IP Blog

In the first paragraph of Hemispheres Colliding, Jared Diamond asks, “… why did Europeans reach and conquer the lands of Native Americans, instead of vice versa?
• why did Europeans have such an advantage over the Native Americans?
o collision between Old World (mostly represented by Native America) and New World countries (mostly represented by Europe/Eurasia) is marked by several different distinctions:
 * food production (society or country has little food production room for a few people)
• amount of big domesticable animals
• Eurasia: 13 species
o dogs, cows, pigs, horses, and more to use as transportation
• Americas: 1 specie ( o Llama- No horses, no cows, no big animals that could do dirty work

Five Major Disadvantages That the Native Americans Had:
1. they depended on protein-poor corn, while Eurasia had a variety of protein-rich food sources
2. they hand planted individual seeds, while Eurasia had broadcast sowing
3. they tilled by hand, while Eurasia used animals to plow
4. Native Americans lacked animal manure to fertilize
5. Natives lacked human muscle power
^slowed food production for the Old World^
(and sped it up for the New World, allowing for germs, technology, political organization, and writing)

Eurasia Advantages:
1. Germs
o killed many humans and animal species- especially for the Natives (since they had no knowledge to prevent disease
- With even less animals than they already had, and less man power, the Natives found it very hard to get from point A to point B in a short amount of time)
2.  Population
oEurasia- more centralized government, competing societies Eurasia to acquire important technology long before the Americas

Katherine De Menno
Kailey DeOliviera
Emily Farrell
Brittany Minger
Stacy Brown
Angela Swavely