1. The African-American Odyssey
SECOND EDITION
Hine ~ Hine ~ Harrold
Part I
Becoming African
CHAPTER 1
Africa

2. I. A Huge and Diverse Land
Second largest continent in the world
From North to South
A succession of climatic zones
Desert, savannah, rain forest, mountain ranges

3. Trade and Conquest Nubia Kush Meroe Axum
Egyptian colony ~ copper and gold deposits
Kush
Nubian independent kingdom
Meroe
Africa’s first industrial center
Iron deposits and geographic location
Axum
First Christian state in sub-Saharan Africa
Influenced by Hebrew culture

4. 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
Accorded semi-divine status to their kings
Cultivated crops
Tended domesticated animals
Produced iron tools and weapons
Trade with North Africa
Essential part of the economy and kingdoms

5. Ghana First known kingdom in the western Sudan Commerce
Founded between fourth and eight centuries CE
Warfare and iron weapons created an empire
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 twelfth century

6. Empire of Mali, 1230-1468 Battle of Kirina Larger than Ghana Sundiata
Reigned
Led the Mandinka to victory over the Sosso in 1235
Larger than Ghana
Greater rainfall
More crops
Control of Wangara gold mines
Population reaches 8 million

7. Mali (cont.) Commerce, bureaucracy and scholarship Timbuktu
Most merchants and rulers
Moslems by 1210s
Converted to gain stature among Arab states
Timbuktu
Major trading hub
gold, slaves, and salt
Center of Islamic learning ~ thirteenth century
150 Islamic schools
Cosmopolitan community
Religious and ethnic toleration common

8. Mali (cont.) Mansa Musa Reigned 1312-1337
Pilgrimage across Africa to Mecca in Arabia
Empire declined with Musa’s death

9. Empire of Songhai,
The last and largest of the Sudanese empires
Sunni Ali
Reigned
Conquered people pay tribute
Generally run their own affairs

10. Empire of Songhai, 1461-1591 Askia Muhammad Toure Reigned 1492-1528
Devout Moslem
Expanded empire
Centralized administration of the empire
Substituted taxation for tribute
Established bureaucratic trade regulation
Used his power to spread Islam within the empire

11. Songhai (cont.) Askia Daud Reigned 1549-1582
Songhai failed to adapt to changing political atmosphere
Portuguese establish trading centers along the Guinea coast
Arab rulers of North Africa threatened with loss of trade
King of Morocco sent mercenaries to Songhai in 1591
Defeat the Songhai army and empire falls apart
When Moroccans leave the region
West Africa without a government powerful enough to stop the Portuguese

12. West African Forest Region
Cultural diversification
Patchwork of diverse ethnic groups
variety of languages and traditions
Small powerful kingdoms
Benin City
Little influenced by Islam or Christianity
Trading center
Gold, peppers, ivory, and slaves
By seventeenth century dependent on slave trade

13. V. Kongo and Angola Kongo-Angola Region
Trade with the interior of the continent
Late fifteenth century rulers more welcoming of Portuguese
Nzinga Mbemba tried to convert kingdom to Christianity (See page 17)
Unrest, Portuguese greed, and slave trade
Destroy the kingdom

14. 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
Millet, rice, sorghum, peas, okra, watermelons
Yams replaced grains in the forest regions

15. Women Served as government officials in ancient Ghana
Enslaved women in the royal court of Dahomey also held official posts
West African women could have male friends apart from relatives

16. Class and Slavery Royalty
Landed nobles, warriors, peasants and bureaucrats
Lower classes
artisans and labors blacksmiths, butchers, tanners, and oral historians called griots
Slavery
Common in West Africa
More so in the savannah region than in forest areas
Variety of forms
Not necessarily a permanent condition

17. Class and Slavery (cont.)
Islamic regions
Masters obligated for slaves’ religious well-being
Non-Islamic regions children of slaves
Legal rights
Not to be sold from the land they occupied
Slaves in royal courts or in the armies
Own 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

18. Religion Fifteenth 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

19. Religion Indigenous religions Strongest in forest areas
Polytheistic and animistic
One creator god and a host of lesser gods,
Saw the force of God in all things
Ancestor worship, magicians, and oracles
Ceremonies and animal sacrifices

20. 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

21. Literature Oral histories, poetry, and tales
Specially trained poets and musicians
served kings and nobles
Views of common people represented also
Prose tales
Human characters
Tales about creation, success, romance
Animal characters
“Trickster tales”
Entertain and teach lessons

22. VII. Conclusion
The history of many African Americans begins in West Africa. Family organization, work habits, language, religious beliefs, legends, and more came to America along with slave trade.