Diamonds Guns, Germs, and Steel - Term Paper Example

? Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel Topic: April 9, Introduction Yali’s Question: heavier European ‘cargo’ over New Guinea ‘cargo’. Yali, a New Guinea political officer asked the question why people from Europe had developed and brought so much cargo to New Guinea when New Guinea residents had fewer cargo to carry. Yali classified the European imported products as cargo. The cargoes included soft drinks, steel axes, matches, medicines, clothes, and umbrellas (Diamond 7). The question verged on the differences between the power and technology advances between the European people who arrived in New Guinea and the New Guinea population. The focus of the discussion included the superiority of the European civilization over the New Guinea residents. The Europeans’ bigger cargo gave them the huge advantage, in terms of forcing the European way of economic, political and social life over the less cargo-carrying New World inhabitants. The question veered towards asking why the people of Eurasian origin were able to conquer and colonise the world. 2. First Answer to Yali’s Question: Superior Eurasian power over other races. Further, the Europeans colonized the world during 11,000 B.C... The European Conquest initially started with the conquest of Alaska. The Europeans also conquered the Bering Strait. At the same time, the same European group learned to live in the cold weather of Siberia. The Europeans brought with them agriculture technology. The conquests include the economic distribution of South America’s famed sweet potatoes to North America’s Polynesian community. In 1492, The European explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the Caribbean islands filled with Native Americans (Diamond 57). Furthermore, Pizarro used superior ships that carry his army from Spain to the Americas. On the other hand, Since the Inca Emperor, Atahuallpa, did not have the same technologically advanced European ships, the Inca emperor, Atahuallpa, could not expand his kingdom across the seas (Diamond 73). Spain financed the construction of the sturdy ships and paid for the salaries, food, and other expenses of the Pizarro trips and other Spanish ships’ trips to conquer new worlds in the Americas and other non-European nations. 3. Second Answer to Yali’s Question: Superior Eurasian Technology over other races. In 1808, The British sailor Charlie Savage used muskets t defeat the defenders of Fiji Island. His muskets clearly overpowered the swords of the Natives (Diamond 70). After the killing of the Inca Emperor God, Atahuallpa, The Inca Empire self-destructed. Spain also had writing technology. Technology improves the communication among the constituents or armies. The Inca emperor, Atahualpa, did not have the luxury of writing technology. Consequently, he could not vividly distribute his message to the farthest person within his kingdom. 4. Third Answer to Yali’s Question: Superior Eurasian Wealth over other races. During the European conquests of the New World, the European nations had the money to builds strong ships. The European nations had the money to buy guns and other steel weapons of war. The Europeans had the money to pay its citizens to work as soldiers conquering and colonizing new worlds. The Europeans has the money to train its sailors on ways to implement the European concepts of politics, economics, military strategies, and advanced technologies on the less developed non-European nations (Diamond 23). 5. Fourth Answer to Yali’s Question: Weaker non-Eurasian races: a. Sub-Saharan African people. The people living in Sub-Saharan Africa were mostly farmers. Some of the people were hunter-gatherers. The people used hand tools for their farm production activities. Consequently, the 1500 A.D. period bore witness to the European’s steel weapons’ overpowering the farm tools of the Sub-Saharan Natives (Diamond 9). The Sub-Saharan Natives focused on herding farm animals. The same people engaged in metal product production. The communities were built on complex economic and political structures. The sub Saharan people used stone tools to survive (Diamond 9). b. Native American people The Native American people include the Incas of Cajamarca. On November 16, 1532, The Holy Roman Empire’s Spanish conquistador, Pizarro, met with the power Inca Empire’s King Atahuallpa. Pizzaro’s 80,000 better armed soldiers immediately crushed the 168 men army of the Incas. Pizarro held hostage the captured king and ask the residents to fill his ships with gold. After there was no more gold to extract, Pizarro killed the Inca king and left. The battle strategy employed at the battle of Cajamarca was duplicated by Europeans when they captured other non-European nations (Diamond 61) Further, the capture of the Native Americans was a more difficult European colonialism effort. The Native American Indians were experts in the use of horses and rifles. The dreaded Sioux Warriors gained famed for obliterating General George Custer’s U.S. Army Battalion at the battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. The Indians obtained their rifles from the Europeans. The Indians trained their members on the use of the European rifles. Additionally, the Araucanian Indians of Chile and the Pampas Indians of Argentina were able to prolong their defenses against the invading Europeans. The two Indian tribes finally succumbed to the 1870s and 1880s invading European forces when massive European army reinforcements joined in the colonization efforts (Diamond 69). The Europeans’ introducing of guns during the 1700s completely deleted the Native’s swords as weapons of war (Diamond 7). c. Aborigines people of Australia The Aborigines of Australia were hunters of food sources. The same Aborigines were gatherers of food supplements. The Aborigines’ weapons were superior to the steel weapons of the Europeans. To reduce the Aborigine population, Europeans were legally allowed to