Eurasia and
the Americas
1492
Food Production
Eurasia




13 Large Mammal
Species
Domesticated birds
and small animals
Agriculture + herding
Few areas for huntergatherers
Americas




1 Large Mammal
Species
Domesticated birds
and small animals
Paucity of
domesticable plants
and animals
Large areas for
hunter-gatherers
Major Disadvantages for
Americas relative to Eurasia
• Widespread dependence on protein-poor corn
instead of Eurasia’s diverse protein-rich cereals
• Hand-planting of individual seeds (vs. broadcast
sowing)
• Tilling by hand instead of plowing by animals
• Lack of animal manuring to increase soil fertility
• Human muscle vs. animal power for tasks like threshing,
grinding, and irrigation.
Differences in Disease
Infections diseases of Eurasia: smallpox, measles, influenza,
plague, tuberculosis, typhus, cholera, malaria, and others—
the worlds most lethal disease.
Native Americans had nonsyphilitic treponemas and some
think syphilis, but probably not.
The difference is due to differences in useful livestock.
Most microbes responsible for the infectious diseases of
crowded human societies evolved from very similar ancestral
microbes causing infectious diseases of the domestic animals
with which they had close contact.
Technology
1. Metals
2. Military Technology
3. Sources of Power
4. Wheels
5. Sea Transport
Political Organization
• Eurasian Empires: Habsburg, Ottoman, Mogul,
Mongol
• American Empires: Aztec, Inca
• Large Eurasian States: Spain, Portugal, England,
France, Holland, Sweden, Denmark
• Writing and Literacy
Why Did Major Developments
Occur Later in the Americas?
Later start.
More limited suite of wild animals and plants available for
domestication.
Greater Barriers to Diffusion.
Possibly smaller or more isolated areas of dense human
populations in the Americas than in Eurasia.
The Eurasian Head Start
Diffusion?
Adaptation?
Food Domestication?
Geography?
Trade?
Conclusion:
Contact & Collisions
The first documented attempt to colonize the Americas was
by the Norse at Arctic and sub-Arctic latitudes.
The Norse colonies failed because . . .
The second attempt to colonize the Americas succeeded
because . . .