Guns Germs Steel

Guns, Germs and Steel

Jared Diamond, author of the Pulitzer Prize Winning, National Best Selling book Guns, Germs and Steel, summarizes his book by saying the following: “History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves.” Guns, Germs and Steel is historical literature that documents Jared Diamond’s views on how the world as we know it developed. However, is his thesis that environmental factors contribute so greatly to the development of society and culture valid? Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History is the textbook used for this class and it poses several different accounts of how society and culture developed that differ from Diamond’s claims. However, neither Diamond nor Traditions are incorrect. Each poses varying, yet true, accounts of the same historical events. Each text chose to analyze history in a different manner. Not without flaws, Jared Diamond makes many claims throughout his work, and provides numerous examples and evidence to support his theories. In this essay, I will summarize Jared Diamond’s accounts of world history and evolution of culture, and compare and contrast it with what I have learned using the textbook for this class.

Jared Diamond begins Guns with a prologue which sets the stage for the rest of the book. Approached in New Guinea by his friend and local politician Yali, he is posed a question: “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” Yali’s question flared a nerve in Diamond. This question brought about the thesis of his book, that environment is more persuasive on development of civilization than people may have once thought.

In the first chapter of Guns, Diamond establishes two main arguments that will become crucial to his thesis later on in the book. First, he goes in depth about mass extermination and further extinction of large mammals that occurred in New Guinea and Australia which were important for food and domestication, and secondly he argues that all the first civilized peoples in the world each had the ability to out develop one another, but were hindered or helped by their environment.

Diamond continues to provide evidence for his thesis that environmental factors play a significant role in the development of society by citing the Maori and Moriori incident of 1935. In 1935, the Maori killed and enslaved the Moriori peoples. Initially, each tribe came from common backgrounds, yet developed in different regions of the world. The Moriori lived harsher, hunter gatherer type lives, while the Maori were able to expand and flourish in New Zealand. The difference in environment allowed each tribe, who were vastly similar, to develop at a different paces and allowed for the Maori to eventually destroy the Moriori. This example also showed how population is affected by environment. Where the environment allowed for agriculture and domestication of plants and animals, populations were higher because the ability to provide for more members of a society was present. Larger populations also allowed for more complex societies to develop. The Maori and Moriori are a great example that substantiates Diamonds claims, because each shared common knowledge and ancestry, but one was disadvantaged due to environment and failed to develop.

As far as the development of weaponry, Jared Diamond claims that because of certain cultures and the environments in which they flourished, it was easier able to develop guns, germs and steel. When populations lived in close quarters with high volumes of people, infectious diseases were easily spread. Diamond also brings up a point about how different countries developed food production. Certain areas were ecologically better suited to develop agriculture. By domesticating plants and animals in particular, societies were able to create militaries that utilized horses and could conquer other nations. Diamond argues that the availability of domesticated plants and animals is a direct contributor to how quickly a civilization will develop.

The next example Diamond uses to further his argument that environment is a contributor in civilization development is the example of the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is an area where domestication of plants was high due to mild, wet winters and long, hot summers. Also, the plants that grew here cross pollinated and took care of themselves. The people of this area utilized these advantages to the fullest and became well known for being hunter gatherers. Other areas where plant domestication may not have been so easy had natives that eventually gave up the hunter gatherer lifestyle and chose a different way of life. These people’s behaviors were directly influenced by their environment