BERNARD D. YU Dr.

JOHN PETERSON
ANTHROPOLOGY 351 October, 2017

Question # 2

“In Eric Wolf’s Europe and the People without

History he examines the impact of culture contact and the
emergence of colonial and capitalist hegemony by the
Europeans over native peoples and societies. How is power
affected by European cultures to accomplish this overturning
of native peoples and polities?”

Eric wolf’s book demonstrates how societies typically studied by anthropologist

have been continuously changed over the past five centuries by global-political
economic forces. He takes the form of fascinating stories that draws on travel narratives,
on economic, political and social historiography and on ethnographic reports. Two
explicit assumptions are made in this work. First, that no society is explicitly contained
or unchanging, and second that a proper understanding of societal linkage and
transformations must start from the analysis of material processes in which all social
groups are necessary involved-the production, circulation, and consumption of wealth.
The story begins with the survey of an often tenuous mediated connection between
societies in the fifteenth century and culminates on the accounts of the emergence of a
more strongly structured global capitalist system by the end of the nineteenth, in the
course of which we are informed of the transformation of innumerable non-western
societies.

In order to understand the difference between Europe and the rest of the world I
think it is crucial to establish first the civilization that evolved around the continent.
Wolf intensely discussed the history of politics, economies and wars as factors that
contributed making European states of the 1400s fueled for competition venturing in
what is known to the world today as age of exploration and colonization.

Wars and Politics

Europe as reflected from Wolf’s discussion specifically in Chapter 4 was a

continent riddled with wars and political chaos. The age of feudalism was in its prime
sending states into frenzy competing to maintain or boast their military and economic
stability. Confederations or conflict of one kingdom to another were common and
political stability can be changed overnight. It was in this dilemma that Royal families
deemed it necessary to maintain military strength and capability to protect their
dominions. In was noted in other historical accounts that Royal marriages are often
used to strengthen the political zeal between kingdoms. Lavish grand balls and parties
were sponsored by the state at the cost of the peasant. Resentment to the crown due to
its repressive taxation and impositions further agitate social chaos. The competition for
resources was high and to gain access to these on must be powerful enough. The age of
mercantilism is now in effect.

European States virtually was on top of everything, exerting too much control on
the economy with little benevolence towards the people. Technological development was
also notable as the era of industries in on its way. Mushrooming of major enterprise
paved the way for the so called Industrial Revolution.

The Thirst for Oriental commodities and Market

In addition to Wolf account I would like to discuss further on this using other
illustration. European States during the period of Crusades made the contact with
Oriental products. Despite the failure of these explorations, oriental access led to the
introduction of oriental merchandized to the system of Europeans. Limited numbers of
silk and spices along with other riches of the East making its way into European markets
dictates a handsome price due to law of supply and demand. The rises of the new
Islamic kingdom in the East that can challenge their military supremacy further curtail
their access to Oriental goods. Hence the age of exploration commence with its primary
goal of finding new trade route to the East avoiding the Muslim Turks.
The so called Realization Crisis that Wolf mentioned can also be explicated in the
light of the US experience after the Civil War. With most of her States are into
Industrialization, another war in knocking on her door, this time no longer between
northern and southern States but rather between the rich industries and the poor
peasants. The US government had to interfere by implementing the so called “New Deal
Policy” to abort this. However this new paradigm is not a long term solution that her
think tanks conceived the idea of colonization and embark to find new markets for her
growing industries. This was the case of the Philippines; a neo colony of the US.

Conclusion

The notion of Eric Wolf’s book perhaps supported the claimed of many Filipino
Historians whom choose not to elaborate further their discussion of the 333 years of
Philippines under Spain because basically that is not Philippine history but Spanish
history in the Philippines. The conflict theory perhaps is in operation in the method
Wolf presented his thesis. European States facing a much hostile position were able to
outgrow the challenges and in the process rose to power against the people with a more
lenient environment. The condition that operates up to these days like colonialism and
neo-colonialism, the one-sided economic policies and the international agencies that
served to maintain the “status quo” are a manifestation that what happened in the past
is not yet over.
BERNARD D. YU Dr. JOHN PETERSON
ANTHROPOLOGY 351 October, 2017

Question # 3

“Disease and famine were powerful tools of the

European colonial enterprise. How was this manifest
in New Spain?”

According to its author Alfred W. Crosby, European expansion was a matter of

biological reasoning, not simply military might. This line of reasoning builds on the
intersections between history, geography, and biology and ultimately helped reshape
existing scholarly paradigms and perspectives. Crosby embeds his points regarding the
importance of “a biological, [and] an ecological, component” within a chronological and
thematic setup. First, he revisits Pangaea and the Neolithic Age, and discusses the role
of Norsemen and Crusaders. This setup provides the necessary context and sets the
stage for arguing how three archipelagoes in the eastern Atlantic became “the
laboratories, the pilot programs, for the new European imperialism” Crosby nicely
underlines the significance of winds at this critical conjuncture of European expansion,
all while not forgetting about the importance of non-European civilizations. The rest of
the book zooms in on so-called Neo-Europeans, a term used by Crosby to define “the
most visible residues of the age when Europe exclusively ruled the waves”. The author
relies on environmental, ecological, biological, and geographical forces to capture the
limitations of Neo-Europeans. Chapter-long discussions of weeds, illnesses, and animals
then allow the reader to see such often over-looked historical actors at play within
different circumstances and environments. Bio-geographies of various plants, the
importance of diseases like smallpox, and the role of pigs and cattle are combined with a
diversity of other examples and ultimately provide the necessary empirical evidence to
sustain Crosby’s overall arguments.

