Chapter 7 Chapter 5 The Non-Eurasian World in the Expansion of the West

When Europeans entered the Muslim and Confucian worlds by sea, their initial reaction was usually one of respect and admiration.These Westerners enjoyed a clear advantage only in naval warfare.In every other respect, they found that the peoples of the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia were actually at least equal to them.This explains why it took three centuries for the Europeans to gain some control over India and China. In the non-Eurasian world, however, the situation is quite different.Before that time, the ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa, North and South America, and Australia had not reached a level similar to that of the Eurasian continent in terms of political organization, economic development, and military combat effectiveness.Therefore, they all succumbed to European rule earlier, but in different degrees.This chapter discusses the situation and prevailing institutions in the non-Eurasian world at the time of the Western invasion, emphasizing why sub-Saharan Africa was still impenetrable except for the coastal areas before the nineteenth century, why North and South America were easier to invade, and why Australia moved from one country to another. The door is wide open from the start.

As far as the relationship between sub-Saharan Africa (hereinafter referred to as Africa) and Eurasia is concerned, Africa presents a strange picture that seems counterintuitive.Africa, unlike North and South America and Australia, has always maintained a continuous, if sometimes weak, connection with Eurasia.However, the European invasion of Africa was much slower than the invasion of North and South America or Australia.Africa remained the "Dark Continent" for centuries after other newly discovered continents were developed and colonized.By the end of the American Civil War in 1865, only the coastal fringes and a few isolated parts of the interior of Africa were known to outsiders.Even by 1900, a quarter of Africa's interior remained unexplored.Until relatively recent times, cartographers relied heavily on their imaginations when mapping the dark continent.As Dean Swift describes it:

Although Africa and Europe in the Eastern Hemisphere are adjacent and have been connected since the earliest times, Africa is wonderfully impervious to European power; what is the reason for this?Part, but not all, of the answers can be found in the role of certain geographic factors.One factor is the hot, humid climate and the many tropical diseases closely associated with it; these diseases are particularly prevalent in low-lying coastal areas.Not all of Africa is bad for health: without the northern, southern and eastern fringes of the continent are the small but important regions of Mediterranean and subtropical climates where most European immigrants live today.But large parts of the continent had uninhabitable climates that Europeans usually encountered first.One of the greatest African explorers commented:

The African continent is also extremely difficult to access.One reason is that the coastline is not broken by bays or bays or inland seas; although Africa is three times the size of Europe, its coastline is shorter than that of Europe.The lack of an inland sea like the Mediterranean, Baltic or Black Sea means that the African interior is closed to the outside world.This inaccessibility of Africa is further enhanced by the formidable barriers in the north - the Sahara Desert and the Nile Everglades.The thousands of miles of sand along the east and west coasts are also effective barriers.Even if these barriers are crossed, there are other obstacles, namely, the many rapids and waterfalls formed by the great rivers of the interior plateau as they rush down the cliffs to the low-lying coastal areas.

Moreover, the lack of easy financial resources in the interior of Africa to rival the gold and silver of the American continent or the spices of the East Indies also discouraged early Europeans.As we will see later (Chapter VI, Section 1), the Portuguese pioneered European overseas expeditions to open up the gold and slave trade in the interior of Africa, a lucrative trade that had traditionally been dominated by Muslim traders.But after the Portuguese found a route around the Cape of Good Hope to the Spice Islands in the East Indies and the Spaniards stumbled across the treasures of Mexico and Peru, African trade seemed insignificant.Europeans continued to maintain a stronghold on the west coast of Africa in order to obtain slaves for American plantations.However, these coastal strongholds were sufficient for the Europeans to use for their purposes, so it was not until 1788, when the African Society was established in London, that serious efforts to invade the interior began.

However, geography was not the only factor that hindered European invasion.At least as important, the general level of development of black African social, political, and economic organization was high enough to effectively resist European invasion for centuries.Before discussing black culture.Let's look first at the racial composition of blacks. Race Contrary to what is often supposed, the peoples of Africa have by no means arose from the same race.A variety of ethnic groups can be found south of the Sahara and have existed throughout history.However, their origin and spread remain largely a mystery, so opinions vary widely.At present, the least contested racial division recognizes four major races: (1) the Bushmen, speaking the Khoisan languages; (2) the Pygmies, whose The original language is still unknown; (3) Negroes, speaking Niger-Congo languages; (4) Caucasians, also known as Gapsa, Cushites and Hamites, speaking Afro-Asiatic languages.These four races appear to have originated in the Lake Victoria area; from this, the Bushmen moved south to southern Africa, the Pygmies moved west to the Congo and the coastal rainforests of West Africa, and blacks moved west to West Africa and northwest to In the fertile Sahara area at that time, the Caucasians moved northwest into Egypt and North Africa, and moved northeast into the Arabian Peninsula and West Asia.

Here, again, these species and migrations are not universally recognized.In fact, one authority sums up the current knowledge, the lack of it, as follows: The African cultures are the result of the interaction between Africa and the outside world, which is far greater than the possible interaction between North and South America or Australia and the outside world.Take agriculture, for example, which originated in Mesopotamia, took root in Egypt in the fifth millennium BC, and probably spread from there to Sudan.Sudan is an open savannah between the southern side of the Sahara and the northern edge of the tropical rainforest, from the Ethiopian highlands in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west.It should be noted that, according to some authorities, agriculture in this area took place independently along the upper Niger River.Whether or not this was the case, the fact remains that the vast majority of plants that eventually became cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa were imported.The most important of these include: barley, wheat, peas, and lentils from Mesopotamia and Egypt via the Nile, bananas, sugar cane, Asian yams, and new types of rice from Southeast Asia, Tobacco, corn, lima beans, lentils, squash and tomatoes from later slave traders.

