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Research paper on history of agriculture
History of agriculture Essay
Importance of the agricultural revolution on society essay
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At some point in time, human populations decided to settle down and harvest their own food instead of searching for it in the woods. In modern times, people tend to view this as a great advancement or revolution. Why would people want to search for food daily and forage for tubers or berries when they could just head to the supermarket or their own backyard? Scientist have determined, however, that this development brought many negative effects to the human population. The societies who adopted agriculture were malnourished and unhealthy, but they gained enough of an advantage over hunter/gatherer populations that the benefits outweighed the cost – at least in their eyes. Our society today has been shaped by this “revolution” and its effects, …show more content…
Densely packed people only made the spread of disease easier for those pesky little parasites and microbes (“Ancient Culture”). The spread of these diseases were made even more dangerous when combined with the general malnutrition of agricultural societies because malnourished bodies have a weaker defense (Diamond, “Worst Mistake”). Disease is one of the main killers of humans since the start of agriculture and most of them would not exist in a hunter/gatherer society (Diamond, “Evolution”). Populations that survived disease epidemics would develop immunities and pass those immunities onto their offspring. Later, these diseases and immunities served as powerful methods of conquest. This is especially true for Eurasia whose oversea expansion lead to the deaths of indigenous people in Australia, the Pacific Islands, Africa, and the …show more content…
The rest of their diet is meat. This is an incredibly odd because if human bodies get more than forty percent of their energy from protein, it will suffer from protein poisoning. The Inuit are able to survive on this diet due to the high amounts of fat they consume (enough to account for the other sixty percent of their energy). Most people get vitamins A, D, and C from fruits and vegetables. The Inuit get vitamins A and D from eating animal skin and liver and Vitamin C from raw animal organs. Studying this diet has shown that it’s not what types of foods you eat, but what types of nutrients you get that matters (Gadsby, 48-54). Hunter /gatherer diets typically have less saturated fats, no trans fats, and more omega three and omega six fatty acids. They also consume more red meat and dietary fiber along with less salt, sugar, and flour (Eaton et al,
They are mostly meat eaters because of the location the Haida, Iroquois, and Inuit had. The Inuit, Haida, and Iroquois ate sea animals like fish, seals, etc. and land animals like birds polar bears, etc. In the article www.firstpeopleofcanada.com it states that the inuit tribe, Haida tribe, and the Iroquois tribe mostly were meat eaters due to their location.
Jared Diamond Argues that the worst mistake in Human History is the invention and widespread introduction of agriculture, because it has created a plethora of social, economic, and health problems for the word. One example of this is when the article states, “Hunter-Gatherers enjoyed a varied diet, while early farmers obtained most of their food from one or a few starchy crops. The farmers gained cheap calories at the cost of poor nutrition.” This illustrates that the author's main argument is that agriculture was the worst mistake in human history because it shows how agriculture has negatively impacted health of both early farmers and people today by creating mass produced bulk crops that are low in nutrition. Furthermore, another example
Human mobility, in terms of European transcontinental exploration and colonization, began to truly flourish after the 1400s. This travel, inspired by financial motives and justified by religious goals, resulted in the European dominance and decimation of countless cultures in both the Americas and Eurasia. While at first glance it seems as though this dominance was achieved through mainly military means - European militias, like Spanish conquistadors, rolling over native tribes with their technologically advanced weapons - the reality is significantly more complex. The Europeans, most likely unknowingly, employed another, equally deadly weapon during their exploits. With their travel, they brought with them the infectious diseases of their homelands, exposing the defenseless natives to foreign malady that their bodies had no hope of developing immunities against. Because of the nature of disease and their limited knowledge about its modes of infection, the Europeans were able to dispense highly contagious and mortal illnesses while limiting their contraction of any native ones to the new territories. In short, they were able to kill without being killed. In this way, the travel of disease in conjunction with the travel of humans in a search for exotic commodities was able to limit or even halt the development of some cultures while allowing others to flourish at exponential rates.
The Inuits food plans are fish and hunted arctic animals. The main reason the Inuit are still in northern Canada, is because they are used to their lifestyle and the northern
The population of Massachusetts and other larger states such as New York or Virginia had a much higher population due to the mass migration of people coming over from Europe. Massachusetts with its large population led to more problems than other places. A major problem that occurred was illnesses and diseases. These sicknesses were easily spread throughout the large settlements because of the large number of people living so close in one particular area. People spread these illnesses and diseases when they would go to the store, the post office, church, or any other location. Where ever they would go, they would spread their illnesses to a large amount of people, and those people would spread it to others, and so on because of the numerous amounts of contact between people. Eventually, the entire population would get this illness. In comparison to smaller areas, like the outskirts of towns and rural areas, that would have less human interactions which would help prevent the il...
The Agricultural Revolution changes the society from eating a Paleolithic diet to eating cultivated foods. Paleolithic diet: includes gathering and hunting foods, like meat and berries. Cultivated foods are ones that they have to learn to grow. The understanding and expertise of cultivating food promoted advancement of human society, meaning that cultures were able to last longer and better. More food makes larger populations possible.
