Geography and the Development and Diffusion of Human Societies
Patricia A. Millard
Western Governors University

Geography and the Development and Diffusion of Human Societies

The Andes Mountains and the Inca Empire
The Andean Civilization known as the Inca Empire existed from the years 1471-1532 in the South American Andes mountain range (Soomo, 2013). A major geographical feature contributing to the growth of the Inca Empire was the mountainous nature of the area surrounding the location of the original tribe. This tribe was located on a plateau about 11,000 feet high, close to what would become the capital city of Cuzco (Hughes, 2002). Local communities had already begun the process of terracing the mountainsides for the purpose of agriculture, but the new Inca Empire expanded and perfected the practice allowing for rapid development.
The capital city of Cuzco was laid out in a pattern resembling a puma, with intricate patterns of roads and water channels built of stone (Hughes, 2002). Terraces surrounding the city were built into the mountainside with the same attention to detail, allowing the community to grow food in an inhospitable environment. Archeological evidence has shown that the primary crops were maize and potatoes, with around 200 varieties of potatoes being cultivated at different elevations (A. Smith, 2011). The ability to grow food at these elevations by adapting and changing the geographical challenges they were presented with, allowed the Incas to flourish and expand. The Inca Empire spread rapidly, both through population growth aided by an adequate food supply, and by the conquest of neighboring communities.
The mountainous terrain making up the Inca territory was home to desert areas to the west and jungle to the east. The Incas successfully harnessed the resources presented by their environment as they developed. Eventually entire mountainsides were covered with terraced farm land, with maize and other crops in the lower elevations, and potatoes higher on the mountainsides. Roads were built to connect communities to Cuzco, and these allowed for governmental control and the sharing of resources throughout the empire.
The Diffusion of Potatoes
The potato originated in the Americas with over 200 species existing in the wild (A. Smith, 2011). These potatoes were gathered by early American tribes and were eventually cultivated by Andean farmers. The diffusion of potatoes occurred as a result of this domestication during and after the rapid expansion of the Inca Empire.
Archeological evidence has suggested that Andean farmers successfully propagated potato varieties using the sprouts from the potatoes (A. Smith, 2011). As the Incas expanded their rule, mountainside terraces were built and potato varieties suitable for varying elevations were grown. The infrastructure and the central governmental control allowed for surplus harvests to be distributed and traded among the communities, assuring a stable food source for an extended growing period.
Contributing to the diffusion of potatoes was the development of a method to preserve potatoes grown in the higher elevations. The method effectively freeze-dried potatoes which could then be stored for extended periods of time in a form known as chuno (A. Smith, 2011). As the empire grew chuno became a staple food product which was stored in government warehouses to protect against famine, as well as traded for maize and other supplies with conquered communities in lower elevations. In this way the use of potatoes diffused throughout the Inca Empire.
Eventually the Incas were conquered by Spanish Conquistadors and although it is highly likely those first Spanish explorers encountered potatoes, there is no record of them in their writings. A few years later other explorers and Jesuit missionaries described the primary food source of the Incas as being similar to truffles and known as papas (A. Smith, 2011). The conquered Incas continued to cultivate potatoes, and even paid taxes to the Spanish in the form of chuno, allowing the Spanish to feed military and forced workers in their silver mines.
Wealth from these silver mines and other riches gained in the Americas allowed the Spanish to dominate much of Europe as well. As the Spanish military advanced, supply lines brought potatoes as food for their soldiers. Farmers along the route began to grow these potatoes to sell back to the military, and by the seventeenth century potatoes were widely cultivated in Europe. The primary food source which had supported the Inca Empire’s expansion diffused across Europe aided by the very force responsible for conquering those who domesticated it.
Development and Diffusion in the United States
Twenty years after the United States gained independence, while America was young and clustered along the east coast, the Mississippi River was seen as a frontier river, a symbol of the west. Explorers had established settlements along the river drawn by fertile land and an opportunity for transporting goods down the river and into the port of New Orleans. Many of these early settlements were deserted as New Orleans, Louisiana, and the river traffic through them were restricted due to colonial strife (T. Smith, 2007). Originally discovered by Europeans in 1541, the Mississippi was controlled alternatively by France, Spain, Britain, and America.
Thomas Jefferson was instrumental in securing control of the Mississippi for America (T. Smith, 2007). While Jefferson never saw the river, he understood its potential and was prepared to lead America to war had diplomatic attempts failed. Rights to the Mississippi were secured with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The river became both a symbolic factor in the development and diffusion of the United States, as well as a physical factor influencing that development.
The Mississippi was referred to as “The Nile of North America” in the 1800’s (T. Smith, 2007). It represented the dream of American explorers who moved west searching for new frontiers and promised prosperity. The imagery of the river was used to propel the young country forward; it was a goal drawing explorers toward itself and a finish line for the adventurous. Later, the Mississippi became symbolic in the Civil war. It provided for both commercial transport of slaves and covert escape from slavery.
The river itself provided resources for the developing country as well. The fertile river bed became productive farmland, and the river a commercial thoroughfare. Exploration accelerated the development of the frontier, and the invention of steam increased the commercial potential of the river. Settlements were established along the river, many of which remain as cities today. Indeed, the so-called Nile of North America has fulfilled the words of Thomas Jefferson when he wrote it would decide the nations “character and career” (T. Smith, 2007, p. 13).
As the United States moved into the twentieth century, another environmental factor greatly influenced the nation. This factor involved the Great Plains, an area comprised of sections of several states including Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico (Soomo, 2013). As explorers settled and began to farm in the plains they encountered lush lands with seemingly endless acres of prairie. Unaware that the climate was typically much dryer, and punctuated by periods of drought, these farmers used techniques more appropriate to the moister land found in the north eastern states.
Throughout World War I and into the beginning of the Great Depression, the plains were farmed primarily with wheat and livestock. Native grasses were plowed under, and the land yielded massive crops. However, in the early 1930’s a drought set in. The disturbed topsoil, lacking the deep rooted grasses which had previously protected it, was blown into storms of dust leaving behind an environmental and human disaster. Over 100 million acres became a dry and desolate wasteland. The region and the disaster came to be known as The Dust Bowl, a term coined by a journalist traveling through the area (Soomo, 2013). Around 500,000 Americans lost their farms and were forced to relocate. Many of those families migrated to California, settling in Los Angeles and working as laborers for war-time industrial expansion.
The events surrounding the Dust Bowl affected more than the lives of farmers who migrated to California, however. The American development of dry land farming techniques would restore and protect the prairie land for generations to come; and the establishment of federal assistance programs would become a part of the nation’s response to communities impacted by disaster.

References
Soomo Publishing. (2013). Geography and development: Diffusion of human societies. Retrieved from http://courses.soomopublishing.com/context/46180ed2-f2ac-4d78-a729-92e6cc3680b2/tocs/51db14842e0b830002000001
Hughes, J.D. (2002). Environmental history of the world: Humankind's changing role in the community of life. Florence: Routledge.
Smith, A.F. (2011). Potato: A global history. London: Reaktion Books.
Smith, T.R. (2007). River of dreams: Imagining the Mississippi before Mark Twain. Baton Rouge: LSU Press.