great civilizations at a time that other people were living as nomadic hunter-gatherers?

4. What are the roots of inequality?
All great civilizations have had some things in common:
Advanced technology
Large populations
Well organized workforces
The Spanish conquered the Aztec and Inca because of horses, guns, steel swords, political organization, and epidemic diseases
But why did they have those things?

5. Guns, Germs, and Steel
Written by Jared Diamond in 1998, Guns, Germs, and Steel tries to explain why certain groups (most notably Europeans) came to dominate so much of the world
Diamond believes geography (not racial or cultural superiority) is responsible for the different rates at which human societies develop technology and political organization
The book won a Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction

6. The Path to Civilization
13,000 years ago, all humans lived as primitive hunter-gatherers
These nomadic societies remained small because food supplies varied greatly during different times of the year
The development of farming marked a turning point in human history and allowed for larger populations
One acre of farmed land could feed times more people than hunter-gatherers

7. The Path to Civilization
As villages grew bigger, there were more people to work the land – and they were able to grow food more efficiently
People who no longer needed to farm were able to develop new skills and new technologies
Societies became more specialized – artists, inventors, soldiers, politicians emerged
Farming and domesticating animals provided social stability that was lacking in hunter-gatherers

8. Early Agriculture
Farming was first developed in the Middle East (wheat, barley), then China (rice), followed by pockets of the Americas (corn, beans, squash), and Africa (sorghum, millet, yams)
The earliest farming most likely occurred by accident (seeds growing at latrines and garbage dumps)
Certain crops (like wheat) contain far more calories and nutrients than other crops (like taro)
People with the most productive crops became the most productive farmers

9. Early Agriculture
Some areas had a natural advantage in developing agriculture because of the presence of plants and animals that could be easily domesticated

10. The Fertile Crescent
The best crops and animals were all present in a part of the Middle East known as the “Fertile Crescent” which became the first site of human agriculture – around 8,500 BC
The Mediterranean climate of the area gave it mild, wet winters and long, hot, dry summers
The Fertile Crescent was also the site of the first cities, writing, and empires – the rise of modern civilization

11. Domesticating Crops
Of the 200,000 wild plant species, only a few thousand are eaten by humans, and just a few hundred have been domesticated
Only 12 crops account for 80% of the world’s crop production
Wheat, corn, rice, barley, sorghum, soybean, potato, manioc, sweet potato, sugar cane, sugar beet, and banana
Many parts of the world had few or none of these crops
The Fertile Crescent had wheat and barley, along with peas, lentils, chickpeas, and flax (for fibres and oils)

12. Domesticating Animals
Of the nearly 2 million wild species, only a small number have been successfully farmed
Most insects and rodents are of no practical use to humans
Birds, fish and reptiles have been domesticated, but most are too difficult to farm
Carnivores are often too dangerous to farm, and you would have to raise other animals to feed them
The best animals to farm are large, plant-eating mammals
Over the years, humans have tried to domesticate almost all of them, usually with little success

13. Domesticating Animals
The only large mammals (over 100 lbs.) that have been domesticated are goats, sheep, pigs, horses, cows, donkeys, camels, water buffalo, llamas, reindeer, and yaks
These successfully domesticated animals were not distributed equally around the world; none were found in Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa, or North America, and South America had only one (the llama)
All the rest were found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia

14. The Advantages of Animals
The Fertile Crescent had the cow, pig, sheep, and goat
Animals provide meat and milk for food, hair and skins for clothing, fertilizer for crops, and physical labour for farming and transportation
Before the industrial revolution, beasts of burden were the most powerful machines on the planet

15. The Advantages of Geography
Geography allowed the crops, animals, and farming practices to spread to neighbouring areas in Europe, North Africa, and Asia
The East-West axis of Eurasia meant that these places all had the same length of day, along with similar climate and vegetation
Compared to Eurasia, the Americas and Africa have a North-South axis that makes the spread of crops and animals much more difficult

16. The Advantages of Geography

17. The Final Advantages – Germs
Many of the diseases that the Europeans brought to the Americas developed as a result of living in close contact with domesticated farm animals
The diversity and density of Eurasian populations created an immunity to germs that would later wipe out the more isolated populations of the Americas
People living in parts of the world with no (or few) domesticated animals, did not have the opportunity to develop immunity to these diseases