DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS 27 
But with animals to care for came property interests to de- 
fend, and a feeling of responsibility developed which only can 
stimulate that sober activity which marks civilization as distinct 
from savagery. 
With the primitive crops land came to have a value. This, 
too, had to be defended, for savage enemies were not long in 
learning that cultivated fields on which were growing the next 
winter’s food constituted the most vulnerable point in a neigh- 
bor.! Stores of grain also constituted peculiar temptations and 
necessitated walled or otherwise defendable cities. 
The civilizing effect of slavery. There is a chapter of this 
ancient history most unpleasant to revive, but yet upon which 
we ought to be intelligent. It is difficult for us now to realize 
how slavery ever did any good in the world, or how it ever 
helped along towards civilization, yet a little reflection will serve 
to show how at one time it played an important part. 
In the primitive division of labor it was natural that the men | 
should be the hunters while the women stayed behind with the 
children. It was natural, too, that upon the return of the suc- 
cessful hunters, tired and hungry, their duty ended when the 
game was brought home and laid at the feet of the women, whose 
natural duty it was to skin the animals and prepare the meal. 
Again, nothing was more natural than that the women should, 
during the absence of the hunters, scour the neighboring forests 
for such nuts and fruits and seeds as they could pick up; for 
experience taught that the hunt was not always successful, and 
that a dinner of herbs was better than none at all, besides 
contributing to the good humor of the men, who, in savagery, 
did not hesitate to abuse anybody who was unable to success- 
fully resist. 
Taken altogether, the lot of the women of primitive races 
is a hard and laborious one, with plenty of abuse thrown in. 
Now it is easy to see how scarcity of game, restricted hunting 
grounds, cultivated fields, and stores of food lead to warfare. But 
1 How this led to war has already been noted in connection with the Iroquois. 