Smallpox was the big killer of the Aztecs and the Incas in Peru; the Huron and
Iroquois in Mexico; and the Amerindians of the United States. Crosby claims the
victories of the Conquistadors over the Amerindians were “in large part the triumphs of
the virus of smallpox” (200). Besides smallpox Europeans brought dysentery and
influenza; those epidemics killed almost the whole indigenous population of North
America. In effect, the domination over ecology and culture by European invaders was
more of a biological accident, than a well-executed military takeover. Virgin soil
epidemics spread through populations who had no prior contact with European
diseases. These populations had no immunity to protect them. Virgin soil epidemics had
many dramatic consequences. First, the epidemics effectively committed genocide,
killing entire populations of native people around the world. Second, certain diseases
(measles, influenza, tuberculosis) effected people fifteen to forty years of age more than
others. These young adults were responsible for most of the labor involved in supplying
food, procreation, raising children, and defending the society. The third and fourth
effects of virgin soil epidemics were cultural optimism on the part of the conquerors,
and cultural fatalism on the part of the conquered. When Europeans arrived and slew
their rivals without raising a sword they believed that God must be on their side and this
belief affirmed the rightness of their imperialistic actions. When the indigenous people
died by the hoard from mysterious ailments they developed a fatalistic view of their own
destiny and supposed the white man’s Gods were the more powerful. Ecological
Imperialism is interesting, occasionally humorous, and easy to read. Crosby
accomplishes his goal of writing a big book. This author presents a convincing and
encompassing explanation for the incredible success of European imperialists. The book
leaves the reader with more questions. How aggressively imperialistic were the original
conquerors if all they had to do was show up and their opponents fell to the wayside?
Crosby argues convincingly that Europeans were triumphant because the places they
chose to conquer had ecosystems and indigenous populations that surrendered to the
biology of the invaders

Conclusion

The notion of Eric Wolf’s book perhaps supported the claimed of many Filipino
Historians whom choose not to elaborate further their discussion of the 333 years of
Philippines under Spain because basically that is not Philippine history but Spanish
history in the Philippines. The conflict theory perhaps is in operation in the method
Wolf presented his thesis. European States facing a much hostile position were able to
outgrow the challenges and in the process rose to power against the people with a more
lenient environment. The condition that operates up to these days like colonialism and
neo-colonialism, the one-sided economic policies and the international agencies that
served to maintain the “status quo” are a manifestation that what happened in the past
is not yet over.
BERNARD D. YU Dr. JOHN PETERSON
ANTHROPOLOGY 351 October, 2017

Question # 3

“In the Philippines, according to Linda Newson,

what was the impact of disease?”

Dr. Linda Newson identified at least two the impacts of the disease in the Philippines
during pre-Spanish times. First the decline of the population, chronic infections, such as enteric
disease, malaria, dengue, leprosy, yaws and possibly schistosomiasis and tuberculosis side by
side with acute infections such as small foxes and measles (also visited the island from China or
indirectly through other island in the Southeast Asia archipelago and were probably endemic
in the island intermittently confronted the local inhabitants. The local people who were not
immune to the foreign ailments brought by the contact with the western colonizers pay the
ultimate prize. Together these diseases along with other factors such as famine, moro raids and
even low fertility rates probably hurt the hampered the suppose demographic growth of the
host communities.

Second, the author observed that the topography of the Philippines significantly
influence the impact of these diseases to the native communities. The Philippine territory is
characterize by series of island with majority were uninhabited. The population were widely
dispersed and isolated to the other communities impeding the spread of these diseases to its
nearby settlements. Newson believed that this factor is more credible that to assume that the
early have acquired high levels of immunity to acute infections from the Old World in pre-
Spanish times. This is supported by the high mortality rates associated with epidemics in the
early colonial period that involves adults as well as children. Old World disease made a greater
contribution to the decline in Filipino population in the early colonial period than generally
thought, but because of the low population density their impact was moderate compare to that
in much of America. Relatively, low levels of depopulation in the colonial period owed more to
Philippine geography that to any immunity that Filipinos had acquired to acute infections in
pre-Spanish times
Conclusion

The investigation conducted by Dr. Newson somehow shed light on the common
superstitious belief prevalent among coastal ICC/IPs community even today. Many among the
old folks still believed that whenever a drift wood happens to reach their coastline the local
communities will be alarmed for the log is described as a ship or vessel from the other world
that will bring pestilence and death. Several times when in was in my early years that I came
across with these belief that after reading Newson’s account that I was enlightened that those
traditional belief perhaps is a result of a very long psychological trauma suffered by the local
people. Their experience with vessels or log or any kind of carrier that brings death and
pestilence must be so intense that it survived even today!