Katherine Collins, Maci New, Adam Funck, Grace Kinner

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1uYgg-9VfpRdBUnvHfI-YPncqwVI&ll=28.568012018388195%2C-48.81151279680353&z=3

Explanatory Paragraph:

The Transatlantic Slave Trade, through which millions of people from the African continent were sold into slavery and transported across the Atlantic Ocean, is inextricably linked to the Colombian Exchange, which saw the trading of various crops types from the “Old World” to the “New World” and vice versa. The major cash crops from the trade include sugar (both sugar cane and refined sugar), tobacco, chocolate, and cotton. The ease with which these crops were grown resulted in a rapid expansion of the local populations as well as in the volume of the commodities demanded. Consequently, this expansion called for more agricultural production and ultimately more slaves. “The slave trade increased in the seventeenth century, as more large-scale agricultural production increased the need for labor” (Rose). With the increased need for labor, slave traders had to go ever deeper into the continent, due to the fact that the populations of viable slaves in Western Africa had been sucked dry. Therefore, we can conclude that the crops that moved back and forth between the New and Old Worlds were the ones that were easily cultivated and profited from, and that the Slave Trade was ultimately the tool used to provide the workforce needed for their cultivation.

Works Cited:

Alvarez, Jose. "Cuban Agriculture Before 1959: The Political and Economic Situations." EDIS New

Publications RSS. Food and Resource Economics, 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Corbett, Bob. "Short and Oversimplified History of Haiti." Short and Oversimplified History of Haiti.

Webster University, Aug. 1999. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Johnston, Mark. "The Sugar Trade in the West Indies and Brazil Between 1492 and 1700."The

Sugar Trade in the West Indies and Brazil Between 1492 and 1700. University of

Minnesota Libraries, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017

Klein, Christopher. "The Sweet History of Chocolate." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 13

Feb. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Lokken, Paul. "Sugar Plantations and African Origins in Colonial Guatemala, 1650-1720." Latin

American Studies Association Meeting. Texas, Dallas. 23 Mar. 2003. Reading

"The Middle Passage." Abolition.e2bn.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Randall, Vernellia R. "The History of Tobacco." The History of Tobacco. N.p., 31 Jan. 1998. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Roberts, R.C. "Soil Survey of Puerto Rico." University of Florida Digital Collections. United States

Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Rose, Christopher. “Episode 6: Effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the Americas.” “15 Minute History.” The University of Texas at Austin. 3 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2017. 3 Dec.

"Slavery in the Americas." Slavery and Remembrance. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and

Cultural Organization, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

How did the Slave Trade affect which crops were grown in the New World, and why did crops move?

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Bethany Sheepherd, Gnatahlee Bawl, Brittanica Sandoughvall, Samarai Beckfel

Tarantino the Answer:

 From the Old World to the New: The Journey of our Crops

Here we are today; surrounded by diverse recipes, diets and cultures. But was it always like this? Were we always able to run to the grocery store to buy rice or coffee or pet our cat whenever we wanted to? To answer this question, is to simply respond with no. The journey to the world we have today was a long and strenuous one. It was full of travel, innovation and even, exploitation (Carney and Rosomoff, 2009). Before gumbo, in-n-out burger, taco tuesdays, and even banana splits; there were thousands upon thousands of Africans being captured, enslaved, and transported across the Atlantic ocean. This came about in 1492 when Christopher Columbus made his discovery of the New World; commonly known as North and South America (Reader, 1998). As the continents were being discovered, there were many natural resources that were able to be exploited. However, there was a lack of necessary labor. A convenient solution to this major problem was, the slave trade. Over the course of several years, the slave trade transported over thirteen million slaves from Africa to the New World. Along with slaves came their knowledge, cultures, languages and food. In order to maintain a connection to their homeland and to be sure that they would have a meal, seeds were smuggled on the boats, allowing for the transference of various types of crops. Going both ways, this transference also went from the New World to the Old World, introducing crops like tomatoes, corn, and potatoes to Eurasia and Africa (Boundless, 2016). As the Europeans started to settle into the New World specific food and cash crops came to surface. Most of these crops were grown on large plantations and the demand and success of these commodities grew. Landowners were now able to return an increasingly greater profit for the crops they were now able to produce with the assistance of slave labor. “The market success of plantation cash crops such as sugar, tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton greatly increased labor demands and solidified economic reliance on slavery.” (Battle, 2017)

