Chapter 1 Africa Chapter 1, Sec. 3 West African Society and Culture

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.