kill the Aborigines. The killing Aborigines European policy was popular during the 18th as well as 19th century. The large scale massacre of Australian aborigines occurred at the Alice Springs junction during 1928 (Diamond 306). With the reduction of the Aborigine population, the Europeans ensure of more food sources. The Europeans established a literate, industrialized, politically centralized, democratic government. The European leaders used metal tools in agriculture-based industries. The Europeans eased out the prior Aboriginal lifestyle of being hunter gatherers for over 40,000 years (Diamond 12). d. New Guinea people. The people of New Guinea focused on farming as a way of life. The people of the European nations used their superior steel weapons to conquer and impose their encroaching superior economic, political and military power over the New Guinea residents. The political advances and the technological advances of the Europeans totally overpowered the less advanced political and technological levels of the New Guinea people (Diamond 9). The New Guinea inhabitants were eager learners. Further, the author insists that the people, including those from New Guinea will generate both advantages and disadvantages of the influx of European political, military, social, and economic philosophies. For example, the People of New Guinea enjoy better medical care, lower, homicides and longer life spans. In terms of disadvantages, the imposition of the European way of life brings lesser social support from friends and reduction in extended family environments (Diamond 11). The European leaders imposed their philosophies on the New Guinea population. The average New Guinean can be described as more intelligent, more alert, more expressive, and more interested in things around them compared to the average European individual (Diamond 14). 6. Eurasians’ role in the extermination of the Khoisan people The Khoisan people were hunters and gatherers. They lived within the territories of the Cape of South Africa. The location was very unsuitable for agricultural (planting) activities. The Khoisan people were seduced to the benefits of civilization. Civilization entails settling down. Settling down means includes engaging in farming activities. Many of the Khoisan and Bantu people succumbed from the European’s imported germs. The missionaries and bureaucrats persuaded the Khoisan people to replace their hunting and gathering way of life with settling down. Failure to comply would mean the complete extermination of the Khoisan people. Consequently, many Khoisan persons decided to settle down (Diamond 107). Some Khoisan individuals who refused to engage in agriculture were exterminated (Diamond 178). 7. Agriculture-based society’s advantages The Europeans brought plows and farm animals to help in the tilling of the farms. The Europeans believed in the economic concept that farm civilizations are superior to non-farm civilizations. People need food to survive. Consequently, farm food sustains the food needs of the residents. The Europeans instructed farm animals to help sustain the family. Farm animals supplies the meat, milks and fertilizer needs of the farm communities. A hungry soldier is not as strong as a soldier who eats vegetables, fruits, and animals. Today’s strong American society eats domesticated animals. The domesticated animals include cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens. The farm animals include cows, horse, water buffalo, Bali Cattle, and Yak (Diamond 23). a. Military Power In the agriculture-based society, the society’s army can use horses and camels for both attacks and defense military strategies. The same army can use the killing power of animal-drawn vehicles to strengthen their military forces. Likewise, focus on agriculture encouraged the people to craft steel war weapons. With the preference on agriculture, societies had more time to engage in literacy-enhancing activities. With priority on agriculture, the communities had more time to build more economically viable empires (Diamond 23). The Europeans also studied world geography. The Europeans were educated on global civilizations. On the other hand, the American Natives had not leveled up to studying the civilizations of the world. The American natives did not have the interest to learn about world geography. The Natives lacked the penchant to distrust complete strangers. Pizarro interrogated several Inca Natives regarding important logistical data. Pizarro used the gathered logical data as basis for springing his surprise attack. Pizarro’s plan to succeed was plain a simple. Pizarro captured the unsuspecting king and held him hostage in exchange for the citizens’ delivering gold to the Europeans’ ships. b. Political Power With the farm agriculture firmly in place, society was more settled, more politically centralized, more socially stratified, more economically complex, and more technologically innovative (Diamond 85). An agriculture-based society is more politically stable compared to non-agriculture societies. Agriculture-grown products support the entire communities’ food needs. Non-agriculture societies are hunter-gatherers. Since they do not grow their own food, they lack person who serve as full time leaders of society. The reason is obvious. The non-agriculture societies spend more time searching for food. Sometimes, lots of time are consumed trying to find new food locations. On the other hand, the agriculture-based people simply wait for the fruits to crop up. The farm people wait for their sheep, cows, pigs and other food animals to grow large enough to be butchered and cooked. With more time to themselves, the agriculture-based communities have more time to focus on enhancing the political affairs and economic agenda of the community (Diamond 82). 