The demand for these crops increased and spread over many continents, sparking an explosion in their production and trade. However, as many of the crops are labor intensive, even more labor was required. This only perpetuated the continuation and expansion of the Slave Trade. Approximately 12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World, but only 10.7 million survived (Root, 2014). Of those 10.7 million, generations upon generations were born and made an impact on the world of their time. African Americans continued to live their lives, at first by being oppressed and then by fighting for their rights. Our world has definitely come a long way to get to where it is today.

So here we are, sitting in our air conditioned apartments watching snapchats with our pet cat (thanks to the Old World). There is no longer a need for slavery. What we have today is a more diverse culture, and a variety of crops that came from the Old World. Tomorrow, we might go down the street and try out the new cajun restaurant. Though some may not believe it now, slaves found ways to shape the culture, especially the food, that we have today. From our favorite spicy southern restaurants to even the ways that we fix our food, there is no doubt that the Atlantic Slave Trade influenced our agricultural generation.  

Works Cited

Reader, J. (1998). Africa: a biography of the continent. New York: A.A. Knopf.

Carney, J. A., & Rosomoff, R. N. (2009). In the shadow of slavery: Africa's botanical legacy in the Atlantic world. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Boundless. “The Triangular Trade.” Boundless U.S. History Boundless, 20 Sep. 2016. Retrieved 19 Feb. 2017

Mary Battle, College of Charleston. “New World Labor Systems: African Slavery” LDHI. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives.2017. Web.

"How Many Slaves Landed in the US?" The Root. N.p., 06 Jan. 2014. Web. http://www.theroot.com/how-many-slaves-landed-in-the-us-1790873989

This Agricultural Life - Kenny Nelson, Sarah Nicely, Kenny Holbrook, Merci Irakoze, and Loren Weber - Answer for question 6

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New World Connection Gameshow

Love letter-Black African Slaves

Katherine Collins, Maci New, Adam Funck, Grace Kinner

Humans of Miami

“Knowing who I am is very important to me. I think a lot of people find their strength in understanding where they came from and how they came to be where they are. Their lineage and their family story, you know. From what I can gather my story begins in western African tribes, with the birth of my many-great grandparents. I have been able to trace some of my ancestry back to Western and Central Africa, maybe near the Congo, but obviously it is pretty hard to be sure. One thing I am sure of however, is of their enslavement and ultimately their relocation through the Transatlantic slave trade. They were taken and shipped to Brazil, for twenty cowrie apiece, less than the price of meals for the week. They were put up on the auction block to be sold for backbreaking labor working on sugar plantations. They were “desarranjar” --that’s the Portuguese word for uprooted-- from their homes and forced to make a new life in South America. And even then life was controlled by their masters, so it wasn’t really their own. A hundred years or so later, when I was a young girl, my mamãe and papai and I immigrated to the United States. That’s how we got here, to Florida. Lately I’ve been reading about why so many of our people were taken from their homes, ripped from their families and stripped of their identities, and I’m beginning to understand more of the history behind it. It is said that Africans were specifically chosen for enslavement for multiple reasons: because of the lack of central government across the continent that allowed for easy exploitation of poorer nations and peoples. My ancestors were also chosen because our people had been farming for millennia and the European elites uprooting them had no knowledge of the necessary skills to farm the crops of the New World and also because they were surprisingly resistant to the European diseases that killed most of the Native Americans. In the eyes of the Europeans weak slaves were bad slaves. It makes my blood boil to think about the hardships these people endured, and how people continue to deny the obvious echoes of that same oppression in society today. I keep their struggles in the back of my mind always as a reminder that, despite some advances, slavery and oppression still permeate every facet of modern society. Every time I encounter those echoes in my life, instances of prejudice, injustice, or outright hate, I look back and think about all that my ancestors had to go through to get me to where I am today. It is there that I draw my strength, hope, and perseverance to go on.”

