1. What problems did railroads solve for colonial economies and whose interests did they primarily serve?

2. How did Cecil Rhodes's railroad project reflect imperial ambitions and what role did colonial labor play in its construction?

1. How did improvements in steam engine technology and refrigeration expand global trade in the late 1800s?

1. How did the telegraph transform communication between imperial powers and their colonies?

1. How did new technology enable countries like Argentina, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand to export meat globally?

1. Why was guano valuable and what labor systems were used to extract it from Peru and Chile?

1. How did Britain's ban on Indian cotton textiles and the American Civil War reshape global cotton production?

2. What role did Egypt and India play in supplying cotton to British textile mills by the end of the 19th century?

1. How did Charles Goodyear's vulcanization process increase demand for rubber and what sources supplied it?

2. How did the British transfer rubber production from South America to Southeast Asia and what labor practices accompanied this shift?

1. What were the traditional uses of palm oil in West Africa and how did European demand transform its production?

1. Why was African ivory particularly valuable to Europeans and how did the ivory trade precede formal colonization?

1. What mineral resources were extracted from different regions and how did they support industrial development?

1. How did Cecil Rhodes accumulate power in Southern Africa through diamond and gold mining?

2. What were Rhodes's imperial ambitions and how did his policies in the Cape Colony affect South Africa's future?

1. What is monoculture and how did the shift to cash crop production create long-term agricultural problems in former colonies?

2. How did the environmental and agricultural damage from commercial extraction continue to affect former colonies into the modern era?