Kim Puccio
3/7/11
World History
Mr. Reinstein
Guns, Germs, and Steel
The person that first came up with the theory of guns, germs, and steel was a
man by the name of Jared Diamond. He came up with this theory after meeting a man
named Yali in the country of New Guinea. Yali wondered why the white man had been
so successful in evolving into the great thinkers of today, while his people were still
hunting and gathering in order to survive. Jared Diamond determined that the people of
New Guinea were just as smart and would be just as successful if it weren’t for their
location and “geographic luck”. Jared Diamond determined that the people of Europe
had just been dealt a better hand in the beginning of time. Jared Diamond decided that
Europe’s shape, and native plants and animals gave the Europeans a huge advantage
over the civilizations in places like New Guinea. This theory eventually led to the
creation of his guns, germs, and steel theory. This theory states that the Spanish
Conquistadors were able to defeat the civilizations in the new world because they had
guns, which were extremely advanced technology compared to the natives’ arrows and
spears, germs which the natives had no immunity to, and steel whish was a new
substance to the natives. These factors were ultimately what enabled the conquistadors
to take over the lands of the new world. The native peoples of the Americas didn’t have
this advanced technology. Guns, germs, and steel allowed the Spanish conquistadors
to easily conquer the Americas.
One of, if not the most important, factors in the conquest of the Americas was the
influence of guns. A gun was much more effective in killing your enemies than the
arrows and spears that the natives had. All three of the major explorers we studied had
these with them when they went on their journeys. They helped the explorers to
obliterate the natives and take them out within a number of months. They had to use
little effort and they had very few casualties in comparison to the Indians. The
effectiveness of a gun compared to that of an arrow is like putting a great white shark in
a tank to battle a goldfish. There’s no question as to who will win in that kind of situation.
It’s the same thing in this instance. Christopher Columbus tells us about the influence of
guns on his journey in a letter that he wrote to Gabriel Sanchez in 1493. He wrote,
“They are all, as I said before, unprovided with any sort of iron, and they are destitute of
arms, which are entirely unknown to them, and for which they are not adapted; not on
account of any bodily deformity, for they are well made, but because they are timid and
full of terror. They carry, however, canes dried in the sun in place of weapons, upon
whose roots they fix a wooden shaft, dried and sharpened to a point. But they never
dare to make use of these, for it has often happened, when I have sent two or three of
my men to some of their villages to speak with the inhabitants, that a crowd of Indians
has sallied forth; but, when they saw our men approaching, they speedily took to flight,
parents abandoning their children, and children their parents.”1 In this quote Columbus
tells us that the Native Americans have no guns whatsoever. The guns that the
Spaniards possess terrify the Indians into fleeing from them whenever they see them.
This is also displayed when he wrote, “Although they should change their minds, and
wish to harm those who have remained in the fort, they cannot, because they are
without arms, go naked, and are too timid; so that, in truth. those who hold the aforesaid
fort can lay waste the whole of that island, without any danger to themselves, provided
they do not violate the rules and instructions I have given them.” 2 In this quote you can
see that Columbus is very sure of the fact that because his soldiers have guns, he’ll lay
waste to the natives. Hernando Cortez also relied heavily on the influence of guns in
order to conquer the Aztecs. During a Native uprising against the Spaniards in Mexico
City in 1520, Cortez wrote a letter to Charles V in Spain. In this letter he wrote, “Had it
not been for the strong guard of the musketeers and archers with some field pieces I
placed there, they would have scaled that part without our being able to resist
them…being such a number of them that the artillery had no need to aim just to shoot in
to the masses of Indians. Although the artillery did much damage, for thirteen
arquebuses were playing, besides muskets and archery which were also doing service,
it seemed as if they did not feel it, for when one discharge would sweep away ten or
twelve men, more would immediately fill their places, as if it had done no harm at all.”3
In this passage Cortez describes how violent the natives are, but his guns saved him
and his troops. Pizarro also utilized the great power of guns when he conquered the
Incan Empire. In a letter in which Pizarro detailed his journey and experience, he wrote,
“I had arranged with the captain of the artillery that, when a sign was given, he should
discharge his pieces, and that, on hearing the reports, all the troops should come forth
at once. This was done, and as the Indians were unarmed they were defeated without
danger to any Christian. Those who carried the litter and the chiefs who surrounded
Atahualpa were all killed, falling round him. The Governor came out and seized
Atahualpa, and in protecting him he received a knife-cut from a Christian in the hand.
The troops continued the pursuit as far as the place where the armed Indians were
stationed, who made no resistance whatever…”4 This shows what kind of affect
1
http://wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ilrn_legacy/waah1c01c/content/amh1/readings/columbus.ht
ml
2
http://wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ilrn_legacy/waah1c01c/content/amh1/readings/columbus.ht
ml
3
Fernando Cortes in his five letters of Relation to the Emperor Charles V By Francis Augustus MacNutt
Pizarro’s artillery had on the Incans. As you can see from the direct sources and
background information, guns were a big player in the conquest of the Americas.
The next factor in the Spaniards conquest of the Americas was a silent killer.
This factor didn’t flood the streets with blood like the guns did. Instead it was
accidentally left behind by the conquistadors without them even having any knowledge
of it’s existence. This silent killer was the thing that wiped out the most Native
Americans. This silent killer, was germs. The Spanish Conquistadors conquered the
Americas, but even after they left, they continued to massacre the Indians. The Natives
were extremely susceptible to diseases, because unlike the Europeans, they had never
encountered any diseases which meant that they had no natural immunity like the
Europeans did. The Europeans had lived through the Bubonic Plague and they had also
gained immunity from living in such close quarters with their farm animals. The Indians
had come over to the Americas from Russian during the Ice Age. They crossed over the
Barring Strait, but because of the cold, there were no diseases. They also didn’t live in
close proximity to animals like the Europeans did. The biggest culprit of this was Cortez.
