Guns, Germs, and Steel: Conquest – Jared Diamond

  1. What happened in November, 1532?
  1. How many Spaniards died in the conquest of the Incas?
  1. According to scientist, Jared Diamond, what separates the winners from the losers in history?
  1. What were the Spanish explorers looking for, and was their leader?
  1. How large was the Incan Empire in South America?
  1. Where had Spain already established colonies?
  1. Where did agriculture begin?
  1. What advantages did large domesticated mammals give Europeans?
  1. How were the animals of South America different?
  1. Why couldn’t Incan farmers ever be as productive as European farmers?
  1. What was extraordinary about the Europeans in the eyes of the Incas?
  1. What advantages did horse give the Spaniards?
  1. Why did Atahualpa, chief of the Incas, invite the Spaniards to come visit him?
  1. What did Atahualpa and the Incas not understand about the Spaniards?
  1. What was a “harquebus”, and how did it help the Spaniards against the Incas?
  1. What was the real power of the Conquistadors?
  1. Where did Europeans get their metal technology?
  1. What was a “rapier”, and what did it symbolize for Spanish conquistadors?
  1. How big was the Inca army that surrounded Pizarro and the Spaniards?
  1. How had Hernan Cortez conquered the Aztecs in Mexico 12 years earlier?
  1. What advantage did books give Pizarro and the Spanish?
  1. Who were the first people to have a written language?
  1. What became the “ultimate transmitter of knowledge” for Europeans?
  1. Why hadn’t the Incas learned how to write from the Mayas in Mexico?
  1. According to Jared Diamond, who did geography favor?
  1. What fateful decision did Atahualpa make on the day he encountered Pizarro and the Spaniards?
  1. What did the Spaniards do before attacking Atahualpa?
  1. What caused the Spaniards to attack the Incas?
  1. What factors proved decisive in the attack on the Incas?
  1. What weapon of mass destruction did the Spaniards possess that they didn’t even know they had?
  1. What were the sources of the germs that Europeans brought with them to the Americas, and why weren’t indigenous Americans immune to them?
  1. How did the repeated outbreaks of epidemics, like the Bubonic Plague, actually help Europeans?
  1. What percentage of indigenous people are believed to have been killed by European diseases?
  1. What did the Spaniards get Atahualpa to do while he was their prisoner?
  1. What helped Spin become one of the richest nations on the earth?
  1. According to Jared Diamond, why did the Spanish conquer the Incas instead of the other way around?