Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Rinderpest destroyed the livelihoods of Africans by killing 90% of their cattle. Traditionally, Africans owned land and cattle and had little need to work for wages. The epidemic wiped out this economic independence.

European planters, mine owners and colonial governments then monopolised the scarce remaining cattle resources, using this control to strengthen their power. Stripped of cattle and therefore of their livelihoods, Africans were forced into the labour market to work on European-owned plantations and mines. This solved the long-standing problem of labour shortage that colonisers had faced. Thus, a cattle disease effectively served as a tool of economic and political subjugation of Africa.

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

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• The examiner expects you to establish the chain of causation: cattle loss → loss of African economic independence → forced entry into wage labour → European control.
• Key terms to use: monopolised scarce cattle resources, labour market, livelihoods destroyed.
• Don't just describe the disease — the question asks specifically about how it served colonial interests, so the link to labour and power must be explicit.
• Avoid over-explaining the disease itself; spend most words on the political-economic consequence.