Guns, Germs, and Steel Essay #3: Domesticated Animals to World Riches

Ever wondered how Europe became such a successful empire? Part of the reason is because of the livestock they owned. Their blessing of good latitude placement, or geographic luck, allowed them to have livestock, one of the most important factors in the development of a booming civilization. Animal domestication played a large role in the development of rich societies throughout the world. Livestock passed on smallpox, a crucial part in European conquest. Next, material items gave the societies in question a nutritional edge. Finally, domesticated animals performed important services that greatly improved the workings of a certain people. To start, however, an explanation of livestock in the development of smallpox is appropriate.

Smallpox was one of the ways that domesticated animals aided advanced civilizations. How is this possible? Well, among the general populace, it is a little known, although crucial, fact that smallpox was originally a cow’s disease. It was passed on through drinking their milk, eating their meat, and keeping them in close contact. How would this be useful though? Would being sick not be a disagreeable experience? Would a plague that swept over an empire’s population not be a bad thing? Here’s the thing. The answer is both yes and no. While in the short term it would dramatically reduce the inhabitants of the land and contribute to a declining economy, in the long term, a civilization would eventually breed against smallpox. Since only the strongest and most immune survive, the weak and sickly genes eventually die off. A plague is nature’s pruning system; breeding only the best and brightest allows the survivors to become more resilient. Consequently, in the case of the Europeans, they were able to “grow out of it”, so to speak, and use it as a weapon. Everywhere they went to conquer, where smallpox was a foreign disease, the indigenous people were swept off of their feet, bombarded by artillery and the more dangerous ailment of smallpox. On top of smallpox, livestock’s material items gave farmers a significant upper hand.

Domesticated animals supplied many material items that assisted considerably in the creation of great civilizations. It might be thought that materials may not give one much of an advantage, but in reality, the opposite is true. Meat and milk from livestock enabled societies that owned livestock to gain a sizable advantage over other empires. It gave them important sustenance food; a nutritious counterpart to other protein sources. Additionally, without milk, finding calcium would be difficult. Good nutrition is one of the most important things you can keep track of. Why do they teach about it in schools today? Livestock provided the extra head start for civilizations that owned them.  Domesticated animals provided tools. Their bones became weapons. Their hides became shelters. These primitive tools gave Europeans and other civilizations with domesticated animals a wide advantage. In addition to providing material items, livestock also executed services crucial to a society’s development.

Domesticated animals carried out key services for people in advanced civilization. In war, they rode horses into battle, giving them the ability to trample and scare their enemies. When Spain was battling the Inca, they scared off them with their giant horses, causing the Incan infantry to collapse in panic. This allowed Spain to capture and hold their leader hostage. That’s not all. In farming, oxen and donkeys plowed the land in a shorter time than it would take to do by hand. As a result, farming became a more efficient and, therefore, beneficial process. They were also able to move trade and ideas throughout their continent faster, making it more worthwhile to make a long journey. After analyzing the many services given from livestock, it can be concluded that domesticating animals was one of the prime reasons why certain civilizations became successful while others failed.

Through domesticating animals, civilizations were able to glean off of their benefits and, therefore, became rich and successful. Smallpox, which came from cows, made conquest easier for the occupiers in question. Material items procured by livestock allowed for good nutrition and tools. Services provided by domesticated animals gave advanced civilizations the edge in trading and battle.  To sum up, domesticated animals aided critically in the creation of advanced societies.

Guns, Germs, and Steel Essay #1: Geographic Luck in the European Domination of the World

Have you ever thought about how Europe became such a large empire? Jared Diamond, a UCLA professor, explains on the TV program Guns, Germs, and Steel, that it is due to geographic luck. Geographic luck is the term used to describe the phenomenon of the fact that people in some areas are just luckier than others. For instance, the Fertile Crescent got nutritious wheat and barley while Papua New Guinea got sago palm. However, Professor Diamond has the right idea. Geographic luck shaped the path to European dominance. Firstly, farming, which played a huge role in Europe, came through their good fortune. Second, key roles in Europe’s conquering spree came through their well-placed civilization.  Finally, Europe’s weapons, the finest in the world, came through their good geographic placement. In order to understand geography’s role in Europe’s superiority, farming and agriculture are essential subjects to look at.

Farming was a vital character in Europe’s progressive march towards global dictatorship. According to Jared Diamond, Europe’s domestic animals provided crucial items, such as shelter made from skins, bones for tools, meat, and milk. Using these, they were able to develop more as a society compared to other places without livestock. Domesticated animals helped Europe evolve against smallpox since smallpox was originally a cow’s disease. Over the generations, after the fittest and strongest had been put into the gene pool, the Europeans had become almost completely immune to smallpox. Europe’s livestock were also used for war and to plow land for nutritious foods that Europe’s geographic luck had pulled through for. While the Inca got bad land and the New Guineans got sago, the Europeans got arable land with nourishing wheat and barley to grow in it. As a result, Europeans became a more stable culture than hunter-gatherer nomads. In understanding farming’s benefit to Europe, it is also important to recognize how the Europeans were more developed than the empires they conquered.

Europe was superior to the civilizations they conquered in every way, except in numbers. Disease came to Europeans early, so they could suffer in an unimportant time when they were not fighting. The Inca and the Khoi San were not so lucky. According to Guns, Germs, and Steel, they were mostly killed by smallpox during the heat of war against Europe. Because it was a foreign disease to them, they had no resistance like the Europeans. Europe also had incredible weapons. Soft Incan bronze was no match for European steel. While Europeans frolicked about, defeating empires right and left, their victims had to fight against the most innovative weapons at the time, all while ailing through one of the most deadly diseases in the world. The final area to be examined is Europe’s authority in weaponry.

Weapons, along with Europe’s war power, came to existence only because of Europe’s environment. Europe inherited decades to centuries of metallurgy from the Fertile Crescent and had even longer to perfect it. The level of steel Europe had existed only because their climate was dry enough to create long burning fires required to heat the iron ore. While Europe had strong steel, the Inca were still using soft bronze weapons. In addition to top-notch swords, the Europeans also had guns. Gunpowder came from China. If the two empires were not on the same latitude, gunpowder would not have arrived at Europe for them to perfect the gun. Examining all of these factors, it can be confirmed that Europe was clearly influenced by geographic luck.

As can be seen, geographic luck helped Europe conquer the rest of the world. Farming allowed Europeans to form villages and develop advanced societies. It assisted them to evolve against diseases like smallpox. Farming also let them develop transportation and labor through livestock. Europe’s advancements in society were all due to their geographic location. It was the reason why they conquered other disease-ridden, primitive empires so easily. Plus, weapons and metallurgy were only developed through the good fortune of the European’s placement and climate. As a result, it is obvious that geographic luck paved the way to the Western-dominant present.