For Africa, the introduction of ironmaking was as fundamental as the introduction of agriculture.Iron smelting was indeed introduced from the outside world, and there are two most likely origins.One was Carthage, from where ironmaking probably spread by frequent visiting merchants who could still ride horses across the small but expanding Sahara Desert.Shortly thereafter, when horses could no longer walk the desert alive, the Romans solved the problem by importing camels from Central Asia.The other place of origin is the Kingdom of Kush, located in the upper reaches of the Nile, with Meroe, slightly north of Khartoum, as its capital.The Kush people are mainly black. They learned iron metallurgy from the Assyrians and were able to apply it well, because their country is different from Egypt and has rich iron ore and fuel resources.Meroe soon became a great center of iron production.Today, the hill-like slag piles that can still be seen around the ruins of the capital also indicate that Meroy once served as the Pittsburgh of Central Africa.The Kush presumably traded iron and other artifacts of civilization for traditional African goods such as slaves, ivory, and ostrich feathers.After living for more than a thousand years, the Kush Kingdom declined in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, but before that, iron smelting had spread far to the south and west.

The spread of agriculture and ironmaking had a profound impact on Africa.As new food crops and iron tools allowed agriculture to expand into the rainforest, the population grew tremendously.In addition, fundamental changes in the ethnic composition of Africa have also had major implications for Africa.It was the blacks and Caucasians of the vulnerable Sudan who adopted and benefited from agriculture and ironmaking, not the Pygmies and Bushmen of the inaccessible rain forests and southern regions.It is the former, therefore, that can greatly increase the population, and make it possible to advance southward at the expense of the Bushmen-Pygmies by means of iron implements and weapons.

This expansionism is particularly pronounced in the case of the Bantu, a predominantly black-speaking group.From their original center, the highlands of Cameroon, the Bantu infiltrated the Congo Basin in early AD, eliminating or subjugating the few pygmy hunters there.As a result, some Bantu people pushed southeast and reached the fertile and open Great Lakes region between 600 and 900 AD.They then continued south across the prairie at the expense of the Bushmen; the Bushmen met the same fate as the Pygmies.During this time, other Bantus drove directly south along the Atlantic coast, eventually meeting a new race, the Hottentots.It is now believed that the Hottentots are just Bushmen who learned animal husbandry earlier. Because of their improved diet, they are taller than other Bushmen, but they still resemble the latter in other respects.These migrations explain why blacks, already the dominant ethnic group when Europeans arrived, shared the continent fairly equitably with Caucasians, Bushmen, and Pygmies a thousand years earlier.

What fundamentally affected the development of Africa was not only the introduction of agriculture and iron, but also the various contributions of Islam.Some of these contributions came from the Muslim colonies along the coast of East Africa, but a larger part came from Muslim North Africa.Although the Roman Empire included within its borders all arable land along the 4,000 miles of Africa's Mediterranean coast, its power never extended south of the desert.It appears that the trans-Saharan trade took place between Lixus (in present-day Morocco), Leptis Magna (in present-day Libya), and the Great Bend of the Niger River to the south.Africans provided gold, civet incense for perfume, kola nuts for soft drinks, slaves and, after 1300, copper; in return they received cloth, precious beads, and especially salt, which was Desperately needed throughout Sudan. Contacts with North Africa have greatly increased since the Muslim Arabs invaded the entire North Africa in the 7th century AD.Later, Muslims also expanded their influence along the east coast of Africa. They first appeared as merchants, and since the 13th century, they appeared as colonists.Their colonies ruled the coastal regions as far south as Zanzibar, and their influence extended farther to the mouth of the Zambezi River. From their strongholds on the north and east coasts of Africa, the Muslim Arabs exerted a profound influence across Africa.Their use of camels far surpassed that of the Romans, and a corresponding expansion of the trans-Saharan trade.Likewise, on the East Coast, they traded the black interior for ivory, gold, slaves, and later iron ore.Iron ore was shipped to southern India where it was smelted into steel, which was then shipped to Persia and Asia Minor to be made into so-called Damascus swords.Among the products they imported from the outside world in exchange for African goods were cloth from China and India and Chinese