Sources:

Understanding Slavery. “Trade and Commerce.” Understanding Slavery Initiative. 2011. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.

Johnston, Mark. "The Sugar Trade in the West Indies and Brazil Between 1492 and 1700." The Sugar Trade in the West Indies and Brazil Between 1492 and 1700. University of Minnesota Libraries, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.

Pruitt, Sarah. "What Part of Africa Did Most Slaves Come From?" History.com. A&E Television Networks, 03 May 2016. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1998. Print.

Short Story: Afia Before European Involvement

by: Dave B., Kenny L., Maci N., Sara N.

A long time ago in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the 1400s, a gang from a small subsistence village near the trans-Saharan trade route had lost all hope. With most of their families and other villagers dead, killed by disease and starvation, they were desperate to survive.

Afia, roughly 15 years old, with Febe,Taavi, Ratan, and Hela, four similar-aged orphans, came together in response to the famine that had wiped out the majority of their village.They had been scavenging scraps and anything they could find to keep them alive.  A time came, amongst their many hunger-filled days, when they heard of a particular caravan, supposedly transporting a king’s image in gold and ivory, was soon to be traveling to the empire of Mali. This kind of opportunity didn’t come often, so Afia and his gang abruptly set out in hopes of finding riches and putting an end to their endless hunger.

For 40 days and 40 nights, they lyed in wait along the trans-Saharan route. Following the long days and short nights, eventually a caravan passed by with a wagon dipping much lower than any other that they had previously seen. To Afia and the rest, this clearly had to be the caravan they were waiting for.

They stalked the transport through the day until it came to a halt around dusk. Waiting until nobody was near, they approached the weighted wagon even closer. Slowly, Taavi peeked into the wagon’s interior. The second his head disappeared, his body collapsed into the ground, exposing the wound of a spear in his throat. As Febe screamed, the remaining four found themselves surrounded by spear and shield bearing fighters. In a failed attempt to escape the encirclement, Hela and Ratan decided to run in opposite directions. They were both met with the sharp ends of several sticks that ended their lives. Accepting their loss, Afia and Febe dropped to their knees and begged forgiveness. The hostile warriors were in no way sympathetic to their malnourished bodies and dirt stained hands. Neither the tears making tracks down their faces, nor their emotional pleadings had the slightest effect on their hardened hearts. However, the tallest warrior, who was dressed in colorful garb with gold adorning his neck, knew the two young thieves would give no more resistance.  He ordered them to be blindfolded and knocked out for the remainder of the journey.

Sometime later, Afia awoke to the sound of loud hammering. He grunted in pain as he sat up and realized that the hammering was only in his head. As he stared at his unfamiliar surroundings, he lifted a hand to feel the large lump on the back of his head. Matted with blood and extremely sore, it seemed as big as a mango. Although his heart was beginning to race with fear Afia knew that he would have to determine what kind of predicament the raid gone wrong had put him in. First, he realized he had been lying on bare ground, thankfully some sort of hut like structure had protected him from the sun’s glare. Next, he stood with his legs shaking and began to walk slowly out of the structure. He looked in wonder at what seemed like miles of crops and hundreds of people. The pounding in his head had distracted him from the overwhelming noise of his surroundings. Dark skinned men, women and children with hoes were chopping away at the soil. To the far left he could see others with scythes harvesting sorghum. Before long, an old woman noticed Afia standing just outside the hut and shoved a hoe into his hand. Confused, he tried to ask what was going on but she quickly went back to her own work. Back home, Afia had helped his family produce grains and he knew how to fight back the weeds. Though he was injured, he was still strong and could easily do the work. As his arms worked tirelessly, his mind worked too. Afia sadly had to accept his fate as a slave but he wondered how long he would have to work like this. He pondered how many years the old woman from earlier had been here. Time seemed to pass slowly, each day was more of the same work. Once, he saw Febe but it seemed as though she was spared from the labor and did tasks for a master instead.  

