THE INFLUENCE OF PHYSICAL NATURE ON HUMAN PROGRESS
_Man Is a Part of Universal Nature_.--He is an integral part of the
universe, and as such he must ever be subject to the physical laws
which control it. Yet, as an active, thinking being, conscious of his
existence, it is necessary to consider him in regard to the relations
which he sustains to the laws and forces of physical nature external to
himself. He is but a particle when compared to a planet or a sun, but
he is greater than a planet because he is conscious of his own
existence, and the planet is not. Yet his whole life and being, so far
as it can be reasoned about, is dependent upon his contact with
external nature. By adaptation to physical environment he may live;
without adaptation he cannot live.
As a part of evolved nature, man comes into the world ignorant of his
surroundings. He is ever subject to laws which tend to sweep him
onward with the remaining portions of the system of which he is a part,
but his slowly awakening senses cause him to examine his surroundings.
First, he has a curiosity to know what the world about him is like, and
he begins a simple inquiry which leads to investigation. The knowledge
he acquires is adapted to his use day by day as his vision extends.
Through these two processes he harmonizes his life with the world about
him. By degrees he endeavors to bring the materials and the forces of
nature into subjection to his will. Thus he progresses from the
student to the master. External nature is unconscious, submitting
passively to the laws that control it, but man, ever conscious of
himself and his effort, attempts to dominate the forces surrounding him
and this struggle to overcome environment has characterized his {142}
progress. But in this struggle, nature has reciprocated its influence
on man in modifying his development and leaving her impress on him.
Limited he has ever been and ever will be by his environment. Yet
within the limits set by nature he is master of his own destiny and
develops by his own persistent endeavor.
Indeed, the epitome of civilization is a struggle of nature and
thought, the triumph of the psychical over the physical; and while he
slowly but surely overcomes the external physical forces and makes them
subordinate to his own will and genius, civilization must run along
natural courses even though its products are artificial. In many
instances nature appears bountiful and kind to man, but again she
appears mean and niggardly. It is man's province to take advantage of
her bounty and by toil and invention force her to yield her coveted
treasures. Yet the final outcome of it all is determined by the extent
to which man masters himself.
_Favorable Location Is Necessary for Permanent Civilization_.--In the
beginning only those races have made progress that have sought and
obtained favorable location. Reflect upon the early civilizations of
the world and notice that every one was begun in a favorable location.
Observe the geographical position of Egypt, in a narrow, fertile valley
bounded by the desert and the sea, cut off from contact with other
races. There was an opportunity for the Egyptians to develop
continuity of life sufficient to permit the beginnings of civilization.
Later, when wealth and art had developed, Egypt became the prey of
covetous invading nations. So ancient Chaldea, for a time far removed
from contact with other tribes, and protected by desert, mountain, and
sea, was able to begin a civilization.
But far more favorable, not only for a beginning of civilization but
for a high state of development, was the territory occupied by the
Grecian tribes. Shut in from the north by a mountain range, surrounded
on every other side by the sea, a fertile and well-watered land, of
mild climate, it was protected {143} from the encroachments of
"barbarians." The influence of geographical contour is strongly marked
in the development of the separate states of Greece. The small groups
that settled down on a family basis were separated from each other by
ranges of hills, causing each community to develop its own
characteristic life. These communities had a common language,
differing somewhat in dialect, and the foundation of a common religion,
but there never could exist sufficient similarity of character or unity
of sentiment to permit them to unite into a strong central nation. A
variety of life is evinced everywhere. Those who came in contact with
the ocean differed from those who dwelt in the interior, shut in by the
mountains. The contact with the sea gives breadth of thought,
largeness of life, while those who are enclosed by mountains lead a
narrow life, intense in thought and feeling. Without the protection of
nature, the Grecian states probably would never have developed the high
state of civilization which they reached.