porcelain; to this day, traces of Chinese porcelain can still be found throughout the coastal areas. These trade exchanges led to the infiltration of Muslim culture.Islam spread along the east coast as far as Zanzibar and intermittently further afield.It was introduced into Sudan from the Sahara Desert in South Vietnam along the Mediterranean coast.As is often the case with the spread of a new religion, Islam was first adopted by the black ruling class and then infiltrated among the people.In this way, a significant portion of black Africa converted to Islam and became part of the vast Muslim world.Therefore, the bold Arab traveler Ibn Batuta in the 14th century included Sudan in his travel scope. He once traveled east as far as China. The impact of the Islamization of Sudan extends far beyond religious affairs.This can be very clearly perceived in the appearance of life such as names, clothing, household decorations, architectural styles and festivals.It is also perceptible in the agricultural and technical progress that comes with the extension of contact with the outside world.In East Africa, the Arabs imported rice and sugar cane from India.An account of May Idris Aloma of the Kingdom of Bornu (about a contemporary of Queen Elizabeth of England) also says, "When God (the High) who is magnanimous, merciful, and generous grants this Sultan Among the boons of the country were the Turkish musketeers and many domestic servants who were skilled at musket shooting." Islam also greatly contributed to the cultural life of the Sudanese region.As schools were established, literacy activities spread.Scholars can pursue advanced studies at various universities in Sudan; among these universities, Sankor University in Timbuktu is the most famous.It was modeled on other Muslim universities in Fez, Tunisia and Cairo.It is the custom of scholars to roam at ease among these and other universities of the Muslim world in order to learn under a certain master.The Muslim traveler Leo (of Africa) visited Timbuktu in 1513 and found that the study of meteorology flourished due to the support of the ruler Askia the Great.He writes: "Here 'Timbuktu' gathers a very large number of doctors, judges, priests and other scholars, who are generously supported by the king. There are also various manuscripts and books brought from Burberry 'North Africa' , they sell for more money than any other commodity." The adoption of Islam also increased the political cohesion of the Sudanese kingdoms.The rulers of kingdoms have historically been able to claim allegiance to themselves only from their direct kinship groups or gentes, and offspring kinship groups recognized as descendants of the same great original ancestor.However, when the kingdom expanded into a huge empire, this kind of kinship was obviously not enough as the basis of imperial organization.As the empire grew, the emperor seemed less acceptable to most of his subjects.The emperor could not rely on local chiefs as loyal retainers; the latter often led their own people in rebellion against imperial rule.This institutional problem was resolved as Islam helped strengthen the imperial government.Madrasahs and colleges produced learned men who could organize an effective imperial bureaucracy.These people were not bound by kinship alliances, their vital interests were tied to the imperial authorities, and the authorities could therefore usually count on them to serve them faithfully. The combination of advances in agriculture and metallurgy, a corresponding increase in economic productivity, the flourishing of interregional trade, and the facilitation of Islam, account for the creation of African states from the eighth century onwards.Not surprisingly, the most complex political structures arose in Sudan; there, long-distance trade flourished and Islamic influence was strongest.As a result, three major empires emerged in Sudan: the Ghana Empire (700-1200), the Mali Empire (1200-1500) and the Songhai Empire (1350-1600). The Songhai Empire stretched almost 1,500 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the interior. ; in this vast territory, the rule of law and the same administrative system was implemented over many different subjects. The outstanding ruler of Songhai, Askia the Great (1493-1528), was one of the most outstanding monarchs of his time. equal to the European monarchs of his time, and surpassed many of them in humanity, religious tolerance and studious. Muslim writers describe Askia as "a shining light that drives away darkness and helps God." A servant is a savior from blind worship, and saves a country from ruin; a protector of the faithful, benevolent, spreading joy and gifts.” It should be emphasized that, contrary to what is often assumed, Islam was not the only, or even major, force that brought about these empires.In fact, the establishment of the Ghanaian Empire far preceded the influence of Islam, which did not affect the Sudan until the 11th century.Moreover, the Islamic world has not only played a constructive role in