Wednesday, September 24, 2008

4. Economic Inequality

Sahr Aly wrote about the cycle of povety, she questioned "[how] to make life for the poor and middle people easier." Sahr is smart to look at economic inequalities, all good historians do.

In 1492, why did the Western Europeans set sail to conquer the world and not the Native Americans, Asians or Africans? The Answer is not that Europeans were smarter, better looking or that God loved them more. The answer is in economic inequalities.

Your assignment is to focus on one of the advantages Europe had in 1492 or on one of the disadvantages facing Native Americans or African. Write about this single advantage or disadvantage: the how and why it lead to European ascendancy. Refer to your class notes, the textbook may or may not be useful I suggest pages 22 - 65, and the videos below are for college level but you may get much out of it. Comment Due Tuesday October 7th.


If you cannot watch this video you may read about it on http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/index.html

30 comments:

Hcole said...
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Hcole said...
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FuYuan (Victor) Liang said...

Why Europe? That is what all of us want to know. Main reasons of why Europe is because of feudalism the time period when land was worth alot. Another reason is thta Europe traded with China for firepowder which helped the Europeans to be able to use guns. Europe also had many diseases and probably the most infectious/deadliest. There was also animals like horses that the Natives never saw.

FuYuan (Victor) Liang said...

Why Europe? That is what all of us want to know. Main reasons of why Europe is because of feudalism the time period when land was worth alot. Another reason is thta Europe traded with China for firepowder which helped the Europeans to be able to use guns. Europe also had many diseases and probably the most infectious/deadliest. There was also animals like horses that the Natives never saw.

Andrew Yee said...

One of the advantages for the Europeans is that they had guns. Guns probably had a greater accuracy, had a greater range, more power/force, and less change of fatigue to overcome the Europeans. The Native Americans used bows, arrows, daggers, and probably poison darts. Native Americans traveled on foot and didn't know how to write at the time, whereas Europeans traveled on horses and learned to read and write, so history could be written (by humans).

Kenneth Li said...

Why Europe? Europe had their advantages during 1491. The Europeans had guns/gun powder. They used their gun powder to their advantage while china used their gun powder for fireworks. The Europeans also had horses.I believe that the horses were the greatest weapon during this time. They were able to use the horses to travel.

ngbrian68 said...

One of the advantages are that the Europeans had guns. Guns are much more powerful than knives and darts. The Native Americans would travel on feet and the Europeans would travel on horses. Most Native Americans wouldn't know much about reading or writing. That's why Europeans would know how to read and write and that's the reason why it's Europe.

Justin Yuen said...
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ian mankes said...

The Europeans had guns. Guns could shoot from a farther distance and had better accuracy then bows and arrows. On horses, the Europeans could ride out to capture anyone faster than they could run.

Oznur_Gul said...

Why Europe? One main reason is because guns. A gun is a very powerful weapon and Native Americans didn't have this weapon. They had spears, knives, bows and arrows, etc. Guns are easy to handle compared to bows and arrows. Guns can be used to kill from far distances, too. Europeans had gunpowder which gave them an advantage and they used their advantage. Unlike the Europeans, China merely used gunpowder for fireworks. Since Native Americans have never seen Europeans, that meant that they wouldn't know what guns are. This gave the Europeans another great advantage.

Alex D said...

Why Europe it seems like a pretty simple question but is not. Europe had advantages because of trade such as trading items to get gunpowder from the Chinese and inventing guns to help the Europeans with an advantage when going to war. The Europeans would have animals which would attract fleas that carry diseases or get them across such as mumps or measles. The Native Americans did not realize what dangers the Europeans posed but it was too late for the diseases spread to the indians. The africans were defenseless against the Europeans and tried to make peace for that they did not have any guns or steel but only diseases like malaria.

Nick said...