Over the years, the land flourished under the care of slaves directed by their masters (food producers). The slaves cultivated cereals, pulses, roots and tubers, legumes, oil crops, and stimulants to supply food to the kinship as well as for trade with the neighboring kingdoms and empires. To intensify the production of those crops, they developed diverse systems and used iron tools. At the end of the wet-season harvest, they would use the land to raise livestock; the manure produced would then be used to restore the soil fertility and so prepared the land for the next planting season. They used heavy plows to turn over the soil, so that the growing plants get enough nutrients. Cows were generally used for plowing, which caused milk production to decrease during plowing time. When draft animals were unavailable, the slaves would have to pull the plough.  Hoeing was another way of loosening the soil. Because the handles of the hoes were very short, this was back-breaking work.To plant new seed, Afia and other workers walked back and forth over a still moist field, a bag in one hand and spreading the seed with the other. Sometimes he would have a two handled woven basket tied around his neck, both his hands free for sowing. They also burned secondary growth for ash, plant beans, and leguminous trees on part of the land to increase fertility. This agricultural prosperity was almost always at the hands of slaves, whose lives were arduous and punishing.

Afia had lost count of the many days he had been in the Empire. He didn’t even know how old he was. After a very prosperous season, a devastating drought hit and the crops died. It was impossible to plant new crops and soon the slaves began to fight over water rations. After a while, there were no more rations provided. Afia began to suspect that even the masters were struggling to find enough water. Soon, no more trade caravans entered or left the city and people began to die of extreme dehydration or starvation.  The community was not prepared for this disaster.  The masters no longer came to ensure that slaves were working the fields and violence ensued. With violence there was bloodshed; slaves and masters alike fought with spear and hoe for the last sustenance of the city. Those that survived the famine and chose not to partake in the violence, fled the empire in hopes of finding a new home. Now, being freed from his bondage during the chaos, Afia was terrified of what the future might bring and repeating his past but knew that he could not survive in the ruins. By a stroke of luck, he was able to find Febe and they ran off together. Not knowing what would become of their future, they charged blindly, hand in hand, optimistically searching for blackberry tea. Its lit.

References:

Carney, Judith A. and Richard Nicholas Rosomoff. In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. Print. 2009.

McCann, J. “The Ox Plow Complex: An Ecological Revolution.” In People of the Plow: An
Agricultural History of Ethiopia, 1800-1990. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. 1995. Moodle.
Web. 3 Feb 2017.

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. Vintage Books: New York. 1997.

Voortman, Roelf L. et al. “African Land Ecology: Opportunities and Constraints for Agricultural Development.” A Journal of the Human Environment. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 2003. Web. 3 Feb
2017.

Humans of Africa (Prior to European Involvement)

Prompt: What was agriculture like in Africa before European involvement (at about 1500)?

Grach Kinder, Adam David Funckytown, Ben Burrito, Natalie Ballin’ Hard, Beefany Sheepherder.

“Ay, these baskets are heavy. But I’m used to it, I suppose. We’re hard workers in my family; especially the women. We work together to build a better life for ourselves and grow food for our community. Our rich and age-old culture values dignity and responsibility to family. Because of our agriculture development, we have been able to settle into permanent homes instead of continuing on in the nomadic ways of our ancestors. Through trade and negotiations with other groups from the surrounding area our families have learned skills to help us use our land better. We have begun to trade with the neighboring communities who are able to produce crops different from our own. When surplus is grown we trade our crop of beans for the millet they give us in return. We’ve improved our tools by using iron instead of stone for hoes and scythes. We’ve also implemented irrigation, terracing, and crop rotations and are now able to produce our food on a much bigger scale, feeding more mouths than we did before. But because of these improvements the need for people working the crops has intensified which has led to an increased use of slave labor. The work can get exhausting at times but everyone in the family helps, so we survive.”

References

"Living While Black: Themes in African American Thought and Experience."ELearning. Penn State University. Web. 05 Feb. 2017. <http://elearning.la.psu.edu/afam/100/lesson-2-part1/african-roots-of-african-american-life-under-slavery/pre-colonial-african-economies>.

