Africa

1. Africa

2. Early African • General Geography • Plateau: Africa shaped like an upside down bowl • Rivers: Nile, Congo, Niger all blocked by rapids and hard to travel upstream (isolation and lack of trade) • Deserts • Sahara Desert: Covers one-fourth of Africa (North) • Kalahari and Namib Deserts (South) • Savannas: Dry grasslands south of the Sahara desert and north of Kalahari and Namib Deserts • Tropical Rainforest: Center of Africa (equator) • Mountains: Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya

5. Early Africa • Language • Bantu: Early African Language….appeared to have spread over a lot of Sub Saharan Africa • Trade • Early peoples appear to have had some interactions with Asia • Society • Matrilineal: Ancestors and property traced back through their mothers instead of fathers • Religion • Similar to other areas…gods and spirits based on nature

7. Ancient Egypt • Egyptian Geography • Nile River: Where the first Civilizations began..predictable flooding was a positive for development of Egypt • Sahara Desert: Made invasion impossible • Egyptian Development • Hieroglyphics: Writing • Papyrus: Plant that was made into early paper

8. Ancient Egypt • Leaders/Rulers • Pharaoh: Absolute power…both religious and political • Kingdoms • Old (2680 BC-2180 BC): Built Pyramids/Sphinx • Middle (2050-1780 BC): Invaded by foreigners • New (1570 BC-1080 BC): Strongest Empire • Famous Pharaohs • Hatshepsut: 1st Female Pharaoh • Thutmose III: King Tut…one of few tombs found intact • Ramses II: Last great Pharaoh..eventually Egyptians lost their freedoms when invaded by Persians in 300 BC

10. Ancient Egypt • Religion • Gods based of nature • Mummification: Process to prepare the body for life after death. Tomb of Pharaohs would be filled with valuables to take with them to afterlife • Trade • Caravans: groups of people traveling together and trading together (safety)

12. East Africa Trade • Trade • There were no real large kingdoms in the lands located along the Indian Ocean. • More small villages that were centered on trade. • Traded gold, ivory, hides and fellow African slaves. • A lot of interactions with Muslims from Arabia and Persia • Swahili • African culture that developed in Eastern Africa • Language that combine Bantu with Persian and Arabic • Became popular up and down the east coast of Africa • Big on trade. Tippu Tip-famous trader and lead Europeans into Africa

15. West Africa • Trade • Salt for gold trade was important along South Sahara • Empires began to grow around this area • Ghana • Earliest empire of West Africa (300 AD) • Tunka Manin: Ghanaian ruler at the peak of power (1067 AD). • Huge Army: 200,000 warriors, bows/arrows/spears • Destroyed when the Berbers invaded across the area in 1100 AD. • Berbers carried Islam across North Africa

16. West Africa • Mali • Neighbors of Ghana; gained control of area in 1235 AD • Mansa Musa: Leader of Mali during its peak of power • Timbuktu: Became the leading city of Mali; educational and trade center. • Songhai • Sonni Ali captured Timbuktu after Musa’s death, created a new empire called the Songhai. • Gao and Timbuktu became main trading centers for people from Europe, India, and China. • Eventually defeated by an army from Morocco that had a new weapon…guns.

19. European Involvement • Slave Trade • Portugal began with a positive relationship with African tribes…then they became greedy and wanted gold and slaves. • Dutch, English and French would all get involved by the 1600s. • Middle Passage: Trip the slaves made from Africa to America’s…awful. Part of Triangular Trade. Slaves would be sold in return for “New World” goods headed to Europe and Africa. • Over 10 million slaves survived the journey to the Americas. • West Africa Slave Trade • Strong states began to emerge in West Africa as partners in the slave trade. • Slavery of other people was a popular practice in Africa (although freedom was often times granted and not considered property) • Problem: Over time, the loss of so many people had awful effects on the development of the area.

29. 1800s: Europeans in North Africa • France • Became interested in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco • Great Britain • Wanted to control Egypt • Italy • Wanted to control Libya • Spain • Also interested in parts of Morocco.

32. 1800s: Sub Saharan West Africa • End of Slave Trade • Area had once been dominated by slave trade. By the 1800s, most European countries had stopped trading slaves. • Other items became popular to trade (oils, feathers, ivory, etc) • European Interests • France: Won Senegal by defeating SamoryToure • Great Britain: Won control of the Gold Coast..main county was Ghana • United States Involvement • Created and defended Liberia; a county for freed American slaves to return to. • Only independent country in the area.

34. 1800s: Central Africa • Cause of European Interest • Henry Stanley: Journalist, looking for Dr. Livingstone (1871) • Impressed with Central Africa, tried to convince GB and others to invest and develop the region • Belgium Interest • King Leopold II: created a personal colony of around 900,000 square miles (Present day Congo) • Leopold eventually gave the colony to the Belgian government, where the area became known as Belgian Congo (1900s) • Leopold took almost all the natural rubber and sold the native people as slaves….imperialism at its worst

38. 1800s: East Africa • European Countries: • Divided up the land, very similar to what had happened in Western Africa. • Famine and a disease that killed the native cattle led to many native’s starving to death • They were too weak to defend themselves from the Europeans • Berlin Conference 1884-85: regulated European colonization in Africa. Also seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa. Everyone wanted a piece of the land officially. • By 1914 only two nations in Africa were free from colonial control: Liberia, and Ethiopia.

39. 1800s: South Africa • Great Britain and Dutch Interests • Boers: Decedents of the original Dutch settlers living in South Africa…had created 3 colonies • Boers left the area when the British arrived in the late 1800s. • Zulu’s: Native tribe that was a rival of the Boers. Zulu’s were eventually defeated by British. • European Interest in Gold and Silver • Germany became very interested in Southern Africa once Gold and Silver were found. • Cecil Rhodes: British businessman that gained control of a vast area…monopoly on diamond production. • Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was created by Cecil Rhodes.

45. 1800s: Effects of European Imperialism • Bad Effects • Europeans controlled all aspects of government • They did not create borders that aligned with the tribes of the area. Often put rival tribes within the same borders which led to conflict. • Paternalism: Belief that African’s were not able to effectively rule themselves. • Alliances: Some Africans tried to form alliances with European countries…usually this worked out bad for the African countries (Ethiopia and Italy) • Most Africans never accepted European rule and culture. Europeans wanted them to assimilate. Did not happen. • Good Effects • New things: crops, ways of farming, roads, and railroads all helped improve communications.

47. Independence Time • Post WWI • After WWI a lot of British colonies began demanding self-rule. • Issues • Africans had helped GB/France during WWI…now they wanted freedom. • Soldiers returning from war had new ideas on nationalism, independence, racism, etc

48. More Calls for Independence • African Organizations • By the 1930’s most Africans were calling for independence rather than reform. • This made European countries and tribal chiefs upset • Leaders • Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya) and Leopold Senghor (Senegal). • This leaders followed the non-violent teachings of Gandhi to gain support for independence

50. African during WWII • Italy/Ethiopia • Ethiopia: one of the few independent countries in Africa during the 1930s. • Mussolini: Leader of Italy, invaded a defeated Ethiopia in 1935. • Ethiopia had asked for help, no one helped them. Fought them off and remained independent. • Fighting in Africa • Germany, led by commander Erwin Rommel had taken control of Libya. Tank warfare • Eventually Axis forces were defeated by Americans/British forces in 1942…forced to retreat back to Tunisia. • Eventually Dwight Eisenhower (SA) and Bernard Montgomery (GB) were able to trap Rommel’s troops in Tunisia. • Allies gained complete control of Northern Africa and Suez Canal