"It requires very little investigation to show that the progress of mankind has been by periods. These periods are: (1) savagery; (2) barbarism; (3) civilization.
These are, in fact, conditions of society, and they exist upon the earth even at this time. There are various degrees in each of these conditions. In each degree there is a corre-sponding status of society. For those peoples who have arrived at civilization, there were first, middle, and later periods of savagery. To correspond to these there were the lower, the middle, and upper status of savagery – or the lower, the middle, and the upper periods or degrees of savage society."
Indian Myths
The Progress of Mankind
This chapter is made up principally from Morgan’s “Ancient Society.” (Henry Holt & Company. New York, 1877.)
I
Civilization is an evolution from savagery. The ancestors of the most enlightened nations lived for centuries in that stage of human society exhibited by the Indian tribes at the time of the discovery of America. When we examine the degree of advancement made by the North American Indians, we see one of the ages of our forefathers on the tablelands of Central Asia. A brief statement of the general steps in the advancement of mankind from savagery to civilization follows.
The progress of mankind has resulted from two sources: (1) institutions; (2) inventions and discoveries.
Institutions are the result of unfolding relations, the one to the other, from the primary germs of thought or conceptions of savagery.
Civilization has never evolved a new institution, but has had to be content with modifying and improving those institutions discovered and established by man in his savage state.
All our modem institutions – as government, religion, etc. – have their immediate roots in barbarism, to which they had been transmitted by savagery.
Institutions have been modified and greatly influenced by inventions and discoveries.
Those institutions upon which modern society (civilization) is based are: (1) subsistence; (2) government; (3) language; (4) the family; (5) religion; (6) house life and architecture; (7) property.
When these institutions are closely examined we find:
First. That in order that man should have time to consider enterprises, improve government, protect expeditions, and erect mounds, temples, and public buildings it was necessary that there should be produced a surplus of subsistence far beyond the daily requirements of a people. Society had to develop specialization, one part of the population producing food for all, while the other part rendered such public service as to entitle it to a portion of the common subsistence. Following this undertaking requirement for a future civilization, the means of subsistence was developed from primitive grains, fruits, and roots, the foods of our savage progenitors, to the point where it embraces the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms. The production of the means of subsistence includes agriculture and many other forms of specialized industry. Commerce arose largely as the result of the development of the means of subsistence. Commerce is based upon transportation, and the improvement of this has resulted in navigation, steamers, and the railroads, and it may utilize the flying machine. The production of the means of subsistence engrosses most of the energies of mankind.
Second. That the origin of government is found in the creation of the gens or clans of savagery. Primitive man, with the dawn of reason, recognized the need for general rules of conduct for himself and his fellows. These were embodied in the customs prescribed for the gentes so founded in the savage state. Their development has produced the establishment of political society (civilization) with all its problems and complexities.
Third. That primal man found himself under the necessity of communicating with his companions. Rude and simple gestures, sounds, and cries first served him, as they still serve all other orders of the animal kingdom. With the growth of the powers of reason came the need for fuller, freer, and more concrete expression of ideas, and, without conscious design, man improved the articulate sounds, and human speech resulted.Fourth. That the family grew out of the relations of the sexes and affection for offspring. Systems of consanguinity originated in savagery. There were various forms of the family in the progress of mankind. The highest type of family is that founded on the marriage of one man to one woman. In the civilization produced by the Aryan people the family has usually been the unit of society.Fifth. That the lowest savages have some form of religion. The human soul requires and seeks a sustaining power – something high and mighty back of it. Religion has grown and developed with the human race. The highest form is the Christian religion. The ideals and images of Jesus are political as well as religious. They are capable of indefinite expansion and interpretation. They are devoid of dogma and creed, and they make humanity the supreme end of effort for betterment. And they will rule the earth when once mankind shall comprehend them. Christianity was developed from a few principles discovered and practiced by the Semitic people. Many other forms of religion are still found in the world.Sixth. That house architecture began in savagery. It has been modified by the form of the family and other demands of the various forms of society. It is still in the process of evolution, or adaptation.Seventh. That the savage originated the idea of property. His weapon was necessary to his existence and was his own. The growth of the property idea was slow. The possessions of barbarians were few and simple. But the acquisition of property is now the strongest motive of mankind. Even land has been for ages classified as property to be acquired by individuals. The dominance of the love of property marks the beginning of civilization. Political society is now organized on the basis of territory and property. It has been said that “a critical knowledge of the evolution of the idea of property would embody, in some respects, the most remarkable portion of the mental history of mankind.”
II
It requires very little investigation to show that the progress of mankind has been by periods. These periods are: (1) savagery; (2) barbarism; (3) civilization.
These are, in fact, conditions of society, and they exist upon the earth even at this time. There are various degrees in each of these conditions. In each degree there is a corresponding status of society. For those peoples who have arrived at civilization, there were first, middle, and later periods of savagery. To correspond to these there were the lower, the middle, and upper status of savagery – or the lower, the middle, and the upper periods or degrees of savage society.
Savagery progressed into barbarism. The period of barbarism had, in like manner, the first, the middle, and the later periods of barbarism. Society was respectively in the lower, the middle, and the upper status of barbarism.
Barbarism progressed into civilization.
There are certain achievements of mankind, which serve in a general way to define the various conditions of society set forth here.
1. The lower status of savagery. This was the beginning of the human race. Where man lived at that time is not now with certainty known. It has generally been supposed that he lived in Asia, and that his original habitat, was restricted to narrow bounds. He subsisted upon fruits and nuts. Articulate speech began in this period. Man made progress, and this period ended with the acquisition of a fish subsistence and a knowledge of the use of fire.
2. The middle status of savagery. This period began with the use of fish for food and a knowledge of the use of fire. Man spread over most of the world in this period. It ended with the invention of the bow and arrow.
3. The upper status of savagery. This period began with the use of the bow and arrow, and it ended with the discovery of the art of making pottery.
4. The lower status of barbarism. This period of human society began with the discovery of the art of pottery. It ended in the Eastern Hemisphere with the domestication of animals and plants, and in the Western Hemisphere with the cultivation of corn and other plants and the use of stone and adobe brick in house building. In this status were most of the Indian tribes of the United States at the time of the discovery of America.
5. The middle status of barbarism. This period began with the domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants. It ended with the discovery of the art of smelting iron ore.
6. The upper status of barbarism. This period began with the manufacture of iron and ended with the invention of the phonetic, arbitrary, or conventional alphabet. The use of the alphabet marks the beginning of civilization.
7. The status of civilization. This period began with the use of the phonetic alphabet. It is now divided into ancient and modern periods.
Every civilized people came over the road indicated and marked out in the foregoing formula. The mind of man has ever moved in the same way, has worked in the same manner, has traveled in the same direction without regard to time, place, or conditions. Peculiarities of environment produced modifications of achievement; but even without communication with others, every people would have developed a civilization. And these civilizations would have shown a striking similarity.
