From Slavery to Freedom 9 th ed.

1. From Slavery to Freedom9th ed. Chapter 1 Ancestral Africa

2. An Ancient Land and People • Ecology of Africa • Most of Africa in tropics; northern and southern tips have moderate, Mediterranean climate • Various ecological zones distinguishable in West Africa • Ecological diversity affected social development • Significant change in ecology over time; desiccation © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

3. African climate and its impact on development © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

4. An Ancient Land and People • The Bantu Migration • About 2,000 African languages can be classified into four linguistic groups: • Kosian (southern); Afro-Asiatic (northern); Nilo-Siharan (north-central); Niger-Congo (equatorial and southern) • Most native languages belong to the Niger-Congo group • This linguistic dominance believed to be the result of a two-wave migration of Bantu speakers • The first wave eventually met with the second, creating an interconnectedness among various groups © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

5. An Ancient Land and People • Iron Technology • Production of steel as early as 600 B.C.E. • Nok people important early iron-age society • Nok Pottery and Sculpture • Nok terracotta figures dating from 500 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. are oldest evidence of advanced, organized society in the sub-Sahara • Copper Technology • Use of copper and copper alloy widespread © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

6. Early Commercial Networks • West African Trade Routes • Ecological conditions necessitated specialization and trade • Trans-Saharan trade connected West Africans with people and goods from distant places • Gold, Africa’s most valuable trade item • Specific groups, known as dyula, dominated long-distance trade • Used complex system of weights and measures, money • Developed a contact language to communicate • Earliest converts to Islam © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

7. Trans-Saharan trade routes © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

8. Early Commercial Networks • Interregional Trade • Ethnic groups linked into regional networks by inland waterways • Trade facilitated by great West African rivers – the Niger, the Gambia, the Benue, and the Volta – and interlacing lakes, lagoons, and streams • Merchants used slaves and draft animals to carry cargo along overland trade routes • Internal Slave Trade • Many slaves came from the decentralized interior © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

9. West Africa river system © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

10. African Slavery • African Slavery • Slavery existed from earliest known history of Africa • Slavery in European Communities • Unfree status not unique to Africa • Coerced labor, chattel slavery, serfdom common in Europe in the Middle Ages • Slaves in Africa • Many slaves used to carry goods on trade routes • Most slaves in Africa were women © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

11. African Slavery • Slaves and Status • Slave ownership validated status and prosperity • “Continuum” of unfree status • Some slaves able to amass wealth and influence • Slaves in the Economy • Importance to economy varied among states • Prevalence of slaves and slave-owning classes set stage for commercial network linking Europeans and complicit Africans in slave trade © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

12. The Great Empires • Ghana’s Trading Empire • 11th century – Ghana had large army and lucrative trade across Sahara • Imports exchanged for ivory, slaves, and gold • King taxed imports and exports • Late 11th century economic decline brought on by drought © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

13. The Great Empires • Mali’s Rise • Emergence as a power in 1235 • Successful revolt under Sundiata Keita gave Mali control over internal trade routes • Mansa-Musa ruled from 1312 to 1337 • Mansa-Musa’s Pilgrimage • Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in 1324 • Mali became powerful and well-organized political state • Influence did not decline until early 15th century © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

14. Mansa Musa portrait on fourteenth-century Catalan atlas © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

15. The Great Empires • The Rise of Songhay • Songhay rose to power under Sonni Ali • Built river navy • Achieved dominance in West Africa • Askia Muhammad’s Reforms • Reigned from 1493 to 1529 • Songhay most powerful state in West African history • Askia Muhammad instituted many social, political and economic reforms after trip to Mecca in 1497 • Most significant reforms were educational © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

16. View of the city of Timbuktu © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

17. The Great Empires • Dichotomy of Sovereignty • Division between central and local authority • Kings sensitive to possibility of conflict within their territories © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

18. Other States • Other States • Village states flourished in 15th and 16th centuries • The Mossi States • Five loosely confederated states • Governors of each state composed council of state • Efficient political and military system • Emperor was absolute © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

19. Other States • The Hausa States • Hausa city-states grew from trade relations with other African states and North Africa • Each city retained its own identity • The Kingdom of Benin • Known for bronze and copper artistry • Also wielded substantial military might • Artistic renderings show veneration of both male and female authority © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

20. Other States • The Christian Kongo • Voluntarily converted to Catholicism under king Nzinga a Nkuwu • Baptized by Portuguese; established trade and religious relations with them • In Kongo, Africans controlled church • Catholic worship melded with indigenous beliefs • Ndongo-Matamba • Queen Njinga spent most of reign fighting off Portuguese encroachment © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

21. Other States • Great Zimbabwe • Benefited from control of gold, ivory, and cattle • Famous for stone walls and towers, elliptical building • Linked to Swahili coastal trade • The Swahili Coast • Peopled by African, Arab, Persian, and Indian traders • 11th century on, blended African and Arab ways © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.