1. Topic #1
African Background

2. In general, what was the African heritage of African-Americans
In general, what was the African heritage of African-Americans? Where did most come from?

3. Ancient Egypt
Circa BC

4. Ancient Carthage,
Circa BC

5. Sahara Desert

7. Homo Sapiens evolved from hominids found in what today is East Africa
Africa was the genesis of human evolution
Homo Sapiens evolved from hominids found in what today is East Africa

8. Swahili City states on coast

9. Most African-Americans trace their ancestry back to the kingdoms of West Africa

10. What were some of the major kingdoms of West Africa?

11. Kingdom of Ghana

12. Islam, originally from the Arabian Peninsula, spread across the Sahara to the West African kingdoms

13. Profitable trade routes across the desert began to grow

14. The Kingdom of Ghana controlled the new trade and became quite wealthy

15. After the Kingdom of Ghana fell around 1000AD, a new Kingdom, the Mali Kingdom, arose to replace it. The Mali Kingdom lasted from circa 1000AD to 1400AD.

16. Mali Kingdom was larger than Ghana before it, and thus had more diversity in agriculture and trade

17. Mansa Musa led the Mali Kingdom at its height in mid-1300s

18. Mali’s ruling mansa kept a large standing army

19. When the Mali Kingdom began to break up in the 1400s, the larger and more powerful Songhay Kingdom emerged.

20. Askiya Muhammad was Songhay’s greatest leader

21. Timbuktu

22. Sankore, center of education in Timbuktu

23. Songhay began to weaken in the early 1500s when the Portuguese began to trade along the coasts, shifting the economy southward, away from established trans-Saharan trade routes.

24. What are some generalizations about all West African kingdoms and cultures that one can make?

25. Typical west African village

26. In many ways a monarchy, west African rulers relied on a series of ministers and advisors

28. Cattle grew particularly important to West African peoples

29. The family was the basis of West African social organization

30. Large African clan

31. Traditional African religions involved a number of rituals and scared objects

32. West Africans were great artisans and craftsmen

33. Music, including drumming, was important to West African culture

34. Griots were charged with remembering and disseminating history and traditions