He brought with him the disease of smallpox, which massacred the natives. One Indian
wrote, “And [even] before the Spaniards had risen against us, a pestilence first came to
be prevalent: the smallpox. It was [the month of] Tepeilhuitl when it began, and it
spread over the people as great destruction. Some it quite covered [with pustules] on
all parts -- their faces, their heads, their breasts, etc. There was great havoc. Very
many died of it.”5 It was also written that, “They could not walk; they only lay in their
resting places and beds. They could not move; they could not stir; they could not
change position, nor lie on one side, nor face down, nor on their backs. And if they
stirred, much did they cry out. Great was its destruction. Covered, mantled with
pustules, very many people died of them. And very many starved; there was death from
hunger, [for] none could take care of [the sick]; nothing could be done for them.”6 An
anonymous author also wrote of the disease that struck the natives. They wrote, “Soon
after, an epidemic broke out in Tenochtitlan. Almost the whole population suffered from
racking coughs and painful, burning sores.”7 The same disease also affected the Incans
in Peru when Francisco Pizarro conquered. They were also wiped out by the smallpox
disease. Germs had the biggest effect on the Native Americans.
The final factor in the conquest of the Americas is steel. Steel is not only just the metal,
but it also means any type of technology or advancement in technology. One of the
biggest factors that the Spaniards had, was a large supply of horses. This might not
sound like a very big deal, but in actuality it was one of the main things that helped the
Spaniards to conquer the Indians. The Spaniards were the first people to introduce
horses into the Americas. This animal gave the Conquistadors a big tactical edge on the
Indians. The Spanish could sit onto of the horses which made them taller in battle, they
also were very large which intimidated the Indians, and these weren’t any ordinary
4
http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Pizarro.html
https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/week4g.html
6
https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/week4g.html
7
https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/week4c.html
5
horses, they were Spanish horses that were trained to be fierce in battle. The Spaniards
also had armor, swords, and books to use against the Indians. When Columbus
encountered the natives, he wrote about their lack of knowledge about steel weapons.
He wrote, “Weapons they have none, nor are acquainted with them, for I showed them
swords which they grasped by the blades, and cut themselves through ignorance. They
have no iron, their javelins being without it, and nothing more than sticks, though some
have fish-bones or other things at the ends.”8 The natives had no sophisticated
weapons to use against the Spanish. Cortez’s enemies were also lacking when it came
to weapons. He wrote, “They took up arms, but their weapons were very weak and of
little service in offense and still less in defense. (Because of this, the wars of the Indians
against each other are little more than games played by children.) And the Christians,
with their horses and swords and pikes began to carry out massacres and strange
cruelties against them. They laid bets as to who, with one stroke of the sword, could
split a man in two or could cut off his head or spill out his entrails with a single stroke of
the pike.”9 Pizarro utilized his horses and swords when he battled the Incans. He wrote
of how he used horses in his military strategies, “The Governor had ordered his troops
to be distributed in the three halls which were in the open court-yard, in form of a
triangle; and he ordered them to be mounted and armed until the intentions of
Atahualpa were known.”10 The advancements in technology gave the Europeans a huge
step up from the Indians. Steel helped the Spaniards to conquer the Americas.
Guns, germs, and steel allowed the Spanish conquistadors to easily conquer the
Americas. The conquest had many effects on the Americas as a whole. Some of these
were negative, while some of them were positive. One of the most drastic and also
probably the most negative was the fact that about 90% of the Native population was
wiped out, due to illnesses like smallpox. Another negative, was the wiping out of
culture and society. The almost complete extermination of the population and Spanish
influence wiped out Aztec and Incan culture. You can see this in the fact that nobody
speaks or studies Aztec or Incan nowadays. Another effect was the transfer of wealth
and resources. The Europeans introduced things like horses, dandelions, and smallpox
to the America’s, and the Europeans brought back turkeys, tobacco, and cocoa from the
Americas. Another effect was the introduction of the Spanish language. This one was
very long lasting, and we can see that because we still speak Spanish today. The final
effect was the introduction of the Catholic religion. The conquest of the Americas was
one of the greatest events in human history.
8
9
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1400-1500/columbus/extract.htm
http://academic.udayton.edu/bradhume/hst103/hst103common.htm
10
http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Pizarro.html
Bibliography
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Columbus, Christopher. "Christopher Columbus Extracts from
Journal 1492." From Revolution to Reconstruction n. pag. W eb.
13 Mar 2011. <http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/D/1400 1500/columbus/extract.htm>.
Columbus, Christopher. "Columbus's Letter to Gabriel
Sanchez (1493)." n. pag. W eb. 13 Mar 2011.
<http://wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ilrn_legacy/
waah1c01c/content/amh1/readings/columbus.html>.
Cortez, Hernando. "Excerpt From Second Letter to C harles V."
HST 103: Common Readings n. pag. W eb. 13 Mar 2011.
<http://academic.udayton.edu/bradhume/hst103/hst103common.
htm>.
Last Bernardino de Sahagún , Fray. "The Plague Named
Totomonjztli ." Plagues and People Book XII . n. pag. W eb. 13
Mar 2011.
<https://eee.uci.edu/clients/bjbecker/PlaguesandPeople/week4
g.html>.
Pizarro, Hernando. "Hernando Pizarro on the Conquest of the
Incas." Reports on the Discovery of Peru n. pag. W eb. 13 Mar
2011. <http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Pizarro.html>.