Turbulent Centuries in Africa

Objectives How did the Portuguese established footholds on Africa’s coasts? How did European actions affect the slave trade and the rise of African states? How did the European presence in Africa expand?

What effects did European exploration have on the people of Africa? European encounters with Africa had occurred for hundreds of years. The European explorers who arrived in the 1400s brought great and unforeseen changes to Africa’s peoples and cultures.

During the 1400s, Portugal wanted to bypass Arab middlemen and trade directly with Asia. As they moved down the West African coast, they set up small trading posts. They traded muskets and tools for gold, ivory, hides, and slaves.

Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, they sailed up the East Coast. The Portuguese attacked and took Arab trading centers at Malindi and Mombasa. Mombasa – a city in southeastern Kenya, located on a small coastal island; became a trading hub for the Portuguese in Africa Malindi – a coastal town in southeastern Kenya; became a trading hub for the Portuguese in Africa

Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, they sailed up the East Coast (continued…). The Portuguese also traded in present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia in East Africa.

In the 1500s, Europeans began trading for slaves on a large scale. Europeans relied on African rulers and traders to seize captives in the interior. There, the captives were exchanged for guns, rum, tobacco, and other goods. African slave traders brought captives to trading posts and forts on the coast of West Africa.

Over the next 300 years, the Atlantic slave trade grew into a huge and profitable business. A slave auction in the 1700s Each year, tens of thousands of enslaved Africans were sold to work on large plantations in North America, South America, and the Caribbean. plantation – large estate or farm, run by an owner or his overseer, where slaves were brought to work

Some African leaders unsuccessfully tried to stop the slave trade. Affonso I of Kongo had been converted to Christianity by Portuguese missionaries. In the 1500s, he tried to persuade Portugal to end the slave trade, but he was ignored. Affonso I – ruler of Kongo who wanted to establish a modern Christian state and end the slave trade (aka – Afonso I of Kongo). missionary – a person sent to do religious work in a territory or foreign country

Some African leaders unsuccessfully tried to stop the slave trade (continued…) In 1788, the religious leader of Futa Toro forbade the slave trade, but the French simply bypassed them. Futa Toro - a pre-colonial West African theocratic state of the Fula-speaking people centered on the middle valley of the Senegal River.  The transatlantic slave trade would last for 300 years.

The slave trade caused some small African states to disappear and powerful new slave-trading kingdoms to arise. In the late 1600s, Osei Tutu unified the powerful Asante kingdom in present-day Ghana. Osei Tutu – military leader who unified the Asante of Ghana, creating an efficient, powerful kingdom (aka – Osei Kofi Tutu). Asante kingdom – kingdom in present-day Ghana, united by Osei Tutu in the 1600s (aka – Ashanti). By conquering neighboring people and creating an efficient government, he gained monopolies over the gold and slave trades. monopoly – the exclusive control of a business or industry, such as the gold or slave trade

The slave trade caused some small African states to disappear and powerful new slave-trading kingdoms to arise (continued…) The Yoruba created the Oyo empire, conquering neighbors in present-day Nigeria. Oyo empire – late 1600s kingdom of the Yoruba people in present-day Nigeria. In the 1600s, the Oyo grew wealthy trading captured slaves at Porto- Novo. Interesting fact: Hakeem Olajuwan is a descendent of the Yoruba

Olajuwan in his prime playing for the Houston Rockets Vintage picture of Olajuwan as a youth learning to play basketball in Nigeria

As Portugal’s power declined, other European nations established footholds in Africa. By the mid-1600s, Britain and France reached Senegal in West Africa. By the 1700s, British explorers were looking for the source of the Nile in East Africa. In 1788, Britain established the African Association, which sponsored exploration. European exploration of Africa would explode in the next century.

In 1652, Dutch settlers founded Cape Town, the first permanent European colony in sub-Saharan Africa. Cape Town – Dutch settlement on the southern tip of Africa that sold supplies to ships in the East Indies trade Cape Town was settled by the Dutch farmers called Boers, who were strict Calvinists. Boers – Dutch farmers who settled in South Africa around Cape Town They believed they were elected, or chosen, by God and looked on Africans as inferior. Over time, they ousted, killed, or enslaved local Africans. Boer herders and ivory hunters moved inland, setting off a series of wars.

African Slave Trade What Few Textbooks Will Tell You

Objectives How did the Portuguese establish footholds on Africa’s coasts? As Portuguese sailors worked their way down the Western coast of Africa, they would set up trading posts along the way. Once they reached the tip of Africa, Cape Town was established. Then they worked up the Eastern coast and took Mombasa and Malindi by force. From there, the Portuguese sailed across the Indian ocean and took Goa and Molacca.

How did European actions affect the slave trade and the rise of African states? Europeans wanted labor for the plantations in the New World. The Native American population was destroyed by war and disease, so they looked to Africa for the labor in the form of slaves. Europeans would bring items like muskets, tools, and rum to trade with local traders for slaves. Some kings attempted to keep the slave trade out of their empires, however, the Europeans simply went around them and established trade with others who welcomed the business. As a result, some kingdoms were destroyed, and some rose to become quite large, rich, and powerful.

How did the European presence in Africa expand? As time went on, more European powers would establish roots in Africa. They included France, Britain, and the Netherlands. They would sponsor some exploration in the 1600s and 1700s. However, in the 1800s, exploration would explode in Africa.