Rise The of the West Why was Europe the first to "discover" the New World? Why does the question mean so much? Domestication of Plants What kind of plants? Nearby and abundant Annual Self-pollinating Dry storage Plants that fit that description: cereal grains (Fertile Crescent) rice (Asia) corn (Mesoamerica) Domestication of Plants Consequences of domestication Increased birth rate Sedentary living = permanent villages = population density Social diversification An empire for farmers? Domestication of Animals What kinds of animals? NOT carnivores Herbivores Bigger the better Herd animals Animals that fit that description: horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and goats Africa? Eurasia 72/13, Africa 51/0, Americas 24/1, Australia 1/0 Domestication of Animals Consequences of domestication Meat Milk Fertilizer Work Transport Cavalry Further elaboration of society Diseases Conclusions? Eurasia had the plants, the animals, and, most important, the groovy diseases But why Europe within Eurasia? Big three Eurasian powers: 1) China, 2) Empire of Islam, and 3) Europe. not Why China? Chinese advantages Boats (junks) Knowledge of navigation Administrative organization Seafaring experience In short, the most advanced civilization in the world in the mid-1400s. Why not China? Chinese disadvantages Little to look for outside its borders Ethnocentric culture Anti-foreign Traders disdained Government centralization
Why not Empire of Islam? Arabic advantages Experienced mariners Vast knowledge Embraced traders Proselytizing religion Intense curiosity Why not Empire of Islam? Arab disadvantages Already dominated a profitable trade route Made a sensible business decision So, why Europe? European disadvantages Nasty rocky finger of Asia Mired in poverty, factionalism, fanaticism, pestilence, and famine Black Death So, why Europe? European advantages Renaissance? So, why Europe? European advantages NOT Renaissance or innate superiority No other Eurasian people were so decentralized, so desperate, so discontent with themselves and with their place in the world It is this tradition, at once hopeful and haunted, that brings Columbus across the sea