THE HISTORY OF C H O C O L A T E
- A Mini Web Trek -

Visit the sites listed below each question to research the history of chocolate, and answer the questions in this guided Web Trek on the fascinating history of one of our favorite treats.

1. Coffee might be the number one hot beverage in America, tea in Britain, but in ancient Mesoamerica, chocolate was their drink of choice - unsweetened. As far as we know, who were the first people to discover, grow, and use cacao? During which time period?
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_mesoamerican2.html

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2. How did they grow and harvest cacao and make their chocolate drinks?
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_mesoamerican4.html
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3. Cacao seeds were used as currency by the Aztecs. Who could drink the chocolate from the cacao seeds in Aztec society? How did the Aztecs use their cacao? How was chocolate associated with gods in Aztec legend?
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_mesoamerican6.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_mesoamerican7.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_mesoamerican9.html
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4. How did Europeans obtain chocolate, and which European nation was the first to use it? How was it grown for the Europeans, and who grew it?
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro2.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_european8.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_european3.html

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5. When did chocolate first become a sweet treat? What is a molinillo and what did it do?
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro2.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_european4.html
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6. In France, who could drink and have chocolate? Describe the customs, beginning in 1657, of drinking chocolate in London. Briefly describe how chocolate quickly became a European status symbol.
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro2.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_european10.html

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7. How and when did chocolate become a popularized and affordable confection? Who invented a machine to help produce chocolate from the cacao seed, and when was this? Who developed a steam-driven chocolate mill? Who was Van Houten, and what did he do in processing the cacao for chocolate? What is a conching machine, who developed it, and what does it do? What is milk chocolate, and who invented it? Briefly describe the industrial revolution of chocolate, as well as its results.
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro3.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_contemp2.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_contemp4.html

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8. One famous name in chocolate production worked as an activist to improve hardships and harsh labor conditions in the growth and production of cacao. Who was this person? What did he wish to do? What did the U.S. Congress do in response to labor conditions for cacao harvesting?
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_contemp3.html

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9. Describe how and where cacao is grown today.
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_contemp6.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_intro3.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_contemp7.html

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10. What role did advertising play in the consumption of and market for chocolate? What has helped to spread the popularity of chocolate since the early 20th century?
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_contemp5.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/Chocolate/history_contemp6.html

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