Subsistence and Economy

Part 1:
1) The benefits to using the hunter gatherer subsistence pattern is that foodstuffs, in the form of wild game and wild plants are plentiful. Following game throughout seasons allows the people to maintain a comfortable amount of food readily available. The benefits to using the agricultural subsistence pattern is that you can settle in one area and grow your own food and raise your own animals. This allows people to store food as well for times in which agriculture isn't possible or to ensure your family's survival in the case of drought or famine.
2) The disadvantages of the hunter gatherer subsistence pattern is that the group of people are constantly migrating along with the animals they are hunting. If over hunting occurs, the people risk starving to death because they cannot replenish their own foodstuffs and must migrate to a new area or find a new group of animals to hunt. The disadvantages to the agricultural subsistence pattern are: over farming the land, making it unsuitable for agriculture, dependence on season, climate, and weather, and the necessity of claiming land for agricultural use.
3) The hunter gatherer subsistence pattern provides a healthier lifestyle, in my opinion, because the people consume a wider variety of foodstuffs. Animal protein is supplemented by various plants, fruits, and nuts which give the people a more well-balanced diet.
4) Because of the disadvantages to being a hunter gatherer, mainly living a semi-nomadic lifestyle as well as being utterly dependent on the animals and plants you have no control over, people made the change to agriculture. Agriculture allows for a people to live in the same area, control their diet through the choice of what plants they grow and animals they domesticate, and surplus goods can be stored for times of need.
Part 2:
1) The direct relationship between the availability of surplus and the ability to trade is that the surplus is traded to other people for items the surplus creating people want from their neighbors. Without an available surplus, trade is not an intelligent option. It doesn't make sense to trade things you need for things you want. Rather, you should trade the extra you have that you don't necessarily need for other things you need that you can't produce or things you want.
2) One social benefit of trade is the creation of non-subsistence producers within a local population. People can become merchants and accumulate wealth through trading as an occupation, rather than being a serf merely producing enough food to survive. Another social benefit of trade is the cultural interaction between two people through trade. Religious beliefs, political structures, and cultural traditions migrate along with trade goods from one people to the other.
3) One negative social result of the development of trade is the accumulation of wealth and power in the hands of a few merchants. Trade creates conflict between the people who manage the surplus and those who create it. Another negative social result of trade is the exposure of material goods of one people to their neighbors. If someone likes your goods and decides they want to control the supply or get tired of paying you for them, they can easily wage war for economic reasons against you, coveting your material wealth.
4) The development of agriculture allowed people to go beyond subsistence. Agriculture created the ability to grow a surplus of foodstuffs that could be stored for later use or traded away for other goods or services. Therefore, as agriculture developed and created surpluses, the ability to trade with other people became a possibility. Having more than you need gave people things to trade with other people who had more than they needed.