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Part I Becoming African. Chapter 1 Africa. I. A Huge and Diverse Land. 2nd largest continent in the world From North to South several of climatic zones Desert, savannah, rain forest, mountain ranges. II. Birthplace of Humanity. Fossil and genetic evidence Out-of-Africa model
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Part I Becoming African Chapter 1 Africa
I. A Huge and Diverse Land • 2nd largest continent in the world • From North to South • several of climatic zones • Desert, savannah, rain forest, mountain ranges
II. Birthplace of Humanity • Fossil and genetic evidence • Out-of-Africa model • Modern humans emerged 200,000 years ago • Migrated to the rest of the world 100,000 years ago • “Eve” model • All modern humans from a single African woman
III. Ancient Civilizations Race debate • Black Egyptians colonized ancient Greece • Became the originators of Western civilization • Modern racial categories irrelevant to ancient Egypt • Egypt influenced Greek and Western civilization
Egyptian Society • Patrilineal/patriarchal • Male dominated • Hierarchical • Warriors, priests, merchants, artisans, peasants • Comprehensive bureaucracy
Egyptian Society (cont.) • Women • Owned property • Managed household slaves • Educated their children • Held public office • Served as priests • Operated businesses
Egyptian Society (cont.) • Polytheistic religion • Re (Ra): the sun god • Osiris: god of the Nile • Immortality • Personal and state combined in kings
Trade and Conquest • Nubia • Egyptian colony ~ copper and gold deposits • Kush • Nubian independent kingdom
Trade and Conquest • Meroe • Africa’s first industrial center • Iron deposits and geographic location • Axum • First Christian state in sub-Saharan Africa • Influenced by Hebrew culture
IV. West Africa • Physically, ethnically, and culturally diverse • Savannah and forest • Home to a variety of cultures and languages • Divided labor by gender • Lived in villages composed of extended families
West Africa • Accorded semi-divine status to their kings • Cultivated crops • Tended domesticated animals • Produced iron tools and weapons
West Africa • Trade with North Africa • Essential part of the economy and kingdoms
Ghana • First known kingdom in the western Sudan • Founded between 4th and 8th centuries CE • Warfare and iron weapons created an empire
Ghana • Commerce • Camel caravans • Imported silk, cotton, glass beads, horses, mirrors, dates, and salt • Exported pepper, slaves, and gold mined in another region and taxed passing through • Commerce and religion destroyed Ghana in the 12th century
Empire of Mali, 1230-1468 Sundiata • Reigned 1210-1260 • Led the Mandinka to victory over the Sosso in 1235
Empire of Mali, 1230-1468 • Larger than Ghana • Greater rainfall • More crops • Control of Wangara gold mines • Population reached eight million
Empire of Mali (cont.) • Commerce, bureaucracy and scholarship • Most merchants and rulers • Moslems by 1210s • Converted to gain stature among Arab states
Empire of Mali (cont.) • Timbuktu • Major trading hub • Gold, slaves, and salt • Center of Islamic learning ~13th century • 150 Islamic schools • Cosmopolitan community • Religious and ethnic toleration common
Empire of Mali (cont.) • Mansa Musa • Reigned 1312-1337 • Pilgrimage across Africa to Mecca in Arabia • Empire declined with Musa’s death
Empire of Songhai, 1461-1591 • The last and largest of the Sudanese empires • Sunni Ali • Reigned 1464-1492 • Conquered people paid tribute • Generally ran their own affairs
Empire of Songhai (cont.) -- Askia Muhammad Toure • Reigned 1492-1528 • Devout Moslem
Empire of Songhai (cont.) • Expanded empire • Centralized administration of the empire • Substituted taxation for tribute
Empire of Songhai • Established bureaucratic trade regulation • Used his power to spread Islam within the empire
Empire of Songhai (cont.) • Askia Daud • Reigned 1549-1582 • Songhai failed to adapt to changing political atmosphere • Portuguese established trading centers along the Guinea coast
Empire of Songhai • Arab rulers of North Africa threatened with loss of trade • King of Morocco sent mercenaries to Songhai in 1591
Empire of Songhai • Defeated the Songhai army and empire fell apart • When Moroccans left the region • West Africa without a government powerful enough to stop the Portuguese
West African Forest Region • Cultural diversification • Small powerful kingdoms • Benin City • Little influenced by Islam or Christianity
West African Forest Region • Trading center • Gold, peppers, ivory, and slaves • By 17th century dependent on slave trade
V. Kongo and Angola • Kongo-Angola region • Trade with the interior of the continent • Late 15th century rulers more welcoming of Portuguese • Nzinga Mbemba tried to convert kingdom to Christianity • Unrest, Portuguese greed, and slave trade destroy the kingdom
VI. West African Society and Culture • Most were farmers • Villages and hamlets • Extended families and clans • Some patrilineal, others matrilineal • Produced cotton for clothes • Variety of crops
Women • Served as government officials in ancient Ghana • Enslaved women in the royal court of Dahomey also held official posts • Increased sexual freedoms • West African women could have male friends apart from relatives
Women (cont.) • Sande: a secret society for women • Taught sex education to girls • Initiated into adulthood • (Poro: male secret society)
Women (cont.) • Both societies established standards of • Male and female conduct • Emphasized female virtue and male honor
Class and Slavery • Royalty • Landed nobles, warriors, peasants and bureaucrats • Lower classes • Artisans and laborers: blacksmiths, butchers, tanners, and oral historians called griots
Class and Slavery • Slavery • Common in West Africa • More so in the savannah region than in forest areas • Variety of forms • Not necessarily a permanent condition
Class and Slavery (cont.) • Islamic regions • Masters responsible for slaves’ religious well-being • Non-Islamic regions’ children of slaves • Legal rights • Not to be sold from the land they occupied
Class and Slavery (cont.) • Slaves in royal courts or in the armies • Owned property and often held power over free people • Agricultural slaves • Less fortunate • Work and privilege for second and third generation offspring similar to free people
Religion • 15th century West Africa • Islam • Introduced by Arab traders • More prevalent in cosmopolitan areas • The religion of merchants and bureaucrats • Fostered learning and building mosques in West African cities
Religion (cont.) • Indigenous religions • Strongest in forest areas • Polytheistic and animistic • One creator God and a host of lesser gods
Religion (cont.) • Saw the force of God in all things • Ancestor worship, magicians, and oracles • Ceremonies and animal sacrifices
Art and Music • Related to religious practices • Excelled in woodcarving and sculpture • Wooden masks and terra-cotta figurines • Used in funerals, medical practices, and in coming-of-age ceremonies • Musical instruments • Drums, xylophones, bells, flutes, and mbanzas
Literature • Oral histories, poetry, and tales • Specially trained poets and musicians • Served kings and nobles • Views of common people also represented
Literature • Prose tales • Human characters • Tales about creation, success, romance • Animal characters • “Trickster tales” • Entertained and taught lessons
VII. Conclusion • The history of African Americans begins in West Africa. • Family organization, work habits, language, religious beliefs, legends, and more came to America and influenced the way African Americans and others lived in their new land.