Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Success of Colonialism and the Limitations of Imperialism

Episode 1: Out of Eden

Directions: Before viewing the film, read each question below so you know what information and ideas you should be looking for as you watch Episode 1: Out of Eden. Record your answers to each question by providing as many facts, details, and examples as possible to answer each question. Be prepared to discuss your answers with the class.

1. According to Jared Diamond, what are the three major elements that separate the world’s “haves” from the “have nots”?

2. Diamond refers to the New Guineans as “among the world’s most culturally diverse and adaptable people in the world”, yet they have much less [cargo] than modern Americans. Diamond’s theory says it boils down to geographic luck. Give at least two examples from the film to support this theory.

3. For thousands of years, people have been cultivating crops. Describe the process used to domesticate crops and create plants that yielded bigger, tastier, and more nutritious harvests.

4. According to Diamond, livestock also plays a significant role in a civilization’s ability to become rich and powerful. How did the domestication of animals help people? Give several examples.

5. List at least three animals that can be domesticated and where they can be found.

6. Looking at the list of animals and locations from question 5, discuss how Diamond’s theory about geographic luck applies here.

7. How did the movement of the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent (Middle East) further support Diamond’s idea that geography played a key role in the success of a civilization?

8. Agree or disagree with Diamond when he says of a civilizations ability to gain power, wealth, and strength, “…what’s far more important is the hand that people have been dealt, the raw materials they’ve had at their disposal.” Explain.

Episode 2: Conquest
THE BIGGEST SHIFT OF POPULATION IN MODERN TIMES has been the colonization of the New World by Europeans, and the resulting conquest, numerical reduction, or complete disappearance of most groups of Native Americans (American Indians)… Soldier of fortune Francisco Pizarro set out for Peru to secure the pagan kingdom of the Incas for Charles V of Spain and the Catholic Church. Accompanied by 168 soldiers, Pizarro disembarked confidently. As the conquistadores, wearing shining armor and mounted on horses, rode inland from the sea toward the Inca city of Cajamarca, they were greeted along the way by awestruck natives. In Cajamarca, Pizarro was to meet with Atahuallpa, the tyrannical Inca ruler. After a cultural misunderstanding, Pizarro’s men charged a numerically superior army of Incas, and what ensued was one of the most one-sided battles in history…

1. Why do you think Atahuallpa drastically underestimated the danger when he invited the Spaniards to meet him at Cajamarca?

2. What beliefs and recent events put the Incas at a disadvantage at that time?

3. How did the battle tactics used by the Spanish conquistadors help the small army defeat the Inca army that outnumbered it by thousands?

4. Why did the Spanish pass their diseases onto the Native Americans, and not [so much] the other way around?

5. According to Diamond, what made the Europeans “accidental conquerors”?  Explain.