Essay about European Colonialism and Imperialism - 992 Words

How were the Europeans able to conquer and control large areas of the globe? What gave them a great advantage over other groups? The proximate cause of this advantage was their possession of guns, germs, and steel. But how is it that they possessed these things and others did not? Ultimate causes of the Europeans possession of these guns, germs, and steel could be â€Å"Divine Providence.† People at the time thought that God favored the Europeans over other groups. Another ultimate cause could have been â€Å"Scientific Racism.† Other people believed that the Europeans were genetically superior to the other regions of the world. Now, because of Jared Diamond’s thesis, we can conclude that the ultimate cause of European colonialism and imperialism†¦show more content†¦Africa had 51 candidates but none of them could be domesticated. In the Americas, there were 24 candidates but only 1 was domesticated. In Australia, there was only 1 candidate and they coul d not domesticate it. Even though there were many of candidates for domestication in areas other than Eurasia, most of those animals just simply couldn’t be domesticated. It was not because of the cultures in these places, it was because the animals had to fit under certain requirements. They had to be the right size, have an easy diet, have a stable growth rate, and have a pleasant disposition. For example, an elephant could not be domesticated because it takes a long time for the elephant to reach its full size. Also, a zebra could not be domesticated because it would violently bite and, zebras in general, were too hard to domesticate. Again, we have a clear example of geographic luck. Disease gave Europe a large advantage when conquering wide expanses of land around the globe. South Africans and Australian Aborigines had no domesticated animals. They didn’t form any immunity to European diseases because they did not live in close proximity with any non-domesticated animals. However, Europeans had lived with domesticated farm animals for thousands of years. The diseases of the Europeans came from farm animals but immunities formed over time. The Native Americans, South Africans, and Australian Aborigines did not have any immunity to disease like the Europeans did. TheShow MoreRelated European Colonialism and Imperialism in Shakespeares The Tempest949 Words   |  4 PagesEuropean Colonialism and Imperialism in Shakespeares The Tempest William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest reveals how ideologies of racial ‘otherness’ served to legitimize European patriarchal hegemony in Elizabethan England. In the Elizabethan/ Jacobean times of England there were many relevant ideologies relevant to this play. 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MarlowRead MoreAn Area Is Not A Simple Process1620 Words   |  7 Pagesessay will examine the effects of decolonisation by drawing an outline of the causes that led to the decline of European Imperialism in Africa. The assessment will be focusing on the continuations and disparities following the period of Long Depression at the end of the nineteenth century, which included the Scramble for Africa† and the political dissecting of the continent. Imperialism is the extension of a country s eminence into foreign territories and can be conducted by various means. The