Domestication Of Civilizations

The Spaniards passed diseases, that the Natives had not yet been exposed to. As a result, many started dying because their immune system could not protect them. This relationship was one of the first major changes to an indigenous population, and paved the way to the conquering of most of the New World.

The Spanish Conquest of Mexico and the Aztec people started when Hernán Cortés led the Spanish conquistadors to Tenochtitlán and conquered the Aztec Empire in 1519. The Spaniards had gunpowder, dogs, horses, and armor that would help fight against the Azteca. The Native Americans wanted to only wound their enemies with their woodened clubs tipped and sharp obsidian that was powerful enough to smash the Spaniard’s helmets. The use of the double-bladed swords helped the Spaniards fight close combat with the Indians. As soon as their chief died the Azteca would back down. Not only did the weapons cause a huge impact on the Aztec but also the spread of diseases such as smallpox that were carried by the Europeans affected the population. After conquering the Indians, the intensions of the Spanish in Mexico was to spread their beliefs about Christianity, find gold and use them as slaves. In drastic ways the Spaniards changed the native communities, for instance plagues spread throughout the whole country side after the defeat of Tenochtitlán. Smallpox, measles, and influenza were the outbreaks that hit urban cities the hardest. In 1520-1521 an outbreak of smallpox caused thousands to die because Azteca medicine was not affective against these diseases. The second outbreak occurred in 1531 and it was smallpox again but combined with measles and the third wave of the disease lasted from 1576 to 1581 killing 300,000 to 400,000 of the Aztec population. The Native Americans did not

One of things that was brought to Mexico during the Colombian Exchange, although unintentonally, was disease. The Spanish brought diseases such as smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, and mumps. These were diseases that the natives had not been exposed to, so they had no immunity to them. Even though the Spanish did have much more advanced weaponry than the natives, it was the diseases that wiped out most of the native population. It is believed that within a century of the arrival of the Spanish, the population of the Aztecs decreased by 80-95%, going from 12.5M to roughly about 1.5M in population (History of Disease). The Spanish shared the same fate, but not as severe, many died from syphillis. A disease that was much more dangerous during that time than it is today. (Columbian Exchange)

The transition to farming was a turning point in human history since people who remained hunter/gatherers couldn’t produce food as quickly as farmers, and couldn’t produce food that could be stored for a long period of time. Instead of roaming to search different locations for food, farming allowed them to drop seeds in soil that grow next to their

The domestication of animals by humans is an early example of eugenics. Animals were used for hunting, warning system against predators, and overall companionship. (History of Eugenics) Humans at the time wanted a powerful animal, that was able to protect their owner, and help be able to produce food and clothing Obviously a strong animal does not come from handicapped ancestry, rather it comes from a far more adaptive origin. Early day humans exchanged this idea that the fittest animal comes from the fittest parents. This idea of superior origin was used in animal husbandry (History of Eugenics). For instance, a cattle that could produce twice as much milk and supply a strong hide, would obviously out weigh its less useful

After 11,000 B.C., technology in the Fertile Crescent developed immensely. Inventions including flint blades for harvesting, baskets and containers for collecting crops, and underground storage pits made it possible for food production to occur. “These cumulative developments constituted the unconscious first steps of plant domestication” (Diamond 111). Utilizing the further geographical advantage of rich soil, people of the Fertile Crescent leapt into the world of food production. Food production, in turn, yielded large food surpluses stored in baskets, allowing the society to move toward a sedentary lifestyle and a more organized, specialized community. Simple agricultural tool advancements led to a

The Spanish had yet another advantage that led to their ultimate rule, and that was that they had disease. They could spread diseases that were new to the Aztecs, who had no immunity to these diseases. These diseases included mumps, smallpox and measles. http://blogs.plos.org/publichealth/2013/07/30/guest-post-what-killed-the-aztecs/ Sun 9 Aug. 15

The establishment of food production proved to be more fulfilling than hunting and gathering since it reduced the risk of starvation. Despite being provided with some of the advantages that came with transitioning to agriculture, many regions remained as hunter-gatherers. While some areas, such as the Fertile Crescent and Eurasia, had many advantageous plants and animals that could be domesticated, other areas, New Guinea, Eastern United States, and Mesoamerica, possessed limited availability. Some areas are simply not suited to agriculture of any kind, while others may support some crops that are suitable for domestication but not others. Likewise, while there were big animals living in several regions, those species were not suitable for domestication since they did not follow the six requirements, which involved being sufficiently obedient, humble to humans, cheap to feed, able to breed well in captivity, immune to diseases, able to grow rapidly (Diamond 1999, 169). On the other hand, in some areas, food production developed independently. However, only a few places developed food production without any outside influence, which included the Fertile Crescent in western Eurasia, China, the eastern United States, Mesoamerica, and New Guinea. In the Andes and Amazonians, and three areas of Africa, food production was also probably an independent development, but there are