Rome presents a similar example. It is true that the Italian tribes
that entered the peninsula had considerable force of character and
thorough development as they were about to enter upon a period of
civilization. Like the Greeks, the discipline of their early Aryan
ancestors had given them much of strength and character. Yet the
favorable location of Italy, bounded on the north by a high mountain
range and enclosed by the sea, gave abundant opportunity for the
national germs to thrive and grow. Left thus to themselves, dwelling
under the protection of the snow-capped Alps, and surrounded by the
beneficent sea, national life expanded, government and law developed
and thrived, and the arts of civilized life were practised. The
national greatness of the Romans may in part be attributed to the
period of repose in which they pursued unmolested the arts of peace
before their era of conquest began.
Among the mountains of Switzerland are people who claim never to have
been conquered. In the wild rush of the {144} barbarian hordes into
the Roman Empire they were not overrun. They retain to this day their
early sentiments of liberty; their greatness is in freedom and
equality. The mountains alone protected them from the assaults of the
enemy and the crush of moving tribes.
Other nations might be mentioned that owe much to geographical
position. More than once in the early part of her history it protected
Spain from destruction. The United States, in a large measure, owes
her independent existence to the fact that the ocean rolls between her
and the mother country. On the other hand, Ireland has been hampered
in her struggle for independent government on account of her proximity
to England. The natural defense against enemies, the protection of
mountains and forests, the proximity to the ocean, all have had their
influence in the origin and development of nations. Yet races, tribes,
and nations, once having opportunity to develop and become strong, may
flourish without the protecting conditions of nature. They may defy
the mountains, seas, and the streams, and the onslaughts of the wild
tribes.
_The Nature of the Soil an Essential Condition of Progress_.--But
geography alone, although a great factor in progress, is powerless
without a fertile soil to yield a food supply for a large population.
The first great impetus of all early civilizations occurred through
agriculture. Not until this had developed so as to give a steady food
supply were people able to have sufficient leisure to develop the other
arts of life. The abundant food supply furnished by the fertility of
the Nile valley was the key to the Egyptian civilization. The valley
was overflowed annually by the river, which left a fertilizing sediment
upon the land already prepared for cultivation. Thus annually without
excessive labor the soil was watered, fertilized, and prepared for the
seed. Even when irrigation was introduced, in order to obtain a larger
supply of food, the cultivation of the soil was a very easy matter.
Agriculture consisted primarily in sowing seed on ready prepared ground
and {145} reaping the harvest. The certainty of the crop assured a
living. The result of cheap food was to rapidly multiply the race,
which existed on a low plane. It created a mass of inferior people
ruled by a few despots.
What is true of Egypt is true of all of the early civilizations, as
they each started where a fertile soil could easily be tilled. The
inhabitants of ancient Chaldea developed their civilization on a
fertile soil. The great cities of Nineveh and Babylon were surrounded
by rich valleys, and the yield of agricultural products made
civilization possible. The earliest signs of progress in India were
along the valleys of the Ganges and the Indus. Likewise, in the New
World, the tribes that approached the nearest to civilization were
situated in fertile districts in Peru, Central America, Mexico, and New
Mexico.
_The Use of Land the Foundation of Social Order_.--The manner in which
tribes and nations have attached themselves to the soil has determined
the type of social organization. Before the land was treated as
property of individuals or regarded as a permanent possession by
tribes, the method in which the land was held and its use determined
the quality of civilization, and the land factor became more important
as a determiner of social order as civilization progressed. It was
exceedingly important in determining the quality of the Greek life, and
the entire structure of Roman civilization was based on the land
question. Master the land tenure of Rome and you have laid the
foundation of Roman history. The desire for more land and for more
room was the chief cause of the barbarian invasion of the empire. All
feudal society, including lords and vassals, government and courts, was
based upon the plan of feudal land-holding.
In modern times in England the land question has been at times the
burning political and economic question of the nation, and is a
disturbing factor in recent times. In the United States, rapid
progress is due more to the bounteous supply of free, fertile lands
than to any other single cause. Broad, fertile valleys are more
pertinent as the foundation {146} of nation-building than men are
accustomed to believe; and now that nearly all the public domain has
been apportioned among the citizens, intense desire for land remains
unabated, and its method of treatment through landlord and tenant is
rapidly becoming a troublesome question. The relation of the soil to
the population presents new problems, and the easy-going civilization
will be put to a new test.