8. Eurasians’ development of better immunity to diseases When the Europeans conquered the Americas, The Europeans had generated immunity to certain European diseases. However, the American natives were new to the imported diseases. Without any immunity in their bodies, several American Natives immediately died from being infected. The Europeans brought with them the Smallpox communicable sickness. The sickness killed many Aztec residents during the 1520s. The sickness also killed the Aztec emperor Montezuma. The European disease spread like wildfire among the Native tribes of the Americas, killing thousands of Natives. Prior to Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas, the European sicknesses killed as much as 95 percent of one Native American tribe. The European Diseases completely wiped out the entire Mississippi tribe from 1492 until the end of the 1600s (Diamond 72). On the other hand, there were diseases typical of the Americas and other non-European countries. The non-European countries included New Guinea, Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. The diseases included Malaria and Yellow fever. The Europeans easily died from the Malaria, Yellow Fever and other unfamiliar diseases (Diamond 72). Initially, the Europeans had second thoughts about settling in Australia. When the Europeans arrived in Australia, may were downed by Malaria. When the malaria medicines were invented, the Europeans eagerly settled in Australia (Diamond 306). 9. Other races’ failure to develop immunity to epidemics During 1788, the Europeans intentionally introduced European diseases to the Aborigine community of Australia (Diamond 73). The Aborigines had no immunity against the European diseases. Consequently, thousands of Aborigines died from the imported diseases. Within one year of the Europeans’ arrival, thousands of Aborigines died from disease epidemics. The Aborigines died from the European diseases. The diseases were measles, influenza, smallpox, typhoid, typhus, whooping cough, chicken pox, tuberculosis and syphilis. After the disease-triggered deaths of the Aborigines, the Europeans converted the Aborigines’ lands to farmlands (Diamond 306). Of the European settlers in Australia, the Europeans had grown immune to the European diseases. Consequently, the Europeans survived the European diseases. 10. Eurasians benefitted from the favorable geography, climate and environment. The Eurasians benefitted from their more favorable local geography, climate and environment environments. The European soldiers were more literate than the New World inhabitants. The Eurasians had better food, military, social, political levels compared to the less advanced New World inhabitants. The Europeans had the benefit of better clothes, medicines, writing technology, and sciences compared to the New World inhabitants (Diamond 23). 11. Advantages of Colonialism There are advantages to colonialism. The Europeans can share their blessings with the less advanced nations. The Europeans can share their advanced knowledge in farming and other food technologies to the food gathering nations. The Europeans can share their Roman Catholic religion to the pagan New World inhabitants. The Europeans can teach the New World citizens on how to use better clothes and medicines. The Europeans can teach the less advanced societies more economically viable buy and sell activities. The Europeans can impress on the Natives the better ways of establishing better government functions. The Europeans can impress on the New World Inhabitants how to craft better weapons of war, better body protection armour, and other more power military technologies. Lastly, the European colonizers can teach the Natives how the government leaders can better monitor, control, and manage the entire community (Carr 184). 12. Orwell’s contribution to colonialism economic theory George Orwell believes that government must prioritise the equality of the people. Orwell insists that the best society sis one where everyone is economically, politically, and socially treated on equal terms.. Likewise, one group should not impose its economic, political, military, and other ideologies on another group of people. Orwell insists that Socialism ensures all people live in a classless or casteless community. The Orwell theory completely runs counter to the colonialism theory. Consequently, people should show respect honesty, and forthrightness with all people in the community (Orwell 33). Under the colonialism theory, the more powerful Europeans had the right to impose its political, military and social concepts on the weaker New World inhabitants. 13. Diamond’s contribution to colonialism economic theory. Diamond perfectly answered Yali’s question (Diamond 381). The environment is the root cause of the European domination of the New World, including New Guinea. The European environment had superior steel-based military technology over the New World inhabitants. The European environment had the superior ships compared to the canoes of the New World inhabitants. The European environment’s more advanced political system easily crushed the less developed political systems of the New World inhabitants. If the environment showed that New Guinea had the ships, technology and compass cargoes, New Guinea would have colonized Europe. 14. Conclusion Diamond theorized that the Europeans’ cargo items such as compass, ships, technology contributed to European colonization of New Guinea. The Europeans’ advanced capacity to mobilize superiorly equipped soldiers successfully triggered the colonization of New Guinea’s lesser cargo capacity. Lesser cargo translates to less developed political, social, economic, and military levels. Evidently, the Europeans’ bigger cargo gave them the significantly better advantage, in terms of forcing the European way of economic, political and social life on the less cargo-carrying New World inhabitants, especially the New Guinea’s inhabitants. Works Cited Carr, Craig. Orwell, Politics and Power. London: Continuum , 2010. Print. Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs and Steel. London: W Norton, 1997. Print. Read More