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Whatever happened to an equal world?
From the journal of Jared Diamond: After traveling to the Middle East, I realize that civilization must have its roots there. The Fertile Crescent has all the right things that were needed for humans to settle. The right crops: wheat and barley, both of which are high in protein and storable, creating a surplus. They also had the right animals: cows, horses, pigs, and sheep. With those things, they had a perfect way to stay in one place. The animals and plants provided a constant food source, which was a change to their old hunter-gatherer lifestyle. After settling down, they grew enough crops to create a surplus, allowing people to speacilize in other things, such as weaving and metalworking. Then they grew more advanced as time progressed.
"Why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guinians so little?" - Yali
Guns, Germs, and Steel-Jared Diamond's theory
Notes on yali's question: - fertile crescent was overfarmed - people moved west to europe (area on same latitude line) - was able to grow same crops and raise same animals - farming exploded in europe
The Europeans were given a great gift from the inhabitants of the Fertile Crescent. They had 8,000 years of technology to help them.
What set Europe apart? - farming- they had crops that were high in protein and could be stored, as well as being easy to grow - animals- they had the four major farm animals, which provided meat, clothing, milk,, plow animals, and fertilizer -technology- steel was developed, allowing them to create many things
When the Europeans went to conquer the world, they had something that the rest of the world hadn't developed yet. Steel was a technology the poeple of the Fertile Crescent created. With steel, the plow was created. The Europeans also used it to create weapons such as metal swords, shields, and armor.
the four s's: settle, store, surplus, specialize
the answer to yali's question: the Europeans simply had gegraphical luck. They were in the right place at the right time.