_Climate Has Much to Do with the Possibilities of Progress_.--The early
seats of civilization mentioned above were all located in warm
climates. Leisure is essential to all progress. Where it takes man
all of his time to earn a bare subsistence there is not much room for
improvement. A warm climate is conducive to leisure, because its
requirements of food and clothing are less imperative than in cold
countries. The same quantity of food will support more people in warm
than in cold climates. This, coupled with the fact that nature is more
spontaneous in furnishing a bountiful supply in warm climates than in
cold, renders the first steps in progress much more possible. The food
in warm climates is of a light vegetable character, which is easily
prepared for use; indeed, in many instances it is already prepared. In
cold countries, where it is necessary to consume large amounts of fatty
food to sustain life, the food supply is meagre, because this can only
be obtained from wild animals. In this region it costs immense labor
to obtain sufficient food for the support of life; likewise, in a cold
climate it takes much time to tame animals for use and to build huts to
protect from the storm and the cold. The result is that the
propagation of the race is slow, and progress in social and individual
life is retarded.
We should expect, therefore, all of the earliest civilization to be in
warm regions. In this we are not disappointed, in noting Egypt,
Babylon, Mexico, and Peru. Soil and climate co-operate in furnishing
man a suitable place for his first permanent development. There is,
however, in this connection, one danger to be pointed out, arising from
the conditions of cheap food--namely, a rapid propagation of the race,
which {147} entails misery through generations. In these early
populous nations, great want and misery frequently prevailed among the
masses of the people. Thousands of laborers, competing for sustenance,
reduce the earning capacity to a very small amount, and this reduces
the standard of life. Yet because food and shelter cost little, they
are able to live at a low standard and to multiply rapidly. Human life
becomes cheap, is valued little by despotic rulers, who enslave their
fellows. Another danger in warm climates which counteracts the
tendency of nations to progress, is the fact that warm climates
enervate man and make him less active; hence it occurs that in colder
climates with unfavorable surroundings great progress is made on
account of the excessive energy and strong will-force of the
inhabitants.
In temperate climates man has reached the highest state of progress.
In this zone the combination of a moderately cheap food supply and the
necessity of excessive energy to supply food, clothing, and protection
has been most conducive to the highest forms of progress. While,
therefore, the civilization of warm climates has led to despotism,
inertia, and the degradation of the masses, the civilization of
temperate climates has led to freedom, elevation of humanity, and
progress in the arts. This illustrates how essential is individual
energy in taking advantage of what nature has provided.
_The General Aspects of Nature Determine the Type of
Civilization_.--While the general characteristics of nature have much
to do with the development of the races of the earth, it is only a
single factor in the great complex of influences. People living in the
mountain fastnesses, those living at the ocean side, and those living
on great interior plains vary considerably as to mental characteristics
and views of life in general. Buckle has expanded this idea at some
length in his comparison of India and Greece. He has endeavored to
show that "the history of the human mind can only be understood by
connecting with it the history and aspects of the material universe."
He holds that everything in India tended to depress the {148} dignity
of man, while everything in Greece tended to exalt it. After comparing
these two countries of ancient civilization in respect to the
development of the imagination, he says: "To sum up the whole, it may
be said that the Greeks had more respect for human powers; the Hindus
for superhuman. The first dealt with the known and available, the
second with the unknown and mysterious." He attributes this difference
largely to the fact that the imagination was excessively developed in
India, while the reason predominated in Greece. The cause attributed
to the development of the imagination in India is the aspect of nature.
Everything in India is overshadowed with the immensity of nature. Vast
plains, lofty mountains, mighty, turbulent rivers, terrible storms, and
demonstrations of natural forces abound to awe and terrify. The causes
of all are so far beyond the conception of man that his imagination is
brought into play to furnish images for his excited and terrified mind.