The Europeans had the advantage of advanced technology, like steel to make guns and armor. Guns gave the Europeans the advantage because they could defeat the Native Americans and Africans from a greater distance without losing many men. The Native Americans and Africans only had handmade weapons like bows and arrows and spears. Horses and armor also protected European warriors and made them faster.

jonathan_suris said...

the europeans had the advantage of guns and horses over the native americans.But the native americans were believed to have used horses, too.The guns helped the europeans with hunting and fighting wars. The guns were more powerful than bows, arrows, darts, etc.The horses were a quicker way to get around on land than foot, but both europeans and native americans used horses.

Miriam Avrutin said...

Why Europe, well much of the credit for European military success in the "New World" can be handed to the superiority of their weapons, their literary heritage, even the fact they had a unique mammals, like horses. These factors combined gave the conquistadors a massive advantage over the sophisticated civilizations of the Aztec and the Inca empires.
For example humans’ ability to transform mineral ores into useful materials has shaped the course of human history. Those civilizations that have been armed with a greater range of metal technologies have always defeated their rivals. These sources were found on http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/variables/steel.html.

Anastasia Volovik said...

Western Europeans set sail to conquer the world and not the Native Americans, Africans, or Asians because they wanted more land for themselves and get more products for trade. The Europeans brought most of the diseases with them to North America and many of the Native Americans died because they didn't have any medicine to to help themselves survive the diseases. This was a quick way of getting rid of the population. After that procedure the Europeans had most of the land, silver, gold and products good for trading.

Sarh Aly said...
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Sarh Aly said...

Why Europe? European weapons were steel swords,lances and daggers, supplied by small firearms and artillery, while body armor and helmets were also made of solid steel or other chain materials. Instead on steel, Native Americans used clubs and axis of stone or wood(occasinally copper in the Andes), arrows, slings, and bows,which gave them less protection over Europe. To make things worse, Native American Armies also had no animals to act against horses, which gave Europeans an advantage.

michelle_tsvitman said...

Why Europe? In 1491 Europeans had their advantages. One of the advantages was that they had guns.Not all people had guns,they were very powerful back then.The Native Americans didn't have guns they used knives and spears.China used gun powder for fire works unlike Europe. Europeans had horses but Native Americans didn't they walked which gave Europeans another advantage.

elaine_chan said...

Why did Europe take over the world and not the Native Americans? Well, Europeans had advantages that helped them conquer the world easier. An advantage that the Europeans had over the Native Americans was disease. The Europeans had brought smallpox and other types of diseases with them to the Native Americans. There were many different kinds of diseases such as measles, small pox, typhus and the flu. They were the most common. Some diseases even came from animals that the Europeans had such as cow, cattle, sheep, pigs, and horse. The animals had germs that Native Americans didn’t know about. Because of the diseases that Europeans and the animals carried out, it spread and killed many Native Americans or made many sick. The Native Americans’ immune system couldn’t fight the diseases which made many die. It made the Native Americans too weak to protect themselves and their land. The Native Americans couldn’t do anything about the diseases. Therefore, many Native Americans died. The death was called The Black Death. The more the population decreased the more power Europe gained from them to take over the world.

Anonymous said...

One of Europe’s advantages in 1491 was their weapons. The guns were made of steel and were very useful because a person can shoot from a distance instead of having to stab a person with a knife, which would have to be done up close. The gun was easy to carry because you only need one gun, but you needed lots of knifes and arrows. In China, they used the gunpowder for fireworks but Europeans used it for guns, which gave them an advantage during wartime. Europeans were also able to trade the gunpowder. Native Americans didn’t have the advanced weapons like the Europeans. So the Native Americans weren’t able to fight or hunt better than the Europeans.
The swords were also very useful because they were long and they were more advanced. The knives were tiny and they were not very strong unlike the swords made of steel. It also gave the Europeans have an advantage in war.

elizabeth_sangadzhiev said...

In 1492, the Europeans had advantages over Native Americans and Africans that helped them conquer the world. They had the right crops, animals, germs, technology, and geography. Staple crops such as wheat, rice, barley, and oats were one advantage because they have high protein and are easy to grow. The Europeans domesticated cow, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and horses. These animals carried deadly diseases that Europeans spread to Native Americans. When fighting, the Europeans used steel and guns which helped them succeed in battle. Their rivals didn't use as powerful weapons. Europe was in the east west direction which made it easier for them to spread ideas to other areas. Europeans had the power and used it.