Africa, but also played a destructive role.The collapse of the Sudanese empires was partly the result of a devastating Arab invasion across the Sahara.These wanton expeditionary forces killed a large number of local residents, destroyed prosperous agricultural areas, and disrupted the profitable trade pattern.Indeed, in this respect there are striking parallels between African history and European history.In the late Middle Ages, Western Europe was able to lead Eastern Europe because the latter was continuously invaded by the East, while the former had not been invaded since the tenth century.Similarly, the Sudanese empires once had a civilization comparable to that of contemporary Europe, but they fell far behind in modern times; the reason is that they were invaded from the north.These aggressions were comparable to the Mongol and Turkic invasions of Eastern Europe, and were, in fact, far more devastating in their consequences. The general level of development in sub-Saharan Africa varies from region to region, largely because the continent is sharply divided into smaller pieces.Natural barriers prevent communication and migration between savannahs, rainforests and deserts, so consistent development is impossible.In general, the progress of a region depends on the extent of its past contacts with the centers of Eurasian civilization.Thus, political units ranged from individual communes, which recognized only local chiefs, to the great empire of the sultan.Economically the range is equally wide: from Bushmen-Hottentots-Pygmies still in the food-gathering phase to the following complex scene seen by Leo (African) in Timbuktu over the centuries: Portuguese pioneers first established contact with the highly developed nations of West Africa.It was natural for them to do so; West Africa was densely populated and economically developed, making trade intercourse profitable.Due to the cultivation of bananas and yams, not only the Sudanese region of West Africa, but also the forested areas of Guinea in the south are also thriving and active economically.Prosperous agriculture supported a denser population and supported thriving trade.A Dutch businessman visited Benin in present-day Nigeria in 1602 and left a deep impression on the city: All this means that the people who are doing business with the Portuguese have a very complicated background and can deal with the Portuguese without fear or curiosity.For West Africans, the trading contacts that accompanied the Portuguese were new only in their magnitude.Commerce itself was not an alien thing; before that time they had long maintained trade links with places as far afield as Morocco and Egypt.Thus, West Africans reacted to the arrival of the Portuguese in a very different way from the way Amerindians responded to the Spaniards at the time.It is true that the inhabitants of the forest, having had no direct contact with the Arabs before, were astonished at the white-skinned Europeans, at the loud noise of their firearms, and at the fact that these strangers had come from the sea (a fact which was also greatly awed by the coastal peoples). Very surprised.The fact remains, however, that the arrival of the Portuguese in Africa did not cause the confusion and disintegration that the Spaniards had in North and South America.Thus Africans traded with Europeans on terms of their own choosing.For centuries.Coastal chiefs had always refused to allow Europeans to penetrate the interior, hoping to maintain their lucrative position as intermediaries between European buyers and interior producers. In 1793, a British official wrote that Africa was still an unknown continent, "not so much because of the dangers or difficulties that accompany penetrating the interior, as because of the reluctance of the inhabitants of the coast to allow the white man to pass through their country." suspicion".He attributes this suspicion to the middleman's fear that "the benefits of their trade with Europe will be diminished and transferred to their neighbors; or that the inland kingdoms will acquire European arms" and become dangerous rivals. This difference in the ability of American Indians and African blacks to resist European invasion was recognized early on by Adam Smith, who wrote in 1776: Europeans could easily invade North and South America and quickly bring both continents under their control and development.This happened despite the fact that the Eastern Hemisphere and the American continent were separated by a vast ocean, although there was no effective connection between them in the historical period before the voyages of Columbus.The "wretched and helpless" plight of the Indians, as Adam Smith referred to them, did prevent them from persevering against the Europeans; but certain geographical factors also made them more vulnerable. North and South America and Africa are very different and generally accessible.North and South America have no sand banks to prevent outsiders from reaching the coast; their coastlines are jagged, giving far more bays along the