Bushles of Barley, Bottles of Beer, Baskets of Bread... and Jane Doe

Question 3: Reflect on our Monday lecture and our Field Study and discuss the importance of Barley to mankind, both historically and now.

Barley is one of the oldest and most important grains. Existing in a symbiotic relationship with mankind, it has held religious and cultural importance as a provider of food and drink throughout the levant and other lands. This cereal grain is a source of bread products and more importantly, the key ingredient to beer.

Beer: a meal in a glass, a warming brew which breathed life and excitement into humanity. Like all of the early discoveries (for man did not invent, but rather discovered beer) most likely occurred by accident. While the method of brewing has not changed much over the past few centuries, a modern brew-master would be completely lost if forced to brew a batch of a Sumerian Lugal’s (king) favorite ale. Both the class lectures and the readings flushed out the details of ancient brewing through the making barley bread and natural fermentation.

However much the processes and supplementary ingredients have changed, one thing has remained constant throughout. Barley still reigns supreme in the world of beer. The quintessential malting agent which brings sugar, and hence alcohol to beer, barley is a cereal grain vital in humanities early growth.

From early prehistory till the advent of safe and secure water supplies in the twentieth century, the fermentation of barley allowed humanity to live in close quarters with each other and their livestock by providing a sanitary and nutritious drink. This was absolutely necessary, as cities were notorious as the epicenters of contagious outbreaks. Men women and children all consumed beer regularly, it was even used as pay in some ancient cultures.

In addition to beer, barley is a staple grain for many people today. Barley flour provides nutrition to a large percentage of humanity, this is because it is hardier and can grow in environments in which other cereal grains (wheat, rice, and corn) are unable to thrive.

Unless humanity suddenly abandons alcohol and climate change completely transforms the environment, barley will remain as it always has a key building block of man’s diet.

Sources:

http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/MesopotamiaSumer.htm

Images:

http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002.html

https://www.behance.net/gallery/2151607/Barley-field-Beach

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley#mediaviewer/File:Various_grains.jpg

A Spiced Up Version of History

Question 2: Explain the ways in which the desire by European monarchies / governments to control the spice trade changed world history.  

From ancient egypt trading in ivory from central africa and lapis lazuli from mesopotamia to the powerful european empires of the second half of the 2nd millenium AD trading in spices from asia and precious metals from the Americas, this desire and pursuit of valuable and exotic goods has shaped whole civilizations and left an indelible mark on the history of peoples located at the farthest reaches of the globe.

Controlled by european royalty, the spice trade proved one of the most striking examples of egocentric and extractive trade systems. As the central focus remained on filling both royal and national coffers, little respect remained for the cultures and lives of indigenous peoples. This led to gross abuses of human rights and genocidal actions, both of which indirectly affected the rapid depopulation of the americas and the enslavement of africa.

Direct effects of the spice trade could however be felt in Southeast Asian islands, like the Moluccas, Sri Lanka, and Ternate. Little did the natives realize, but once europeans arrived nothing would ever be the same. From the introduction of new weapons and war machines to western ideals and forms of government these foreigners would force their way in and rape the land.

Additional impacts of the european spice trade can be seen in the naval power wielded by Spain, France, England, the Netherlands and the achievements wrought with this new power. For example the first complete circumnavigation of the world by Ferdinand Magellan, their combined victory at the Battle of Lepanto when at least 200 muslim ship and 30,000 sailors were destroyed in around 3 hours, and the formation of vast overseas empires connected only by the tenuous trade routes.

While the spice trade produced many positive and negative results, the most important one (and one which could be viewed as either positive or negative) is the fact that the trade induced one of the first large waves of globalization.

http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/christian/blchron_xian_crusades12.htm 

Pics
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/342WorldHistoryModern.html
http://www.old-map.com/spice.htm
http://nobility.org/2012/10/04/lepanto/

Up in Smoke or Under Chains?

Question 1: Tobacco and Cotton were two founder crops of the United States of America. Explain how and why, highlighting any connections / similarities between the crops.

Tobacco and cotton have both claimed the title King and were crops vital to the formation of the early American psyche. They both fostered a climate of greed and cruelty that produced vast amounts of capital forming the unstable building blocks on which almost three centuries of American infighting was founded.

Unlike other early colonial industries (eg. New Englands shipbuilding, fisheries, and fur trading) southern cotton and tobacco growers required a cheap and efficient labor source. While the north thrived with the help of indentured servants (poor europeans who received passage to the New World  in return for a set period of labor upon arrival), the southern colonies turned to slavery. This trade in human chattel would leave deep scar lines through american history lasting until the present day.

While cotton plantations developed around a hundred years after their tobacco counterparts, they both employed slaves. This can be seen that some of the very first non-indigenous inhabitants of the north american continent were african slaves brought over to work the tobacco fields. Increased demand for both cash crops and technological developments in farm equipment and practices led to a huge increase for slave labor. A fact demonstrated by population figures at the time of the revolutionary war. In 1770, slaves formed around 21.7% of the colonial population. However in the Southern colonies; which were most deeply invested in the cotton and tobacco industries, the percentages reached upwards of 50-60%. These percentages only became more pronounced as time passed.

This divide between a plantation driven south and a more industrialized north caused both interdependence and friction. The northern colonies, and later states, relied heavily on southern cotton and tobacco to create financial revenue through trade and manufacturing. Meanwhile the south depended on northern financing and markets as an outlet for their raw products. Despite creating this complex and interdependent flow of trade, cotton and tobacco split the country in half over the issue of slavery.

As both southern industries developed over the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a wedge was driven between the colonies. While cotton and tobacco both fueled the American

economy for centuries, they also led to the bloodiest war in the history of america, the Civil War.

Sources:

http://economics.ucr.edu/papers/papers03/03-13.pdf

Images

http://wwnorton.com/college/english/naal8/section/volB/maps/american11_4.jpg

http://8-147.wikispaces.com/The+Growth+of+Slavery+in+the+1800's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_and_free_states#mediaviewer/File:US_SlaveFree1800.gif