Many major epidemics originated from diseases of domesticated animals: measles, influenza, typhus, and bubonic plague (Diamond, 1997). Centuries of living near livestock had basically inoculated European settlers against these diseases. Only those Europeans who could survive a plague outbreak were able to pass on their genes, leading to successive generations being less susceptible to the illnesses. According to Diamond, smallpox was a major player in the European invasion of the New World. Native Americans, however, did not have cattle, only llamas. They had never been exposed to smallpox. It decimated their populations. Historians estimate perhaps 95% of pre-Columbus Native Americans were killed by European diseases (Diamond, 1997). Because these epidemics spread in advance of the Europeans themselves, it made it that much easier for the European invaders to defeat the dwindling survivors.

During this time, the Americas had been isolated from the rest of the world and away from all its unknown diseases. When the discovery of the New World led to Europeans coming to dominate the Americas, the Native Americans did not stand a chance against the many diseases the Europeans brought. Diseases such as malaria, smallpox, and yellow fever were brought to the Americas and in turn started to decline the population of the Native Americans. The Europeans had the advantage where they were able to wipe out the natives with their diseases and take over the

Inequality is still common in the world today. Some suggest that inequality is a result of some people being biologically inferior to others. Jared Diamond challenges this by taking specifically about what gave the Spanish an advantage over the Incas.

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was both quick and easy. There are many factors that may have contributed to the Spanish Conquistadors ability to defeat and conquer a city of more than 200,000 people (López Luján & Levin, 2005). Two of these factors were the introduction of small pox to the Mesoamerican people and the alliances that Henan Cortés forged with enemies of the Aztec Empire.

This essay focuses on how the Francisco Pizarro and his band of conquistadors was able to conquer the Inca Empire, specifically on how European diseases played a part in this conquest. The question being presented is: To what extent did European diseases assist the Spanish Empire’s conquest of the Inca Empire? From the moment that Pizarro set foot near Incan land to the moment when he had the Sapa Inca Atahualpa executed, around 90% of the Inca population was eradicated. The reason behind the majority of these deaths can be attributed to foreign illnesses, such as smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, and the bubonic plague. In their quest to conquer the Inca Empire and take its riches, Francisco Pizarro and his group of men managed to eliminate

Having domesticated animals is a huge advantage for a civilization. Geographic location affects what animals are available in that location. If a civilization has animals that can be domesticated, they can be used as a tool, and that can speed up the development of a civilization. To domesticate animals civilizations need animals that are herbivores, large mammals with a quick growth rate, live in herds, have a good social structure, breed well, and a nice disposition. There are 148 species of animals, but only 14 have been domesticated because they don't meet the specifications. Eurasia had plenty of domesticated animals, far more than Papa New Guinea. Domesticated animals provide transportation, protein, and warmth from their hair. They can work and help with crops. When domesticated animals do work, people don't need to. When people don't have to work, they can become specialists so the civilization can develop and expand. Specialists are people that focus on other things than farming, like becoming a doctor or an inventor. The more specialists a civilization has the more jobs created. The more people that become specialists, the faster a civilization will develop. If a civilization has a surplus of food and a handful of domesticated animals, they don’t have to focus on finding food and farm work, they could experiment with their recourses and develop new inventions. The people of Papa New Guinea couldn't do that, so there became a bigger gap between them and Eurasia, it created more

Another reason that the Spanish conquest of the Americas had a negative impact for the Aztec people was that they were exposed to deadly European diseases. After Cortes landed in Mexico, another Spanish army was also there, in the army was an African man being held captive with smallpox. One of Cortes men caught the disease and transferred it to an Aztec. ‘’On the night when the Aztecs drove Cortes and his men out of Mexico city, killing many of them, an epidemic of smallpox was raging in the city.” William McNeil wrote this quote who witnessed the wave of smallpox in Tenochtitlan. Disease was a major impact for the Aztecs because it played a huge part in the fall of their Empire. Many individuals in the army fighting for Tenochtitlan died