"The Bantu Expansion." Jordan, David K. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.

http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/resources/clarifications/BantuExpansion.html

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1998. Print

Widgren, Mats. "Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa." Economic Development and Environmental History in the Anthropocene: Perspectives on Asia and Africa: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Print. https://stockholmuniversity.app.box.com/s/bv1f2ijsdtgbcd1gk3eg04i5azixhgk0

Humans of Africa - Loren, Brittany, Merci, and Fatim

Tools in the Rainforest of Africa

TOOLS FROM THE RAINFOREST

• The tools that the natives used to harvest their plantains, oil palms, yams, etc were digging sticks, iron axes, and hoes. Natives were more inclined to work with tree based crops rather than rows of crops like carrots and beans. Thus, most of the tools were used to dig up crops or to cut them out of the trees. The digging stick, which is a curved stick made out of wood was used to dig out tubers and roots like yams. The stick, which had a curved end attached to the tip was sharp enough to dig out the roots, but not to split the yam in half. This digging stick was a new version of just a regular stick, one of the first known tools in the area. The natives would use a stick to move dirt and plant seeds. The digging stick, however, had the curved end the allowed for roots to be removed. Iron smelting did not occur until the 14-1600’s. Blacksmiths in West Africa are responsible for the production of agricultural tools, and sometimes weapons and jewelry. The use of iron made it easier to harvest crops and improved the rate of production. One of these tools, which was used in the Rainforest zone, was the iron ax. This ax, which had a curved end was used in harvesting plantains from trees, and used on oil palms. Since some land was cleared out for root cultivation, the axes were sometimes used to cut down unwanted trees.
• A huge problem in the rainforest was the diseases that were brought by tsetse flies. The wet climate of the forest was a breeding ground for mosquitoes and these flies which carried the trypanosomiasis virus which was not only fatal to cattle, but also cause sleeping sickness in humans.The fatality of cattle due to this virus in another reason why the natives did not breed cattle in the area. The sleeping sickness that plagued the natives in the area also caused a lack in the labor force. This disease ultimately prevented the rainforest from developing pastoral/agropastoral systems.

Works Cited:

Green , Erik . "Production systems in pre-colonial Africa ." The History of African Development. Web.https://www.aehnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Green.Production-Systems-in-Pre-Colonial-Africa.pdf

Ross, Emma George. "The Age of Iron in West Africa”.  The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Web. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/iron/hd_iron.htm

Maudlin, Ian, P. H. Holmes, and Michael A. Miles. The Trypanosomiases. Wallingford, UK: CABI Pub., 2004. CABI. CABI Publishing, June 2004. Web. 2 Feb. 2017. <http://www.fao.org/waicent/FAOINFO/Agricult/AGAInfo/programmes/documents/paat/Trypan.pdf>

Love Letter on Ecology and agricultural development in Africa

My Precious,

You are the driving force of my very being. Without your unimaginable complexity, I would be nothing. Every creature, big and small, within your African systems has made me who I am today. From the livestock we have raised to the microorganisms in the soil that I depend on, I adore them all. But it doesn’t stop there! The beauty of your climates is the one of the reasons for my success. I have to say, it hasn’t always been an easy relationship. Your soils are harsh and abrasive; the rainfall patterns I deal with every season often limit my capabilities; and some of your lands are excruciatingly dry.

These bipolar moods of yours drove me to another. One of my first encounters with her was around 2000 years ago, when the creation of her iron tools were first used in my systems. Admittedly, Technology has done things for me that I never dreamed were possible! She provided me with irrigation methods, plows, and even new breeds of plants and animals that could better withstand your hostile conditions.In the Northeast region, for example,  the development of her ox plow and wheel, allowed me to grow more crops in a shorter time. She also crafted tools, such as the hoe and machete, to entrance me by aiding in the cultivation of crops. With the ax and the sickle I was able to clear land and crops (like millet and rice).