Justin Yuen said...

Everyone's wondering, why Europe? Well it’s because they had muscle powered animals. They domesticated the animals such as the horse. The horse is useful to carry items, pull wagons, and even carry our own weight. We can ride on the horse to travel and conquer quicker. It’s not just the domesticated animals, its steel. Europe used steel as weapons and armor and other technology. With such high technology Europe has another way to conquer much easier.

Hassan_Khan said...

The Europeans had many advantages over all the other countries. The one main reason that they had the advantages is that they had guns. They could use the guns to shoot enemies or even kill an animal and cook its meat or use the fur for warmth. Also, feudalism came in the way in 1491 with the Europeans. They also were great traders with other countries to get what they don't got. So, by now you know that they were lucky because everything was worth more, they were also good traders, and they had the most effective weapon during the time. But, one thing i didn't mention is that they had horses and that was the best traveling system in 1491. So, i think those are the most important advantages to the question of Why Europe?

Alex Riv said...

Why Europe? Europes biggest advantage was the gun. They used it to shoot enemies (the natives) ,and the Native Americans only used spears and bows and arrows etc.so they really weren't a match to the europeans firepower. They also spread new desieases that were probably more deadly than the deseases in America. And they had horses ,that gave more speed, and the natives never seen them before so they don't know anything on how to take the horses Down!

Anonymous said...

The advantages Europe had in 1492 was because that had guns. They could have used the guns to shoot people or animals. They also had animals such as; horses, cattle, sheep, pig, all conatined various diseases; measles, small pox, and the flu. THey traded animals with other nations, the disease could have spread over world wide causing people to die if they did not have the right medication. In wars they had better equipments to help they suceed.

Trisha Brown said...

Why Europe? Well, Europe had advantages and they use them. The Europeans had guns which is a very powerful weapon. A gun is has more accuracy than a bow and arrow and can fire and kill from a further distance. The Europeans had steel armor which would protect their bodies. They also had horses which would help them travel at a faster rate then by foot which was how the Native Americans traveled. The Europeans brought diseases with them to the Native Americans. The most common was the flu; smallpox and typhus and many more. These diseases were unknown to the Native American so many got sick or even worst died. Unlike the Europeans, China used gunpowder for fireworks. The Europeans had an advantage they used and dominated the Native Americans.

Hcole said...

Why europe? One reason is that the europeans had advanced weapons like guns. With guns you can kill from a distance. You only need one gun to fight but you need lots of arrows and knives. Also, guns are easy to use and are very powerful and accurate but it is harder to aim with a throwing knife or arrow and they are not as powerful as a gun. The europeans also had lot's of diseases like small pox, the measles, and the flu which came from the animals they had (pigs, ducks,etc. They use these diseases to kill the natives. The native american weren't used to these diseases and there immune system couldn't fight it so many of them died. The geography ofeurope also gave the europeans an avdantage over the natives. The europeans were constantly fighting Which gave them more power.

Jade Fenton said...

Why Europe? In 1491 Europeans had their advantages. One of the advantages was that they had guns. Only the Europens did.the guns were very powerful back then.The Native Americans didn't have guns they used knives and spears and bowin arrows.China used gun powder for fire works unlike Europe. Europeans had horses but Native Americans didn't they walked which gave Europeans another advantage.

Sharena Austin said...

Why Europe? Is what we are all wondering. An advantage that the Europeans had in 1491-92 was thier pivalige to use guns. In America we didn't has these violent weapons we more had bows and arrows than we did guns. The Europeans had gun powder this set a high bar when it came time for the Europeans to fight which was agaist the Native Americans.

Nick said...

I commented on Sarh Aly.

Basically, Sarh was saying that Europeans had many advantages because of their advanced technology and that the Native Americans did not have the weapons or the advantage to defeat the Europeans.

But even though the Europeans had better technology and advantages when it came to battle and weaponry don't you think that the Native Americans also had an advantage since they knew their lands better and were good warriors in their territory?