386 employment and labor: Africa nal projects were local The efforts of the entire community were needed to terrace a field, for instance, or to build an irrigation system to water crops, and interlocking family relationships, often brought about by marriage, created systems of labor cooperation for tasks requiring many hands In many cases, though, these public works projects were mandated by higher authorities, usually a king or a similar ruler Such public works projects could have involved millions of man-hours of labor They included the construction of roads, palaces, pyramids, granaries, temples, churches, and defensive fortifications such as walls around cities The Pueblo peoples of the present-day southwestern United States engaged in communal labor to construct dwellings carved into cliffs, and they constructed storage facilities for grains, beans, and other foods They also built irrigation canals Religious authorities were often the driving force behind community construction projects In medieval Europe millions of man-hours, sometimes over several generations, were poured into the construction of cathedrals by hundreds of sculptors, stonemasons, and laborers as well as the workers needed to quarry and transport stone Similarly, as Islam spread throughout Asia, the Near East, and northern Africa, mosques were constructed along with the cities that surrounded them In the Americas religious figures drove the construction of enormous kivas, or dug-out ceremonial centers All of these activities required massive workforces In some instances, slave labor was used for these projects Even when workers were not slaves, they often performed this work as a kind of “tax” paid to the ruler In general, because systems of currency and coinage had not yet developed in many parts of the world, workers paid taxes to a ruler “in kind,” meaning that they paid a portion of the fruits of their labor as tax Thus, in Africa, gold miners turned the nuggets they found over to the king In France the system was called corvée, referring to the practice of paying taxes with a percentage of crops or labor for a specified period of time While coinage existed in Europe and throughout parts of the Islamic world, barter and payment in kind were still widely practiced A fourth common theme was the role of trade While trade had long been a fixture of economic life, it grew in importance during the medieval period as trade routes became more passable Trade in numerous commodities took place throughout the Eurasian landmass and into Africa, and trade routes were established throughout the Americas In some cases, such as South America, trade was facilitated by networks of roads This trade employed numerous people, in particular, classes of porters who carried goods from one location to the next Marketplaces in cities became the hub of economic activity, as workers traded their wares for other goods—and often for raw materials—that they needed In connection with trade, states often employed large numbers of men in armies to keep trade routes open and protect the flow of goods This was a common practice in the Horn of Africa as well as in China Africa by Michael J O’Neal The civilizations of sub-Saharan Africa rose and fell in importance as their economic fortunes changed or as neighboring peoples conquered their lands The economies of each of these kingdoms depended heavily on two industries, trade and mining, although agriculture remained an important industry and pottery, construction, and textile work was prevalent The trans-Saharan trade routes were the lifeblood of these communities, providing not only goods but also exposure to books and new ideas Additionally, many sub-Saharan civilizations produced enough agricultural surpluses to support specialist classes, such as spiritual healers, musicians and artists, and large standing armies to keep trade routes open and protect the capital cities Employment and labor were organized in medieval Africa as either independent enterprises, most of which were operated at the household level, or government-run enterprises Peasants and farmers raised their crops and tended their herds at the household level Additionally, most craftspeople—including potters, textile workers, and metalworkers—operated independently out of their homes, trading the goods they manufactured at larger market cities Traders also operated autonomously as sole proprietors of their businesses Activities that could not be conducted at the household level were largely run by the government Medieval Africa did not know “capitalism” as the term is understood in the modern world That is, there were no investors who pooled their money to form a business enterprise that would realize a profit Most projects requiring large workforces—including public works, construction, and mining—were operated by the government, although some mining and gold panning were done at the household level In many cases slaves performed much of the labor required by the government, though in general slaves were reasonably well treated and eventually could buy their freedom Slaves could even aspire to marry their owners’ sons or daughters The development of any kind of economic system depends on the establishment of a civilization and a population base large enough to supply the people’s wants Most important, an agricultural surplus must exist to enable people to withdraw from farming and herding and engage in other economic activities Further, there must be some type of state, an