Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Before 1890s: Africa had abundant land and livestock, which sustained African livelihoods for centuries. Very few consumer goods were available that wages could buy. Since Africans possessed enough land and cattle, they had little need to work for wages on European plantations and mines.

After Rinderpest: Rinderpest arrived in the late 1880s, killing 90% of Africa's cattle. This destroyed African livelihoods completely. European planters, mine owners and colonial governments then monopolised the scarce remaining cattle, forcing Africans — who had lost their main source of sustenance — into the labour market to earn wages for survival.

Source: Chapter 3, Section 2.4 – Rinderpest, or the Cattle Plague

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• This is a two-part question (before + after), so address both clearly.
• The key cause-and-effect logic: cattle = livelihood = independence → no need for wages. Loss of cattle = loss of livelihood = forced into wage labour.
• Mention 90% cattle killed and monopolisation by Europeans — these are scoring details examiners look for.
• Keep it structured; dividing into two mini-paragraphs (as above) makes the answer clear and scorable.