coast than in Africa, which has a straight and complete coastline.Moreover, the inland water system in North and South America is very developed, with few waterway obstacles, providing convenient access to the interior; in Africa, there is no such big river as the majestic and gentle Amazon, Mississippi or St. Lawrence.Explorers soon learned to use the native birch-bark canoes, and they discovered that, with less overland handling, they could canoe from the Atlantic up the St. Along the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico; or northward, along the Mackenzie River into the Arctic Ocean; or westward, along the Columbia River or Fraser River into the Pacific Ocean. The climates of North and South America are also generally more attractive than those of Africa.Indeed, the Amazon plain is hot and humid.The north and south poles of the continent were unusually cold, but the English and French settlers prospered in the colonies they established north of the Rio Grande, and the Spaniards also felt at home in Mexico and Peru, which became their two main center.The climate there is not very different from Spain, no doubt a welcome contrast to the torrid Gold Coast and Ivory Coast. Almost all indigenous peoples are descendants of immigrants from northeastern Siberia across the Bering Sea.So almost all of them are because there are still ethnic minorities who arrived on the west coast of South America from the islands in the South Pacific after the arrival of immigrants from the Bering Sea.How many times these Argonauts of the South Seas have discovered South America is still unknown, but the evidence obtained from the domesticated plants alone is enough to prove the fact that they have made many ocean expeditions.While the same plants, already highly domesticated and unable to survive without human assistance, were found on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, their distribution could only be explained by human migration. It is still true, however, that at least 99 percent of the Indians Europeans found in North and South America were descended from races that crossed the Bering Sea.Not so long ago, it was thought that the earliest Indians crossed the seas to North and South America around 10,000 years ago.New archaeological discoveries and the use of carbon-14 dating have substantially revised this estimate.Now, it is generally agreed that the time when humans appeared on the American continent is 20,000 years ago, and this is only an approximate number, and it may be earlier than 20,000 years.The last great migration of Indians occurred about 3000 years ago.Then there were the Eskimos, who continued to cross the Bering Strait back and forth until modern political circumstances compelled them to stay on one side or the other.In any case, by this time, the parts of the Americas closest to Asia were fairly densely populated, preventing further migration. In fact, it was not difficult for the early Indians to cross the sea to the American continent.At that time, the sea level was much lower than it is now because most of the water on the earth's surface was frozen into ice beds.Thus, the first settlers crossed the 130-mile-wide land bridge that connected northeastern Asia to northwestern North America.After the sea level rises, you can easily cross the Bering Strait by primitive boats, because the strait is very narrow, and you can always see the land when crossing the sea.Later, more advanced immigrants may have first sailed from Asia to the Americas, and then continued to sail along the northwest coast, until they finally landed in today's so-called British Columbia and settled there directly. Most people who cross the sea to Alaska continue on, crossing an ice-bed canyon in the middle of the Yukon Plateau, and entering the heart of North America.The same force that pushed them forward was the same force that drove them to migrate to the Americas—to find new hunting grounds, and to be squeezed by the tribes behind them.Thus, North and South America were soon occupied by scattered tribes of hunters. All Indians, regardless of their origin, can be classified as Mongoloids.They all have distinctive, straight, black hair on their heads and sparsely hairy faces and bodies; they have high cheekbones and Mongoloid spots at the base of the spines of young children.There was, however, considerable variation among the different tribes; the earliest varieties of American Indians were much more different from the Mongoloids than the later American Indians, since they were part of the Mongoloids we know today. Man left Asia before he fully evolved.Immediately after their arrival in America, these colonists dispersed in all directions, and settled in various regions in small inbred groups; this may also account for the existence of distinct physiological forms. American Indians vary far more in the languages ​​they speak than in their physical appearance.Indeed, it is quite impossible to generalize about their language, since practically every phonetic and