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Africa. Which Africa?. We are talking about sub-Saharan Africa Egyptian River Valley treated separately North Africa becomes part of the Muslim world, not the African world That desert thing is in the way. Africa, in a Nutshell. Sub-Saharan Africa is not great for large-scale agriculture
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Which Africa? • We are talking about sub-Saharan Africa • Egyptian River Valley treated separately • North Africa becomes part of the Muslim world, not the African world • That desert thing is in the way
Africa, in a Nutshell • Sub-Saharan Africa is not great for large-scale agriculture • Not much “civilization” so not much coverage • Africa is “acted upon” rather than being a “historical actor” for most of history • VERY loaded cultural statement • So we will follow what happens to Africa in each unit, until Unit 5
Africa: Unit 1 • Bantu migrations • Common linguistic and cultural heritage for sub-Saharan African civilizations • Still large numbers of nomadic and semi-nomadic groups • Pre-Islamic East and West African trade kingdoms • Axum • Early Ghana
Africa: Unit 2 • West African trade kingdoms • Organized states around trans-Saharan trade routes • Mali, Songhay • Islam slowly moves south • East Africa enters the Indian Ocean trade • Muslim traders take over, Arabs blend with Bantus and create Swahili
Africa: Unit 3 • Columbian Exchange/Triangle Trade • Trading posts in the European empires • Slave trade kingdoms • i.e., Asante (Ashanti) and Dahomey
Africa: Unit 4 • Imperialism • European power struggles divide up the continent • Boers fight against native Africans and the British
Africa: Unit 5 • Service in the wars • Nationalism and decolonization • Independence and dictatorships • Still lots of troubles
Early Modern • Fortresses for refueling or slave outposts • Disease, climate, and locals prevent penetration of interior • Some Portuguese missionary success, mostly just economic impact • Tacked on to existing trade routes • Sometimes paid taxes to local rulers • Just off the coastal areas, slave trade empires grew (the middle men)
Modern • New technology allowed further imperial expansion into Africa • Better guns and artillery • Steamship, telegraph, railroad, medicines • Berlin Conference • Europeans divide up the continent in colonial rivalries
Tropical Dependencies • Used local elites or exploited local divisions to rule • Creates legacy of conflict • Little education allowed in Africa (other than missionaries), prevents growth of a middle class • Strong racism prevents much contact between Europeans and Africans
World War I • Missionaries created some educated people who were loyal to British or French • But war created disruptions and rebellions • Showed moral failings of Europe • Few promises were kept • Many strikes and protests • Early push for pan-Africanism from the Western hemisphere did not match reality
World War II • Forced labor and inflation result from wartime • Returning soldiers now trained, but still discriminated against • British and French needed to start industry in the colonies during the war • Urban poor became nationalists
French Colonies • Slow retreat, granting power to westernized leaders slowly • Moderates dominated nationalist movements, remained connected to France as independent states
Congo • Belgians controlled it • In 1960, they just up and left • No nationalist movement or educated Congolese • Perhaps the source of Congo’s problems?
Ghana • Kwame Nkrumah • Radical leader • Organized mass rallies and protests against British violence • Won concessions through 1950s, took over administration, granted independence in 1957 • Nkrumah leaned left, so had Soviet support but not Western investors • Economic problems, but opposition crushed until he was deposed in 1966
Kenya • Settler colony – white settlers did not want to turn over power • Jomo Kenyatta led nationalist party • Terror and guerrilla warfare • British tried to crush it (Mau Mau rebellion) • British won, but then negotiated • Kenyatta ruled – stable and prosperous until the mid-1980s
Military Dictatorships • Nasser in Egypt is representative of the success • Also tried in Uganda and Congo, with failure • Remove civil liberties • Corrupt • Repressive • Little development
Recent History • New nations kept poor by Western economic dominance and late start to modernization • Major conversions to Islam and Christianity, but blended with older traditions • Democracy is spreading, but health and environmental problems can be overwhelming, especially on top of racial/ethnic/religious disputes
Early Modern • Dutch establish Cape Colony at the Cape of Good Hope • Boers (Dutch for farmers) spread out from the coast, pushing north against the spread of Bantu farmers/pastoral peoples • Not part of slave systems
Early Modern • British take over Cape Colony • Help Boers push inward • Shaka • Fierce leader of Zulu state in southern Africa, crushed their neighbors • Fought vicious war against Boers, guns were superior but heavy cost to put down the Zulu
Modern • British forced to fight Boer War to keep control of the colonies • Boers (calling themselves Afrikaans) now different from European culture • Win at great cost, but feel bad for devastation caused, so allow the white minority to dominate
20th Century • White minority had no European home to return to, so they held on to power as long as possible • British granted independence to South Africa after WWII, but to white leaders • Set up apartheid system (institutionalized discrimination)
End of Apartheid • Total segregation, police state and repression for black majority • International boycott started in 1980s and weakened economy • Wasted money in local interventions • Finally started to loosen grip in 1990s, Nelson Mandela won election • Now equality, but still troubles
Slave Trade • Began for sugar plantations, need for hard labor • Demand continuously high • High mortality • Low reproduction (few female slaves imported, except to British colonies) • Population drain offset by new foods and that women and children stayed • Created Diaspora of African culture
Slavery in Africa • Not new or invented by Europeans • Africans very willing to trade • Wanted more valuable items from Europeans (like guns) • Slave capture common part of local warfare, and lots of scores to settle
East Africa • Much less slave trade, but still some to Arab lands or to Indian Ocean islands • Islamization continued in Africa