I admit that I lusted after her; I could not resist the opportunities that technology offered me. Now I plead for your forgiveness. I have underappreciated your immense value. When I think of the cattle in Ethiopia that were protected by your elevation from the tsetse fly, my heart soars with pride. Your vast system of streams and rivers is awe-inspiring and allows for the production of my crops. Even though they are often hard to live with, your temperatures give such a variety of life. The experience that I had with Technology taught me so much but also helped me realize that you can never be replaced. She will change, fail, and leave me but you will always be essential to my existence. I need you, my darling Ecology, all your good and all your bad. I am so sorry. Forgive me and please take me back…

Forever and always yours,

Agriculture

References

McCann, J. “The Ox Plow Complex: An Ecological Revolution.” In People of the Plow: An Agricultural History of Ethiopia, 1800-1990. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. 1995. Moodle. Web. 29 Jan 2017.

Benneh, George. "02." United Nations University. United Nations University, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.

International, Survival. "Shifting Cultivation." Survival International. Survival International, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.

Voortman, Roelf L. et al. “African Land Ecology: Opportunities and Constraints for Agricultural Development.” A Journal of the Human Environment. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 2003. Web. 27 Jan 2017.

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. Vintage Books. New York. 1997.

Love Letter to Iron - Brittany Sandoval, Fatim Keita, Merci Irakoze, and Loren Weber.

Prompt: How did ecology and available technology in Africa affect the indigenous agricultural systems that developed?

Iron made major contributions to the agricultural systems that had taken root on the African continent. “From its origin in the Near East via North Africa and the Sahara, courtesy of Phoenician sailors and Berber traders,” iron spread across the continent very quickly (Reader 187). Because iron flourished in trade circles, many different cultures, languages and techniques were shared across the continent. As a ​major​ ​advancement​ ​in​ ​the​ ​technology​ ​that​ ​was​ ​used​ ​to​ ​farm​ ​in​ ​Africa, it led to the production of higher quality agricultural tools. The tools “​enabled​ ​people​ ​to​ ​produce​ ​food​ ​more​ ​easily​ ​than​ ​had​ ​been​ ​the​ ​case​ ​with​ ​stone​ ​tools” but they also “​demanded​ ​the​ ​destruction​ ​of​ ​forests​ ​and​ ​the​ ​organization​ ​of​ ​a specialized​ ​labor​ ​force​ ​which​ ​in​ ​turn​ ​had​ ​to​ ​be​ ​fed”​ ​(Reader​ ​188).​ ​Similarly to​ ​the destruction​ ​of​ ​dense​ ​forests​ ​to​ ​make​ ​way​ ​for​ ​palm​ ​oil​ ​plantations​ ​in​ ​Indonesia​ ​today,​ ​the introduction of iron extraction to African agriculture​ ​was​ ​destroying​ ​the​ ​very​ ​ecology​ ​that​ ​made​ ​the​ ​place​ ​thrive. Because iron is derived from the ground, large landscapes were destroyed in order to reach the ore deep within the earth. Trees were cut down and used as fuel in the process of iron smelting and when the forests were cleared, grasslands and croplands began to take their place, producing an agricultural system that is more recognizable today. The farmers were said to have reached “biological equilibrium,” as they took advantage of the crops that were available, and began to solve problems relating to altering climates, inadequate soils, and overall were able to better provide for the nutritional needs of the people (Reader 252). As time continued, the ox drawn plow allowed for a quicker way to till the land, but for many it was inefficient to care and provide food and water for the amount of cattle necessary for this system. So in many places, iron became used as a tool to cultivate higher yields of better quality food crops. Overall, because of the diverse ways it was used, iron has been one of the biggest contributors to agriculture in Africa and had an influential impact on the surrounding ecology.

The poster is a representation of the impact of iron and its relationship with the native people of the African continent. Together, they were able to cultivate the land in new, more efficient ways, using iron smelting technologies.

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1998. Print.

McCann, J. People of the plow: an agricultural history of Ethiopia, 1800-1990. Madison, WI:    University of Wisconsin Press, 1995. Print.

- Adam Funck, Ben Butero, Grace Kinner, Natalie Hall, Bethany Sheppard -