Guns, Germs, and Steel

What are the two biggest factors in Guns, Germs, and Steel?

• Is it genetic superiority?

• Is it superior intellect?

Location and Timing

• 1. Jot down 2 ways in which location can be considered important in history.

• 2. Jot down 2 ways in which timing can be important in history.

• We are going to look at 3 different ways in which location and timing affected world history according to G,G,S

I. Polynesian Society• Where is Polynesia?

• What factors contributed to differences among Polynesian societies?

Factors• 1. Climate • 2. Geological type• 3. Marine resources• 4. Area• 5. Terrain fragmentation– What is this?

• 6. Isolation

• HOW DID EACH FACTOR PLAY A ROLE?

Why were the Maori able to easily defeat the Moriori?

Maori vs Moriori

• More warlike• Why?– Chatham Island is colder – PROBLEM?

II. Cajamarca• Who were the Inca?

• Where were they located?

• How were they an advanced society?

How is their mummification process different from the Egyptians?

Thoughts on Spanish

• Atahualpa did not think they were gods– “The intelligence reports speak of people wearing wool

on their faces like an alpaca. They’re just like an animal. ……….wearing on top of their heads a little pot that has never been used for cooking. You need to be crazy to walk with a pot and not use it for cooking. ….sub humans. What could a few horsemen and a 100 or so Spaniards do to the powerful Inca? Virtually nothing”

• How does this compare to the account you read last night?

• Why do you think they differ?

Thoughts on Incas

• From your reading last night, what did the Spanish think of the Inca before the fighting began?

Spanish conquest

• If the Inca were so advanced and far out numbered the Spanish how were they conquered?

• What are the 4 advantages the Spanish had?

Advantages• 1. Weapons

– Guns and steel

• 2. Germs– How might germs have played a role in the African slave trade?– How did animals play a role in this?

• 3. Timing– How did this play a role? Sound familiar?– What if they would have encountered them 10 years earlier?

• 4. What animal?

• WHY WERE THESE ADVANTAGES?

Do you think the three paintings/drawings would be the same if the Inca had depicted the same events? Why or why not? How would they have been different?

Factors involved in domesticating crops

• 1. What are the 6 factors that determine if a crop will be domesticated or not? – Exp Size

• 2. What are the 12 blockbuster crops?• • 3. What are the 5 factors that determine if an animal will be

domesticated or not? – Exp big enough for work

• 4. What are the 14 animals that met the requirements for domestication?

Crop domestication

• 1. Size

• 2. Fibrous

• 3. Annual – Why is this better than a perennial in many cases?

• 4. Productivity

• 5. Easy to grow

• 6. Taste (bitter or poisonous?

Blockbuster Crops

• 1. Wheat (einkorn and emmer)• 2. Rice• 3. Barley• 4. Corn (Maize)• 5. Cassava (manioc or yuca) • 6. Potato (tuber)• 7. Sugar cane• 8. Sugar beet• 9. Banana• 10. Soybean• 11. Sorghum• 12. Sweet potato

Animal domestication

• 1. Reproduce early (1st or 2nd year)

• 2. Reproduce yearly/regularly

• 3. Get along with humans and in groups

• 4. Big enough for work (over 100lbs)

• 5. Easy to control (control leader-control herd)

Domesticated animals

• Big 5– 1. Horse– 2. Pig– 3. Cow– 4. Sheep– 5. Goat

• Others– 6. Llama (Alpaca)– 7. Reindeer– 8. Bali Cattle– 9. Arabian Camel– 10. Bactrian Camel (2 hump)– 11. Donkey– 12. Yak– 13. Mithan (Ox)– 14. Water Buffalo

Location

Why is a East/West axis better than a North/South Axis?

• Advantages• 1. Most found in • Europe, Asia, N Africa– Big 5 found in ME– None found in NA, Sub-

Saharan Africa, Australia– SA only the llama

• 2. Diseases– Get immunity

Homework

• Write a thesis statement based on the following prompt:

• How did location OR timing play a role in world history according to the book Guns, Germs, and Steel?