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..predicatable 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 • Rosetta Stone: Found by French…helped us learn more about ancient Egypt

9. Ancient Egypt • Leaders/Rulers • Dynasty: Family of 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 • AmenhotepIV: Polytheistic to Monotheistic (failed) • Ramses II: Last great Pharaoh..eventually Egyptians lost their freedoms when invaded by Persians in 300 BC

13. Ancient Egypt • Ancient Society • Calendar and # System • 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)

16. Kush/Aksum • Kush • Important area for trade, located in present day Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt • Back and forth relationship with Egypt (1500 BC-200 AD) • Aksum • Located in present day Ethiopia, neighbor and rival of Kush • Empire began to grow around 100 AD and became very powerful …peak of power between 300-600 AD. • King Ezana: Powerful; converted empire to Christianity. Impact still felt today in the area. • Declined started in 600 AD because of erosion of land and Islamic invaders that hurt Aksum’s control on trade

18. 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 • Mogadishu and Kilwa became important trade cities • Great Zimbabwe • Shona: people who migrated to the area by the Zambezi River (where gold was mined) • Grew very powerful then had a rapid decline due to overpopulation (1400s)

21. 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) • TunkaManin: 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

22. 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. • Gaoand 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.

25. 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: Suez Canal • Suez Canal • French company began building this canal to connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas. • Egyptian leaders were falling into debt, decided to sell there share of the canal to the British. • Eventually GB was the majority share holder of the canal..so they controlled it. • Egyptian’s began to protest this lack of control over the canal….eventually led to rebellions that the British stopped. • GB would basically control Egypt until after WWII when Nasser took control of the canal and kicked out the British

35. 1800s: Sudan • Sudan • Had been under the control of Egypt before European involvement. • GB wanted to create a dam on the Nile River and the French wanted to add Sudan to their empire. • Sudan revolted in 1881…led by Muhammad Ahmad, a Muslim leader…eventually gained control of entire country. • GB and French Involvement • GB did not like this, they defeated Ahmad in 1898. • France wanted to control the area as well. • Fashoda: Area where both French and British forces met..eventually the French backed down, leaving GB in control of the area.

36. 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.

38. 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

42. 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

43. 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.

48. 1800s: South Africa • Boer War • Boer’s did not allow Rhodes/GB to expand diamond production into the Transvaal (area where Boers had moved) • GB eventually defeated the Boers in 1899 and gained control of more land to mine. • South Africa • GB eventually allowed for all 3 parts of former Boer colonies to unite together…formed the country of South Africa. (1910) • New constitution made it almost impossible for non-whites to have any sort of rights. • This would lead to apartheid…which Nelson Mandela fought so hard to end (late 1900s)

50. 1800s: Effects of European Imperialism • Bad Effects • Europeans controlled all aspects of government • 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.