grammatical structure can be found.This linguistic diversity, like the physical diversity, was developed as a result of the long-term migration of the Indians to North and South America in small groups, and after their arrival they continued to roam and disperse.Variations in dialects quickly became prominent and developed into separate languages.Languages ​​that are closely related to each other can be found in widely separated regions of the Americas, reflecting the extent to which tribes migrated.As a result, 2,000 unique Indian languages ​​have now been classified.This shows that the language changes of the Indians are almost no less than that of the entire Eastern Hemisphere; in the Eastern Hemisphere, as far as we know today, there were 3,000 languages ​​in AD 1500.The Indian languages ​​are not primitive, either in their vocabulary or in any other respect.Shakespeare uses about 24,000 words, the Chinese translation of the Bible uses about 7,000 words, and the Nahuatl language of Mexico uses 27,000 words; One, but also has a vocabulary of at least 30,000 words. Anthropologists have demarcated some 22 cultural zones on the American continent—the Great Plains, the Eastern Woodlands, the Northwest Coast, and so on.There is also a simpler classification based on the way food is obtained, which divides the cultures of the American continent into three categories: hunting and gathering culture, intermediate agricultural culture and advanced agricultural culture.Not only is this taxonomy simpler, but it also makes sense from a world-historical perspective; it helps explain the wide variety of Indian responses to European invasions. Advanced agricultural cultures are located in Mesoamerica (central and southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras) and the Andean highlands (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile).Intermediate farming cultures were often in neighboring regions, while food-gathering cultures were in more distant regions—southern South America, western and northern North America. This geographical distribution of cultures strongly points to the fact that the most advanced regions of North and South America, in contrast to Africa, were not located closest to Eurasia.The reason is that northeastern Siberia was not as great a center of civilization as the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin, which contributed so much to Africans.Moreover, the climatic conditions of Alaska and the Canadian arctic were apparently unfavorable to such rapid cultural development as had been experienced in the Sudanese steppes.Thus, in North and South America, the rate of progress was determined not by a region's proximity to Eurasia, but by its suitability for the invention and development of agriculture.It is worth noting that agriculture in North and South America was first developed in areas that were strikingly similar to Mesopotamia, the birthplace of agriculture in Eurasia, where there was no need for extensive clearing of forests to prepare farmland, sufficient rainfall for crops The plateau area where it grows, develops. Around 7000 BC, maize began to be cultivated in the valleys of the semi-desert of the central plateau of Mexico.Over the next few thousand years, two main varieties of maize were developed through hybridization, one adapted to the semi-arid Mexican highlands and the other adapted to the humid tropical coastal areas.At the same time, other plants such as two different types of squash, gourds, broadleaf beans, peppers, amaranth and avocado were also cultivated.From this original homeland in Mesoamerica, agriculture spread north and south.Around 3000 BC, maize spread to southwestern America, but it did not have a major impact until 750 AD, because before that, maize was still in a primitive state and the productivity of food collection was relatively high.Likewise, in eastern North America, the Indians did not subsist primarily on agriculture until about 800 AD; around 800 they developed field cultivation based on several varieties of maize, fava beans, and squash.During this period, agriculture had spread southward from Mesoamerica, reaching Peru around 750 BC.However, the presence in Peru of very ancient, non-Mesoamerican varieties of maize and faba suggests that not only the Mexican highlands but also the Andean highlands may have had primitive domestication grounds. Altogether, the Indians domesticated more than 100 species of plants, that is to say, as many as the whole of Eurasia—a remarkable achievement indeed.Today, more than 50 percent of U.S. agricultural products come from crops cultivated by Native Americans.None of the American plants had ever been cultivated in the Eastern Hemisphere until the discoveries were made convincingly attesting to the separate origins of agriculture in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. The area where the Indians invented agriculture was also the area where they first further developed agriculture and gradually established an "advanced agricultural culture".This