NAME _________________________________________
HIST 1110: Introduction to World History Assignment
Making the Local-Global Connection through Chocolate!
(This assignment is worth 120 points)
PART I: Brief History of Chocolate: Visit http://www.smithsonianmag.com/artsculture/brief-history-of-chocolate.html?c=y&page=1 and answer the following questions:
1. What region did the cacao come from? Who are the people who consumed cacao before
1400s?
2. When and how was cacao introduced to Europeans?
3. What is the process of global redistribution of biological products called (you should be able
to answer this question based on my lecture)?
4. What type or form of chocolate did the Europeans consume in the 17th century? Who were
the main consumers in terms of socio-economic status?
5. What type or form of chocolate did the Europeans come to consume in the 19th century?
6. Which company pioneered "milk chocolate?"
PART II: Age of Imperialism and Chocolate
The nineteen century and early 20th century are known as the Age of Imperialism. Imperialist
countries (Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States,
Russia, and Japan) came to control lands that did not previously belong to them.
Using a map from chapter 29 of your textbook (Traditions and Encounters: A Brief Global
History) or search for "Colonial map of Africa," identify which countries controlled what is
today's Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
Ghana was controlled by ____________
Mali was controlled by ______________
Ivory Coast was controlled by _____________.
Burkina Faso was controlled by _____________
In the nineteenth century, cocoa cultivation was introduced to West Africa.
Do a casual internet research and find out who the largest producers of cocoa beans today:
Number 1 producer of cocoa is __________________
Number 2 producer is ______________
Number 3 producer is ______________.
Part III. Watch: The documentary: The Dark Side of Chocolate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vfbv6hNeng
http://documentaryheaven.com/the-dark-side-of-chocolate/
1. According to this documentary, what is the dark side of chocolate? What issue(s) does
this documentary bring up?
2. What is the Harkin-Engel Protocol signed in 2001?
3. Approximately how old are the children being trafficked? What countries are the children
coming from? To what country are they being taken/trafficked?
4. According to the documentary, typically how much does the plantation owner pay for a
child from Burkina Faso? ______ euros ($ _____)
5. Why does Mr. Frank Hangman, the director of International Program on the Elimination
of Child Labor (UN), think that cocoa plantation work is dangerous for children?
Part IV: Consumers: Visit: http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/whoconsumes-the-most-chocolate/
According to this website, World Consumption of Cocoa (as of 2008/2009)
Europe consumes
__________%
North America consumes
__________% (United States only –_________%)
Asia and Oceania consumes __________%
South America consumes
__________%
Africa consumes
__________%
List the top 10 countries that consume the most chocolate:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
What do all of the above countries have in common besides their love of chocolate?
On average, how much chocolate do Americans consume (based on 2008 data)?
_____________ kg ( _______ LB)
Part IV: Thinking the issue critically
1. One of the girls featured in the film the Dark side of Chocolate ("Mariam" appears about
the 10 minutes mark on the first segment) when asked "what will your parents say if you
come home without money?" she answers, "They will be angry at me. . . . They will say I
did not earn any money." What does this imply about her family’s economic situation?
2. According to the 2001 Harkin-Engel Protocol, the chocolate industry was to make every
effort to end child trafficking by 2008. Watch clips found here dated Jan 19, 2012,
entitled, "Working Cocoa Field at age 10,"
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/category/chocolates-child-slaves/ From this
clip, what can you say about the effectiveness of this protocol? Why do you think it has
not been effective? What factors do you feel are contributing to this continuing tragedy?
3. What type of education are the children in the cocoa plantation getting? How do you
think this type of "education" affects their future?