Why Did Human History Unfold Differently on Different Continents
This problem has fascinated me for a long time, but it’s now ripe for a new synthesis because of recent advances in many fields seemingly remote from history, including molecular biology, plant and animal genetics, biogeography, archaeology, and linguistics.
Eurasians have spread around the globe to dominate the modern world in wealth and power
Africans survived & have thrown off European domination but remained behind in wealth and power
Contrarily, inhabitants of Australia, the Americas, and southern Africa aren’t even masters of their own lands but have been decimated, subjugated, or exterminated by European colonialists
Why did history turn out this way, instead of the opposite way?
In AD 1500:
Europe’s overseas expansions were just beginning
Eurasia and North Africa were occupied by Iron Age states and empires, some of them on the verge of industrialization
The Incas and the Aztecs ruled over empires with stone tools and were just starting to experiment with bronze
Parts of sub-Saharan Africa were divided among small indigenous Iron Age states or chiefdoms
All people of Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific islands, and many peoples of the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, were still living as farmers or even still as hunter/gatherers with stone tools
Empires with iron tools conquered or exterminated tribes with stone tools… but what lead up to this?
Until the end of the last Ice Age around 11,000 BC, all humans on all continents were still living as Stone Age hunter/gatherers…different rates of development caused inequalities of AD 1500
Aboriginal Australians and Native Americans remained Stone Age hunter/gatherers
Most Eurasian peoples and many peoples of the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa developed agriculture, herding, metallurgy, and complex political organization.
Parts of Eurasia and a small part of the Americas developed indigenous writing as well
Each development appeared earlier in Eurasia than anywhere else
European
Eurasians have spread around the globe to dominate the modern world in wealth and power
Africans survived & have thrown off European domination but remained behind in wealth and power
Contrarily, inhabitants of Australia, the Americas, and southern Africa aren’t even masters of their own lands but have been decimated, subjugated, or exterminated by European colonialists
Why did history turn out this way, instead of the opposite way?
In AD 1500:
Europe’s overseas expansions were just beginning
Eurasia and North Africa were occupied by Iron Age states and empires, some of them on the verge of industrialization
The Incas and the Aztecs ruled over empires with stone tools and were just starting to experiment with bronze
Parts of sub-Saharan Africa were divided among small indigenous Iron Age states or chiefdoms
All people of Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific islands, and many peoples of the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, were still living as farmers or even still as hunter/gatherers with stone tools
Empires with iron tools conquered or exterminated tribes with stone tools… but what lead up to this?
Until the end of the last Ice Age around 11,000 BC, all humans on all continents were still living as Stone Age hunter/gatherers…different rates of development caused inequalities of AD 1500
Aboriginal Australians and Native Americans remained Stone Age hunter/gatherers
Most Eurasian peoples and many peoples of the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa developed agriculture, herding, metallurgy, and complex political organization.
Parts of Eurasia and a small part of the Americas developed indigenous writing as well
Each development appeared earlier in Eurasia than anywhere else
European