in turn profoundly changed the Indian way of life.In general, the result, as in Eurasia, was a great increase in the settled population and a complex cultural activity not directly connected with the maintenance of a minimum subsistence.In other words, it was also in these advanced agricultural cultures that it was possible to develop vast empires and complex civilizations comparable in some respects to those of West Africa.Unfortunately, these indigenous American civilizations were suddenly subdued by the Spanish, leaving nothing but the valuable plants they domesticated. The three major civilizations in the Americas are the Mayan civilization located in present-day Yucatan, Guatemala and British Honduras, the Aztec civilization in present-day Mexico, and the 3,000-mile Inca civilization from central Ecuador in the north to central Chile in the south. civilization.The Mayan civilization is known throughout the world for its tremendous development in the arts and sciences.Its achievements include unique stone buildings, sculptures that rank among the great arts of the ages, ideograms with fonts or marks as traditional ideograms, and ideograms that show the Mayans outperformed any European astronomers of their time, showing that the Mayans were The astronomical knowledge of competent mathematicians.Compared with the art and culture-loving Mayans, the Aztecs were brutal and warlike—a comparison reminiscent of the disparity between the Romans and Greeks in the Eastern Hemisphere.The Aztecs paid more attention to the army. They trained all strong men to engage in war and stipulated that all men had the obligation to perform military service.Their states were also better organized, with a well-developed court system and arrangements for the care of the poor. The Incas were even more advanced than the Aztecs in terms of material achievement.Their splendid roads, fortresses and temples were built of giant stone blocks so tightly joined that even 500 years later it would be impossible to insert a knife between them.Extensive irrigation systems made the Inca Empire a thriving agricultural region, some of which are still in use today.Most importantly, the Incas created the only unified, vibrant nation in North and South America—one fit for limitless expansion abroad and strict control and paternalistic rule at home.The means of state control included the imposition of state ownership of land, mines, and herds, the mandatory adherence to the official Sun Cult, the careful compilation of censuses for taxation and military conscription, the removal of local hereditary chiefs, the forced settlement of new lands, and the Assimilation of conquered nations, and collective weddings sponsored by the state.The Inca Empire was quite possibly the most successful totalitarian state the world has ever seen. Impressive as the above achievements are, the fact remains that a relatively small number of Spanish adventurers were able to overthrow and ruthlessly destroy all three civilizations; occurred when the number was more than 5 times this number).其原因，最终可以用南北美洲的与世隔绝来解释；与世隔绝使印第安人远远落后于欧亚混血人，尤其是落后于技术发展格外早的欧洲人。到公元1500年，美洲大陆才达到了西欧在公元前1500年、中东在公元前3500年便已达到的文明阶段。 当冲突随着西班牙人的到来而发生时，这恰恰意味着什么呢？首先，意味着印第安人发觉自己在经济和技术上远远落后于侵略者所代表的文明。印第安人高度发展的艺术、科学和宗教，不应用来遮掩他们在更多的物质领域严重落后的事实。这种发展的不均衡以中美洲为最甚，在安第斯山区也很普遍。如农业，印第安人驯化植物曾取得了辉煌成就，但在实际生产中却生效甚微。尽管他们人口很少达到东半球的人口密度，其耕作技术的发展还是从未能超出供养自己人口所必需的最低限度。他们的工具仅仅是用石块、木头或兽骨制作的。他们不会熔炼矿石，虽然他们确也同金属打交道，但几乎只是出于装饰上的目的。他们唯一能建造的船是独木舟和远洋筏。他们没有为了陆上运输而利用轮子，他们知道轮子，但只是将它当作玩具。除了安第斯山区所使用的、不能驮运重担的美洲驼和羊驼外，人的背脊是他们唯一可得到的运输工具。 对这种技术落后的直接意义不应过于夸大。虽然印第安人用长矛和弓箭来对付西班牙人的马和枪炮时，显然处于严重的劣势，但遭受了最初的打击以后，他们渐渐习惯于火器和骑兵。而且，西班牙人不久便发现印第安人的武器锋利耐用，开始喜欢印第安人的棉制盔甲而不喜欢自己的。有位征服者叙述道，阿兹特克人拥有 这表明在西班牙人获胜的背后，除技术上的悬殊差别外，还存在其他因素。一个因素是印第安请民族的政治组织松散。除西班牙人征服前一个世纪里建立的印加帝国外，任何地方的印第安人都没有超出部落发展阶段。而印加人则似乎为其帝国的极其严格的统制所削弱，因为当皮萨罗杀死他们的皇帝时，他们便缺乏继续进行抵抗的主动性。此外，西班牙人能到处利用印第安人之间的不和，唆使一方反对另一方。例如，科尔特斯倘没有曾为阿兹特克人所征服的、心怀不满的土著部落的积极援助，便无法赢得他的胜利。 在墨西哥，西班牙人还因阿兹特克人的战争观念而得到帮助。阿兹特克人认为战争是一种短期的宗教仪式上的努力；他们主要感兴趣的是捕获俘虏，用其心脏供奉神灵，以保证胜利。这种做法导致一种可怕的恶性循环。为了捕获俘虏，印第安人不得不进行战争，而为了赢得战争，他们又不得不提供更多的俘虏以博取神灵的欢心。最后结果是，征服前不久，阿兹特克人沉溺于一次次大规模的人祭。印第安人为了维持献祭用的牺牲品的供给，进行着单一的为战斗的战斗，即所谓的“花之战”；这是一种属于礼仪的争斗，目的是获得献祭用的俘虏而又不遭受正规战争所引起的经济混乱。这类军事传统显然是一种严重的障碍。西班牙人杀人以争胜，阿兹特克人则努力捕获俘虏。 中美洲和安第斯高地以外，是食物来集文化区和中间农业文化区。这些经济生产率更低的地区，总的发展水平也相应地更低，因而，更易受到欧洲人的侵入。首先，其人口稀少，不过，现有的各种估计数大相径庭。以目前愈益受到怀疑的较低的数字为例，印加帝国有人口300 万，而南美洲其余地区才100万左右。同样，格兰德河以南地区有人口300万，而以北地区也才100万。当欧洲人到来时，这些更不发达的地区的美洲印第安人简直缺乏足够的人数来坚守阵地。他们这方面的弱点由于最早的探险者所带来的疾病而变得更加严重。印第安人缺乏免疫力，被时疫夺去了大批生命，因此，早期殖民者常会发现有空无一人的村落和遭遗弃的田地可予以接管。以后，当大批移民从欧洲迁来时，印第安人毫无希望地给淹没了。首先来的是商人，他们的足迹遍布南北美洲，很少遇到竞争和抵抗，因为南北美洲不同于非洲，没有竞争的士著商人阶级。接着出现的是移民，他们为宜人的气候和肥沃的土地所吸引，前来的人数不断增加，淹没了不幸的印第安人。虽然后者有时在绝望中拿起武器，但他们注定要失败，因为他们缺乏团结和基本的人力物力资源。因此，随着得胜的白人占有上等土地，随着印第安人被驱逐到居留地或令新主人不感兴趣的更不可取的地区，这场不平等的争斗较迅速地结束了。 显然，美洲的力量对比截然不同于非洲。地理环境、较少的人口以及经济、政治和社会组织的较低发展水平，所有这些都不利于印第安人，使欧洲人得以接管南北美洲，而这时，欧洲人在非洲仍被限制在少数沿海据点。对比起黑人，亚当·斯密称印第安人为“可怜、孤弱的美洲人”，确是颇有道理的。 澳大利亚与世隔绝的程度超过了南美洲南端和非洲南端，是世界上是孤立的一块大陆。这种孤立使某些古代形态的生命得以幸存到现代，其中包括桉属植物和诸如单孔目动物和有袋动物的哺乳动物。18 世纪后期，最初的英国移民到达时，澳大利亚还幸存着仍处于旧石器时代阶段的古代类型的人。这些土著居民是大约30，000多年前渡海而来的三个不同种族集团的后裔；30000多年前，澳大利亚和印度尼西亚群岛之间仅为狭窄的海峡所分隔。