History Comic Finals
Storyboard Description
History Comic Finals
Storyboard Text
- Yeah, didn't he say America got all its power from Christianity and Western civilization?
- Yo, You hear about what Steve King said last night?
- He's not wrong though.
- How can you agree with that!?
- Hahahahaha
- Because our ancestors did create civilization.
- That sounds like a Eurocentric view. Actually, a globalist view is more accurate than a Eurocentric view because, while Eurocentrism is the view supported by the dominant West, today's modern world exists because each civilization built upon the contributions of the civilizations that came before them wherever they were located.
- Contrary to the Eurocentric belief that the West was the origin of civilization, nomadic hunter-gatherers made up the earliest civilizations and gave rise to the initial sedentary, agricultural societies in the Middle East and Asia.
- In his book An Edible History of Humanity, author Tom Standage discussed the basics of hunter-gatherer societies. Standage explained that hunter-gatherers spent the equivalent of two days of hunting and gathering per week and spent the remainder of the time doing more pleasurable activities, like visiting friends and leisure activities (1). Even though the work was not as hard and involved fun, this does not take away from the fact that hunter-gatherers were a civilized society.
- I'll go hunt if you go gather. We should be done in around 2-3 hours and we can relax when we are done.
- Sounds good. Let's finish our painting when we are done.
- Okay, but farmers were way more civilized.
- Also, Standage discussed the gradual shift from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural society. Standage theorized that hunter-gatherers eventually started planting more crops and using domesticated animals when the wild resources around them made it impossible to survive (6). The agricultural society was more sophisticated because it allowed people to "hunt" domesticated animals and "gather" crops in fields they planted while allowing them to stay in one place and develop diverse cities.
- I don't think you mean more civilized. I think you mean more sophisticated.
- Yeah, and do you know where these first agricultural civilizations formed? Not Europe! They started in the Middle East and Asia.
- Uhhhh...
- Europe still had stronger civilizations though.
- In the Old World system, the Afro-Asia region produced the most significant developments in innovation and trading and Europe's rise to global power only came once Afro-Asia began to struggle and Europe was able to benefit from, and advance, Afro-Asia's works.
- In his video, Guns, Germs, and Steel Episode II, historian Jared Diamond discussed the history of metalworking. Diamond explained, “People started working on metal in the Fertile Crescent 7,000 years ago and because Europe was geographically close to the Fertile Crescent, Europeans inherited this metal technology” (Guns, Germs, and Steel Episode II). The Middle Eastern people originally created swords and armor. Sure, Europe made these weapons more effective but Europeans did not come up with this product on their own.
- .
- Fine, but how did Europe conquer the Americas, huh?
- .
- Diamond also explained how Europe conquered the Americas in his video. He described the Spanish as "accidental conquerors" because "they were the first people to acquire guns, germs, and steel" (Guns, Germs, and Steel Episode II). Europeans were geographically closer than other countries to the Americas. In addition, they had taken the Afro-Asian inventions of swords and guns and made them more lethal. Finally, they had built up an immunity to diseases that Americans had never seen before. When you add those things up, it is not surprising they conquered America.
- Then how was Europe the strongest continent?
- Sociologist Janet Lippman Abu-Lughod explained just that in her book, The World System in the Thirteenth Century: Dead-End or Precursor?." Abu-Lughod stated that the bubonic plague started in Mongolian territory and killed a significant number of people (6). With so many dead, there was a labor shortage in both the trading and farming communities. This resulted in a weaker trading system, less crops, and changes to how systems were run because those who were alive had more power to change things they did not like.
- Another factor in the decline of the Old World system was the Ming Rebellion. Abu-Lughold discussed the consequences of the Ming Rebellion in her book. She explained that the Ming Rebellion, an uprising of these surviving workers, caused China and Central Asia to be separated and also resulted in the once great Chinese navy being left to rot (7). Once China and Central Asia were separated, China could not continue to be the great trading power it had been during the Dark Ages. In addition, with no navy protecting its borders, it was easy for the Europeans to come in, take over the trade routes, and start taxing China. Harsh.
- The rise of the West was not by choice but by luck. Afro-Asia's struggles helped lead to Europe's success.
- We're still not sold.
- Eurocentrism is a focus on European culture and its importance on the development of civilization. The problem is that it excludes the contributions of all civilizations and regions that came before them.
- There is a good reason behind your perspective. For years, this Eurocentric narrative, showing Europe subjectively in the best, most dominant, and most influential way, has been repeated in our society; however, with the advancement of technology, people can hear from a variety of different perspectives in order to form their opinion.
- Yes, and when they tell this flattering story over and over again, you finally believe it must be the truth. That is what historians call the single story narrative.
- You guys believe the dominant narrative which means the dominant culture controls the story. Here, Europe was the most powerful, or dominant, culture and for years have told us the story of its greatness.
- You have been influenced by subjective history which is a bias someone has towards a certain opinion and you may simply believe it because you have the same cultural background.
- Now that our global communications are so advanced, we can hear all sides of the story making our knowledge objective and not subjective.
- That's great! We learned it from Ms. A-W's World History class. You should take it.
- Wow, I think we understand now. I didn't realize there were so many contributions to society outside of Europe. Where did you learn this from?
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