Animals, Plants, and Political Organizations in Eurasia and the Americas

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Animals, Plants, and Political Organizations in Eurasia and the Americas
Jared Diamond’s argument in Hemisphere’s Colliding is that Eurasia had an advantage over the Americas due to its geographic orientation. Specifically, Eurasia had a wider variety of domesticated plants, which allowed for the development of agriculture. Diamond argues that this advantage led to Eurasia’s bigger population and technological development, allowing it to conquer the Americas (2-3).
Diamond’s argument has several strands. The first is that Eurasia had a greater variety of domesticated plants than the Americas. This was because Eurasia was oriented more towards the temperate zones, which had a greater variety of plants than the Americas. Eurasia also had a larger population, which allowed for the development of complex societies and civilizations. Diamond mentions that geographical barriers prevented domesticated plants and agricultural practices from migrating to productive zones in the Americas. For instance, the Mississippi prevented food production from reaching the modern breadbasket regions of the US, like Oregon and California (Diamond 13). The second strand of Diamond’s argument is that Eurasia’s larger population and variety of plants allowed it to conquer the Americas. Diamond argues that Eurasian societies were more advanced than American societies. American societies were based on hunting and gathering, which was less efficient than Eurasian societies, which were based on agriculture.
Additionally, Eurasia’s advantage of more domesticated big mammals over the Americas can be attributed to the geographic orientation of the continents (Diamond). Eurasia is located in the middle of the Old World and has access to various animal species unavailable in t...