这三个种族在当代土著居民中依然可分辨出来。人口占多数的是身材高条、四肢细长的种族，他们皮肤褐色、体毛很少、头发波状、胡须卷曲，因为居住在对白人无用的沙漠地区，所以能大量地生存下来。在大陆的气候凉爽、土地肥沃的东南角，则住居着另一截然不同的、只有少数幸存者的土著种族；他们身材粗壮、皮肤淡褐色、体毛很多、胡须浓密。沿东北海岸，是澳大利亚唯一为茂密的热带雨林所覆盖的地区，那里栖息着第三个种族集团。他们是黑人中的一部分，个子矮小、体格单薄、有着蓬松的鬈发和黝黑的皮肤。 这些种族的文化决不是相同的。文化最先进的是生息在东南地区的种族；那里雨量充足，适宜长期居留。不过，整个大陆的土著居民由于完全与世隔绝，仍都处于旧石器时代的食物采集阶段。其发展的迟缓在技术和政治组织方面表现得特别明显。他们除了出于装饰上的目的，一般不穿衣服。他们的住房在干燥地区是由简单、露天的防风林构成，在湿潮地带则由低矮的圆顶棚屋组成，这些棚屋都是用任何可到手的材料匆匆拼凑而成的。他们的主要武器为长矛、掷矛杆和飞标，都是木制的。他们不知道陶器，所用的器皿只是少数编织而成的袋子和篮子，偶尔还有用树皮和木头制作的碗。作为食物采集者和狩猎者，他们具有高超的技能且足智多谋。他们以范围广泛的植物和动物为食物，对动植物的种类、习性和特征有详细的了解。他们竭尽全力地维持他们所赖以为生的动植物的繁殖率。但是，因为不是食物生产者，他们用以保证充足的食物供给的方法不是栽培，而是举行宗教仪式。典型的仪式是，将血液和他们渴望猎物或植物会增多的地方的泥土混合在一起。 澳大利亚的政治组织几乎与技术同样落后。Like most peoples in the food-gathering stage, indigenous peoples usually live and live together in the form of groups and family groups, and migrate to certain areas.They have no real tribes, only regional divisions marked by different languages ​​and cultures.因而，他们没有酋长、朝廷或其他正式的政府机构。However, these Aboriginal peoples had very complex social organizations and ceremonial lives.获得猎物的猎人，或采集一天归来的妇女，必须按照严格的规定和所有亲属一起分享自己的劳动果实。在昆士兰北部的土著中间，若有哪位男子打喷嚏，凡听见者都得用手拍打自己身体，拍打的部位随他们与打喷嚏者的确切关系的不同而不同。 澳大利亚社会的这些非物质方面如此复杂，以致对专门研究原始风俗的学者们来说成为一件乐事。但是，这些方面的过早发展在18 世纪后期欧洲人到来时，帮不了土著居民什么忙。如果拥有繁荣的文明和广泛的农业社会的美洲印第安人无法抵抗白人，那么，处于旧石器时代的澳大利亚人显然更没希望了。他们人数极少。在欧洲人到来时，总共才30万左右。他们缺乏进行有效的抵抗所必需的武器和组织，而且，他们与美洲印第安人和非洲黑人不同，对获取、使用白人的“火棍”不大感兴趣。因此，不幸的土著居民大批地被英国移民残忍地杀死，这些移民中，有许多人是用船从拥挤不堪的监狱装运来的不法囚徒。疾病、酒精中毒、彻底的屠杀和大批土地的没收相结合，使土著人口减少到今天的45，000人左右，外加约80，000混血人。1853年，维多利亚女王时代的一位移民在以下这番颇有代表性的话中，暗示了澳大利亚人所受到的待遇：“澳大利亚土著种族同莫希坎人以及其他许多已知的部落一样，由于天意，似乎注定要在文明的进步面前从其本土消失。” 因巴斯海峡而与澳大利亚相隔绝的约2500 名塔斯马尼亚人的命运更是悲惨。澳大利亚土著居民所缺乏的东西，塔斯马尼亚人也缺乏，而且更为缺乏。他们没有掷矛杆、飞标、网和其他一切捕鱼的工具。英国把他们最冷酷的罪犯送上塔斯马尼亚岛，这些人于1803年登陆后，便开始追猪土著，仿佛土著都是野兽一般。在短短数十年间，大部分塔斯马尼亚人被消灭。最后一名男于死于1869年，最后一名女子死于1876年。这位女子名叫特鲁加尼尼，生于1803年，即白人入侵的头一年，因此，她的一生跨越了其民族遭灭绝的整个时期。她临终曾恳求不要解剖她的尸体，但是，尽管她的请求很可怜，她的骷髅还是被陈列在霍巴特博物馆——这是一个因为恰好定居在地球上某一难以进入、也受不到外界促进的地域，故而注定灭亡的民族的命运的适当纪念物。托马斯·阿特金牧师曾亲眼目睹这些土著的灭绝，不禁推断出某些不仅适合于塔斯马尼亚，也适合于世界上所有类似区域——在那里，欧洲人遇到了物质技术发展受阻碍的民族——的结论： 5 个世纪前，哥伦布踏上了圣萨尔瓦多这座巴哈马群岛中的小岛。他以为自己已经到达东南亚，因此他把当地的土著居民称为印第安人——这个名称一直沿用至今。哥伦布死后不久，1513年，巴尔博亚（Balboa）到达了太平洋，1519年至1522年，麦哲伦（Magellan）的探险队完成了环球航行，这时哥伦布的假设被证明是错误的。 美洲是一个“新世界”这种认识引起了人们对印第安人起源的思索。他们要么起源于新世界，要么就是从其他地方迁徙到那儿去的。认为美洲大陆人类单独起源的观点是不可思议的，因为那将意味着存在二元的创造——在大西洋彼岸的伊甸园里也有一对亚当和夏娃——这种信条与旧约的教义是水火不相容的。于是人们一致同意，印第安人必然是亚当和夏娃的子孙。现在又产生一个新的问题，这些子孙是怎样从旧世界移居到新世界的呢？关于这个问题历来有激烈的争论，在过去四个世纪里差不多提出了几十种理论，而且到今天仍然不断有新的理论冒出来。 绝大多数理论都是错误的，因为它们依据的是信念而不是理性。各种各样时髦的理论象走马灯似的，盛行一时便一闪而过，每一种都反映了当时时代的知识和偏见。关于美洲印第安人的起源，最早的一种流行理论是犹太失落部落说，因为对当时来说旧约所记载的古代希伯莱人种学材料几乎是“原始”生活方式的唯一已知的样式。因此早期的理论家确信，印第安人是公元前721年为亚速王所征服、从撒马利亚带走的希伯莱部落的后裔。一些失落部落说的拥护者认为，那些希伯莱人是通过穿越神秘的亚特兰蒂斯大陆到达新世界的，但大多数人则认为，他们是经波斯到中国、再到白令海峡这条路线到达那里的。 18 世纪时，欧洲人对古代地中海各民族尤其是腓尼基人成就留下了深刻的印象。腓尼基人以其航海本领而闻名，据信，他们曾绕过非洲的好望角，并曾跨越大西洋到达美洲。然而，随着19世纪埃及的考古发现，埃及开始被认为是美洲印第安文明的发源地。由于中美洲的金字塔与埃及金字塔非常相象，所以人们广泛地把这一理论当作事实。还有其他许多关于美洲印第安人起源的时髦理论随兴随灭。这样，我们的“印第安佬”便被追溯到希腊人、特洛伊人、罗马人、伊特鲁里亚人、塞西亚人、蒙古人、中国佛教徒、曼丁哥人或其他非洲人、早期爱尔兰人、威尔士入、北欧人、巴斯克人、葡萄牙人、法国人、西班牙人甚至缪和亚特兰蒂斯这两个“消失的大陆”的幸存者那里，而这两个大陆据传在11，000年以前就分别在太平洋和大西洋中沉没了。 所有这些说法都证明是不能成立的，或至少是值得怀疑的，只有一个例外：10 世纪末期北欧人定居纽芬兰得到了科学的证明。为什么这么多人曾经相信或者仍在相信这么多毫无根据的理论，一个原因就是他们错误地认为，相同的习俗就意味着共同的起源。相反，你可以到任何一所第一流大学有关人类关系领域的档案处，要一份世界上所有民族具有某些特定习俗——如表亲联姻的详细目录。你可以很快从全世界的民族中得到几十个具有相同婚姻习俗的例子，他们这种相同的婚姻习俗不可能来自一个共同的源头。但是，由于早期的作者不熟悉现代人类学这门科学，所以会想当然地认为遥远过去年代的相同习俗之问存在着历史联系。 同样，表面上相似的制度或结构经仔细研考，也证明是截然不同的。埃及和中美洲都发现了金字塔，但是中美洲的金字塔是宗教仪式的中心，而埃及的金字塔则是巨大的陵墓。下面这个事实也同样重要：最新的发掘工作揭示出中美洲的金字塔几千年来是不断演进的。中美洲金字塔经历长期发展这一事实，推翻了金字塔建造技术是从大西洋彼岸完全成熟地移植过来的理论。同样，在加利福尼亚一种叫“尤基”（Yuki）的土语中，KO这个词意指“go”（“去”），horn意为“come”（“来”），然而没有人根据这个例子能得出结论说，尤基语和英语历史上曾存在联系。 即使古代旧世界的多数航海者到达了新世界，他们的文化将立即统治新世界的习俗这种说法也是大有疑问的。那些认为希伯莱人、希腊人、罗马人、腓尼基人或其他民族的小群体能够到达新世界，并且在广大范围的土著居民中传播他们的文化的人，必须考虑一下18 个西班牙人（16个男人和2个女人）的经历，他们在科尔特斯（Cortes）到来的6年前曾因船只关事到达尤卡坦海岸。除两个男人沦为当地酋长的奴隶外，所有的人都作为牺牲献祭并被吃掉。其中一个幸存者完全成了土著人，他戴着精巧的鼻塞以及他所归依部落的耳环，并且拒绝放弃其新的生活去重新加入科尔特斯的队伍。同样，我们知道威金人确实到过纽芬兰，但他们都因当地印第安人的敌对行动而被迫放弃了建立殖民地的努力。因此，直到现代的连发枪和机枪出现之前，小群体的到达要么被全部消灭，要么就被当地的文化所同化。 这就是为什么1968 年在美国新墨西哥州的圣菲召开的一次学术专题讨论会得出如下结论的一些原因。其结论是：“到目前为止——除了威金人的接触（那是在纽芬兰）——在哥伦布之前的历史条件下，还没有从这一半球到另一半球的人工造具的确凿的考古发现”。这次讨论会还一致认为：“目前并没有确实可靠的证据证明，在哥伦布之前人类曾跨越大洋把任何一种植物或动物从旧世界引进到新世界，或者从新世界引进到旧世界。但这绝不是说，没有发生这种事情的可能”。 对于研究历史的人来说，这类讨论有哪些值得注意的地方呢？首先，它提出了人类文明如何发展的基本问题——人类文明是从一个或若干旱期的中心扩散开去，还是世界各个不同地区的独立创造。这个问题不仅触及美洲印第安文明的起源，而且牵涉到全球各个文明的起源。文明是从中东向西北欧、北非、南亚和东亚传播呢，还是在这些不同的地区独自发展成长起来的呢？扩散传播论者和独立创造论者之间的争论长期持续着， 我们日益认识到，这个问题不是一个非此即彼的问题，而是关于扩散传播和独立创造两者的不同程度的问题。这种不同的程度并不取决于先入为主的看法基础上的虚幻想象，而是取决于艰苦的研究和对结果的客观评价。考古学家对人类史前史的发现越多，就越发认识到人类的所有分支对其环境的反应都是具有创造力的。他们的反应和成就的性质及其程度有很大的不同，这取决于他们各自的历史和地理背景，尤其是前面述及的他们受外界刺激影响的程度。 历史研究者同样值得注意的是，许多门外汉仍然认为，各色欧洲人、亚洲人或非洲人高举文明的火炬，在前哥伦布时代踏上了新世界的海岸。事实上，今天的人类象旧石器时代最初的人类一样，沉迷于对神秘事物的崇拜。他们墨守虚幻而简单化的解释，即使这种解释与已知事实不符时仍是如此。我们以采集为生的祖先迷信他们的图腾、巫师或者巫医。现代人对于飞碟、占八卦、纸牌算命以及占星术也有同样的迷信。本文的读者将会认识到加利福尼亚大学洛杉矾分校的天文学教授埃布尔（G．Abel）所作的下述报告的重要性： “我曾对选我的天文学概论课程的普通大学生进行民意测验，发现其中三分之一的人对占星术感兴趣，并且相信占星术。通过与国内其他地方同行们的讨论，我了解到同样的比例到处存在，而且它也许相当准确地反映出美国人信仰占星术的比例。据估计，美国大约有不下5，000名占星学家在这个领域谋生，有1200家以上的日报辟有占星术的专栏。” 埃布尔教授的报告作于1975年。那以后的民意测验表明，相信占星术的人在逐步增加。198O年到1985年间，美国13岁至19岁的青少年中，相信占星术人数的比例从40％上升到55％。