Taking the High Ground: The Story of Coffee

The first serious cultivation of coffee as a cash crop took place in Yemen during the 1400's. Islamic pilgrims spread it throughout the Muslim world. This program looks at the discovery of coffee, its ability to control the economy of major nations and its role in both the American and French Revolutions. A coffee tree, brought to the Americas by a French Lieutenant, flourished when he planted it in Martinique. Coffee went on to become a major crop in the Western Hemisphere