01 Rise of the West: Why Did Europeans Colonize America?

I. The Big Question: Why Europeans got such big tentacles?????
All human civilization originated from Africa. These African civilizations later migrated    north to Europe and Asia. The oldest human civilization consisted of the Sumerians.
The Europeans have motivation for conquering lands:
1.     Divided politically
2.     Resource issues
– other countries/regions (China) had plentiful resources and land while Europeans were quickly running out
3.     Stuck in a bad location religious motivations, the influence of “Renaissance humanism,” existentialist angst, etc.
II. Hunting and gathering – the “first 99 percent of history”
i.The first 99% of history was made up of hunters and gatherers.These hunters and gatherers averaged working 35 hours a week and were very well fed.
The main reason for the end of hunting and gathering was competition. The world can only support 4 million hunters gatherers. The discovery of agriculture was also a reason hunting and gathering ceased.
III. The Discovery of Agriculture
a. Domesticating plants
i. Five characteristics: nearby, abundant, self-pollinating, easily stored, fat seed
1. must be an annual plant so that it produces a big seed in a shorter time.
ii. Best candidates: cereal grains (Middle East) , rice (Asia), maize, i.e. corn (MesoAmerica)
b. Consequences of plant domestication
i. Increased births and population density (i.e. cities)
1. no incentive for lots of children in a hunting and gathering society
– more mouths to feed
2. With agriculture, the more children a family had, the more help they had
ii. Social diversification: police/military, government, priesthood, artists, and mathematicians/engineers/scientists.
1. Not everyone is needed for agriculture, so the other people are able to explore other careers.
c. Domesticating Animals
i. Avoid the carnivores and the cranky! Focus on large, easily-controlled herd-oriented herbivores.
1. Stay away from animals that require tons of energy (lions would need to eat so much it wouldn’t be worth the energy to domesticate one)
2. Pretty much everything that is able to be domesticated has been
ii. Benefits of domesticated animals: meat, milk, protein, fertilizer, transportation, cavalry, further social specialization, disease
IV. Eurasia Wins the Domestication Lottery
a. The advantages of being first
i. Longer time to develop more sophisticated technology
ii. The first civilization was formed in Eurasia.
V. Why not Middle East’s Arab empires?
a. Short answer: No incentive – already “connected” to the world via trade networks.
b. Focused on learning, sailing, trade, and art
c. Didn’t want to take the risk in trying to conquer a new continent
VI. Why not Imperial China – era’s most “advanced” culture?
a. Short answer: cultural reasons
b. China didn’t lack technology (experienced sailors, start maps, large boats) and had military experience
c. The vastness of China meant that you didn’t have to leave home to find anything you were looking for. They didn’t really need to even trade with other countries. Trade began over opium and other drugs.
d. Imperial Chinese were arrogant
i. China referred to itself as the “middle kingdom” (halfway between Heaven and Earth)
1. Referred to itself as the center of the universe
ii. Trading was not respected in China as it was elsewhere
iii. Government was so powerful that if government decided there would be no exploration, there would be no explorations.
VII. So…why Europeans?
a. They have the “tools” – powerful technology, centralized government, written language, etc – because of their proximity to Middle East.
b. They also have motivations: desires for wealth, political rivalries,
c. Main Motivation: Rivalry Between Nations and Quest for Wealth to Fund Armies and Navies.

Final Point: Europeans were successful due to diseases infecting the indigenous people