Guns Germs and Steel summary
Europeans had an advantage over the Native Americans. They had the horses and the guns. Guns played a major role in the success of the Europeans. Guns not only aided in overthrowing the Native Americans, but also aided in keeping the Europeans alive by allowing them to hunt and gather food. Horses also played a huge role. They made battle and travel easier. Over time, the use of animals began advancing. Animals provided warmth and lolls.
They aided in warfare as well by providing transportation for those fighting and also for transportation of foods and other goods. Animals were a major tool in the farming of land. This allowed for the technological advance of going from hunter- gatherers to food producer. This advance increased the crop yields, which allowed for an increase in population. Food production and larger populations favored more rapid technological development. People began inventing things Just out of curiosity or even to take up a new hobby.
Many Native tribes, such as the Navajo, began adapting the European use of dyes for weaving. Some tribes also took up ranching. A big technological advance was writing. The Europeans created a writing system, which would allow the transmission of knowledge across the land. Writing allowed long distance communication among the Europeans. It was the new technological advance that changed their lives for the better. They could write to someone a ways away without they, themselves, having to be there.
Writing also yielded communication and record keeping of certain events. The next advance was the organization of societal roles. Bands and Tribes had egalitarian governments with Informal leadership and no real structure to conflict resolution. Chiefdoms Justify kleptomaniac and have a centralized form of conflict resolution. States have a centralized government with many levels of bureaucracy. States are good at developing weapons and providing troops. Egalitarian governments with informal leadership and no real structure to conflict.