Hence religion is extravagant, abstract, terrible. Literature is full
of extravagant poetic images. The individual is lost in the system of
religion, figures but little in literature, and is swallowed up in the
immensity of the universe. While, on the other hand, the fact that
Greece had no lofty mountains, no great plains; had small rivulets in
the place of rivers, and few destructive storms, was conducive to the
development of calm reflection and reason. Hence, in Greece man
predominated over nature; in India, nature overpowered man.[1]
There is much of truth in this line of argument, but it must not be
carried too far. For individual and racial characteristics have much
to do with the development of imagination, reason, and religion. The
difference, too, in the time of development, must also be considered,
for Greece was a later product, and had the advantage of much that had
preceded in human progress. And so far as can be determined, the
characteristics of the Greek colonists were quite well established
{149} before they left Asia. The supposition, also, that man is
subject entirely to the influence of physical nature for his entire
progress, must be taken with modification. His mind-force, his
individual will-force, must be accounted for, and these occupy a large
place in the history of his progress. No doubt the thunders of Niagara
and the spectacle of the volume of water inspire poetic admiration in
the minds of the thousands who have gazed on this striking physical
phenomenon of nature. It is awe-inspiring; it arouses the emotions; it
creates poetic imagination. But the final result of contact with the
will of man is to turn part of that force from its channels, to move
the bright machinery engaged in creating things useful and beautiful
which contribute to the larger well-being of man.
Granting that climate, soil, geographical position, and the aspects of
nature have a vast influence in limiting the possibilities of man's
progress, and in directing his mental as well as physical
characteristics, it must not be forgotten that in the contact with
these it is his mastery over them which constitutes progress, and this
involves the activity of his will-power. Man is not a slave to his
environment. He is not a passive creature acted upon by sun and storm
and subjected to the powers of the elements. True, that there are set
about him limitations within which he must ever act. Yet from
generation to generation he forces back these limits, enlarges the
boundary of his activities, increases the scope of his knowledge, and
brings a larger number of the forces of nature in subjection to his
will.
_Physical Nature Influences Social Order_.--Not only is civilization
primarily based upon the physical powers and resources of nature, but
the quality of social order is determined thereby. Thus, people
following the streams, plains, and forests would develop a different
type of social order from those who would settle down to permanent
seats of agriculture. The Bedouin Arabs of the desert, although among
the oldest of organized groups, have changed very little through the
passing centuries, because their mode of life permits only a {150}
simple organization. Likewise, it is greatly in contrast with the
modern nations, built upon industrial and commercial life, with all of
the machinery run by the powers of nature. When Rome developed her
aristocratic proprietors to whom the land was apportioned in great
estates, the old free farming population disappeared and slavery became
a useful adjunct in the methods adopted for cultivating the soil. On
the other hand, the old village community where land was held in common
developed a small co-operative group closely united on the basis of
mutual aid. The great landed estates of England and Germany must, so
long as they continue, influence the type of social order and of
government that will exist in those countries.
As the individual is in a measure subservient to the external laws
about him, so must the social group of which he forms a part be so
controlled. The flexibility and variability of human nature, with its
power of adaptation, make it possible to develop different forms of
social order. The subjective side of social development, wherein the
individual seeks to supply his own wants and follow the directions of
his own will, must ever be a modifying power acting upon the social
organization. Thus society becomes a great complex of variabilities
which cannot be reduced to exact laws similar to those found in
physical nature. Nevertheless, if society in its development is not
dependent upon immutable laws similar to those discovered in the forces
of nature, yet as part of the great scheme of nature it is directly
dependent upon the physical forces that permit it to exist the same as
the individual. This would give rise to laws of human association
which are modified by the laws of external nature. Thus, while society
is psychical in its nature, it is ever dependent upon the material and
the physical for its existence. However, through co-operation, man is
able to more completely master his environment than by working
individually. It is only by mutual aid and social organization that he
is able to survive and conquer.
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SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1. Give examples coming within your own observation of the influence
of soil and climate on the character of society.
2. Does the character of the people in Central America depend more on
climate than on race?
3. In what ways does the use of land determine the character of social
order?
4. Are the ideals and habits of thought of the people living along the
Atlantic Coast different from those of the Middle West? If so, in what
respect?
5. Is the attitude toward life of the people of the Dakota wheat belt
different from those of New York City?
6. Compare a mining community with an agricultural community and
record the differences in social order and attitude toward life.
[1] Henry Thomas Buckle, _History of Civilization in England_. General
Introduction.
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