I believe disease was a key factor if not the primary factor in the depopulation of Native Americans in the Americas. Throughout time, there has always been inequality during the evolution of humanity. Over the course of evolution, different cultures as well as races have progressed more rapidly and at a stronger rate than others have. The depopulation of Native Americans happened because Europeans had better and more efficient supplies as well as immunities to the diseases that they brought over with them.
A large portion of the Inuit culture was developed based upon the need to survive. Migratory societies such as the Inuit were driven by the need for food to feed its members, by the availability of trade to secure resources not normally available ...
Diamond states that the reason hunter-gatherer groups became agriculturists was simply because it was easier to create more food for your individual group if it was grown, this statement does have validity. Everyone would be responsible for themselves and would be expected to help out. There wouldn’t be the constant grumbling that there are so many people being lazy and living off of handouts like there are in the modern world today.
Years ago, farmers and the community had a limited knowledge of natural resources. Most people assumed that it was limitless, as if it simply regenerated itself. Berry recognizes this by stating, “But in 1950, like most people at that time, I was years away from the first inkling of the limits of the supply of cheap fuel” (Berry, 2005, Para. 8). However, traditional farmers’ understanding of the world’s natural resources contradicts reality. In reality, the natural resources continue to run out if people do not take preventive measures. Berry writes, “Our recent focus upon productivity, genetic, and and technological uniformity, and global trade– all supported by supposedly limitless supplies of fuel, water, and soil–has obscured the necessity for local adaptation” (Berry, 2005, Para. 21). The farmers of that time did not realize the necessity for adaptation because they did not recognize the growing issues that threatened their farms. Farmers failed to realize that the natural resources do not last forever and run out. Husbandry focuses on the preservation of the soil and the proper care of it. At that time in history, farmers did not understand or have the resources to preserve the limited natural resources. Furthermore, their lack of resources and knowledge threatened the continuation of husbandry; however, because of industrialization, farmers possess the knowledge and equipment to preserve these resources. As a result, adaptation by industrialization is crucial to the continuation of farming and the preservation of
If the empires had not set up the tax system on food or increased populations to the need of expansions than maybe the black plague wouldn’t have thrived. Because of their actions during the time of the black plaque many places still held taxes over farmers that ended up not being able to feed their families, leading them to become malnutrition and weak and extremely susceptible to disease. Due to the large numbers of people on top of each other in crowded cities/towns disease spread like rapid fire from germs being passed
The Inuit were mainly hunters, and relied heavily on the animals of the Arctic as their main source of food. Since very little vegetation could survive in the Arctic climate, the Inuit could not depend solely on plants for food. The Inuit were skilled hunters, and caught food year-round, even during the harsh winters. The Inuit were able to hunt for food year-round, so depending on the season they would hunt for different animals. The sea mammals were usually hunted during the winter when they were out on the ice.
Agriculture is the science and practice of producing crops and livestock. The primary aim of agriculture is to use the land to produce more abundantly to feed and clothe the world at the same time protecting it from deterioration or misuse. Humans had to improve agriculture as they became more dependent on food, creating a solitary evolutionary connection between plants and animals (Campbell and Reece, 2001). In this day and age, so many people have forgotten the authentic premises of survival. It is easy for some to believe that the grocery stores produce food and clothing is produced by shopping centers. These inaccurate presumptions are being made due to the lack of knowledge of how agriculture truly works. There are also significant differences in the levels of understanding between rural and urban communities.
Along with high yielding seeds and irrigation facilities, the enthusiasm of farmers mobilized the idea of agricultural revolution. Due to the rise in use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers there were negative effects on the soil and the land such as land degradation. The production increases fostered by the green revolution are often credited with having helped to avoid widespread famine, and for feeding billions of people. There are also claims that the green revolution has decreased food security for a large number of people
Establishing an adequate supply of food is historically one of the fundamental challenges facing mankind. The modern food infrastructure employed by contemporary society is rooted in the creation and innovation of food production. Its effective utilization decreases the level of societal labor contribution required and discourages food shortage trepidation amongst individuals. It is hard to fathom given the current status of our society massive agricultural-industrial complex that the hunter-gatherer organization of society dominated for more than 99 percent of our existence (Fagan 2007: 126). The hunter-gatherer population was characterized by their primary subsistence method, which involved the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild. The primary methods employed were foraging and hunting, which were conducted without any significant recourse to the domestication of either food source (Fagan 2007: 129). Food production is presumed to have emerged approximately 12,000 years ago as a system of “deliberate cultivation of cereal grasses, edible root plants, and animal domestication” (Fagan 2007: 126). The pronounced change from hunting and gathering to agriculture and domestication can be simplistically designated the Agricultural or Neolithic Revolution (Pringle 1998). The catalytic developments of the Neolithic Revolution mark a major turning point in the history of humankind. The resulting animal and plant domestication established the foundation on which modern civilization was built.