Answer:
Geographical factors determined the destiny of early humans.
Explanation:
According to Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel (1997), geographical factors determined the destiny of early humans and early civilizations. The fact that Europeans conquered America and Africa, and not the other way around, was determined by their geographical position.
Diamond argues that Eurasia (the combined Europe and Asia landmass) is spread along a west-east axis, which means that there's a temperate climate zone that expands all along the continent. This meant humans could easily move along this axis, experiencing the same climate and being able to grow the same crops. Also, Eurasia along this axis is crossed by vast plains, which made intra-continental movement easier. Finally, Eurasians had access to beasts of burden such as horses, mules, camels and cows, which made transporation easier and faster than on foot alone. On the other hand, Africa and America are located along a north-south axis, which means crossing these continents means having to traverse along very different climate zones as one moves, rendering some crops unusable. These two continents had vast insurmountable geographical accidents, such as the Sahara Desert and the Darien Gap, which makes intra-continental movement very difficult. And lastly, there were no large pack animals in either continent, so cargo and people all had to move on foot. Overall, this meant that old Eurasian civilization had major advantages and were able to muster their resources in a much more efficient way.
