No matter what kind of modern technology you have, growing rice is a challenge. So imagine what enslaved people had to endure, working by hand to produce millions of pounds of rice annually. When comparing today's harvesting challenges to those of the past, one can only significantly increase the amount of well deserved respect that West African slaves from the rice coast are due. Without their labor, intelligence and skillsets that farming rice requires, the South's wealth and America's agricultural history would be complete different.