1. Part I Becoming African
Chapter 1
Africa

2. A Satellite View

3. I. A Huge and Diverse Land
2nd largest continent in the world
10% of the world’s population.
2 ½ times the size of the U.S.

5. several of climatic zones
From North to South
several of climatic zones
Desert, savannah, rain forest, mountain ranges

6. The Complete Topography Of AFRICA
Mediterranean Sea
Atlas Mts.
Libyan Desert
The
Complete
Topography Of
AFRICA
Tropic of Cancer 20° N
Sahara Desert
Red Sea
Sahel
Nile River
Niger River
L. Chad-->
Great Rift Valley
<--Gulf of Aden
L. Albert-->
Equator 0°
Δ Mt. Kenya
Congo River
L. Victoria
Δ Mt. Kilimanjaro
L. Tanganyika->
Indian Ocean
Ruwenzori Mts.
Atlantic Ocean
Zambezi River
Namib Desert
Kalahari Desert
Limpopo River
Tropic of Capricorn 20° S
Orange River
Drajensburg Mts.
Pacific Ocean

7. II. Birthplace of Humanity
Fossil and genetic evidence
Out-of-Africa model
Multiregional model
“Eve” model
All modern humans from a single African woman

8. Birthplace of Humanity
Origins of humanity in Savannah regions of Africa
“All people today descendants of beings who lived in Africa millions of years ago”
Paleoanthropologists believe:
Homo sapiens evolved from homo erectus

9. Out-of-Africa model Modern humans emerged 200,000 years ago
Migrated to the rest of the world 100,000 years ago

10. III. Ancient Civilizations
Race debate
Black Egyptians colonized ancient Greece
Became the originators of Western civilization
Modern racial categories irrelevant to ancient Egypt
Egypt influenced Greek and Western civilization

11. Egyptian Civilization
What is the racial identity of Egyptians?
Why is this argument debated?

12. Hierarchical Egyptian Society Patrilineal/patriarchal Male dominated
Warriors, priests, merchants, artisans, peasants
Comprehensive bureaucracy

13. Egyptian Society (cont.)
Women
Owned property
Managed household slaves
Educated their children
Held public office
Served as priests
Operated businesses

14. Egyptian Society (cont.)
Polytheistic religion
Re (Ra): the sun god
Osiris: god of the Nile
Immortality
Personal and state combined in kings

15. North
African
Kingdoms

16. Egyptian colony ~ copper and gold deposits Kush
Trade and Conquest
Nubia
Egyptian colony ~ copper and gold deposits
Kush
Nubian independent kingdom

17. Kingdom of Kush [295 BCE – 320 CE]
Nubia [modern-day Sudan]

19. Trade and Conquest Meroe Africa’s first industrial center
Iron deposits and geographic location
Axum
First Christian state in sub-Saharan Africa
Influenced by Hebrew culture

20. AXUM’S ACHIEVEMENTS Controlled NE African Trade Terrace Farming
Written
Language
Spread
Christianity
in No. & E. Africa

21. Kingdom of Axum [ ]

22. Pyramids of Kush at Meroë

23. Pyramids of Kush at Meroë

24. Our Main Focus!
West African
Empires &
Civilizations

26. Physically, ethnically, and culturally diverse
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

27. West Africa Accorded semi-divine status to their kings
Cultivated crops
Tended domesticated animals
Produced iron tools and weapons

28. Essential part of the economy and kingdoms
West Africa
Trade with North Africa
Essential part of the economy and kingdoms

29. Ghana Empire [4c-11c] – “Means King” Gold “Money”, Ghana/Ivory Coast

30. Key Economic Info - Ghana
Known by Europeans as the richest kingdom in Western Africa
Use of camels in trade created riches!
Key Economic Info - Ghana

31. Key Economic Info - Ghana
Exports: slaves (from captives), pepers and gold (not mined, but taxed by kings passing through empire
Imports: horses, silk, cotton and . . .
Key Economic Info - Ghana

32. First known kingdom in the western Sudan
Ghana
First known kingdom in the western Sudan
Founded between 4th and 8th centuries CE
Warfare and iron weapons created an empire

33. Ghana Commerce and religion destroyed Ghana in the 12th century
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 12th century

34. Salt
Why is it so important?

35. Major Focus: Gold-Salt Trade
Berbers
SALT
GOLD

36. Sundiata Empire of Mali, 1230-1468 Reigned 1210-1260
Led the Mandinka to victory over the Sosso in 1235

37. Larger than Ghana Empire of Mali, 1230-1468 Greater rainfall
More crops
Control of gold mines
Population reached eight million

38. Mali Empire [13c-15c] (rose out of Ghana’s decline)
SALT
GOLD

39. Empire of Mali (cont.) Commerce, bureaucracy and scholarship
Most merchants and rulers
Moslems by 1210s
Converted to gain stature among Arab states

40. Mali Very similar to Ghana
Islam grew in region – most merchants and gov’t officials were of the Muslim faith
Timbuktu – key city and major hub of trade and Islamic education

41. Empire of Mali (cont.) Timbuktu Major trading hub
Gold, slaves, and salt
Center of Islamic learning ~13th century
150 Islamic schools
Cosmopolitan community
Religious and ethnic toleration common

42. Timbuktu-”Heavenly Clay”

43. Timbuktu Rooftop, Mosque

44. Marketplace near the Niger River

45. Mosque in Gao

46. Great Mosque at Djenne, Mali

47. Distant Mosque at Djenne, Mali

48. Sundiata [1210-1260] “Lion Prince”
“Lion Prince”

50. Pilgrimage across Africa to Mecca in Arabia
Empire of Mali (cont.)
Mansa Musa
Reigned
Pilgrimage across Africa to Mecca in Arabia
Empire declined with Musa’s death

51. Mansa Musa [r ]

52. European Map

53. Empire of Songhai,
The last and largest of the Sudanese empires
Sunni Ali
Reigned
Conquered people paid tribute
Generally ran their own affairs

54. Songhai Empire [15c-16c]
SALT
GOLD

55. Songhai (or Songhay) Had seceded from Mali in 1375
Great traders and warriors
Last and largest of western Sudanese empires

56. Sunni Ali [r.1464-1492] First leader after capture of Timbuktu
Led building of Songhai Empire

57. Empire of Songhai (cont.)
-- Askia Muhammad Toure
Reigned
Devout Moslem

58. Askia Mohammed [r ]
Led successful revolt against Sunni Ali’s son
Enlarged empire significantly

59. Askia Mohammed’s Tomb [1443-1538]
Gao, Mali

60. Empire of Songhai (cont.)
Expanded empire
Centralized administration of the empire
Substituted taxation for tribute

61. Established bureaucratic trade regulation
Empire of Songhai
Established bureaucratic trade regulation
Used his power to spread Islam within the empire

62. Empire of Songhai (cont.)
Askia Daud
Reigned
Songhai failed to adapt to changing political atmosphere
Portuguese established trading centers along the Guinea coast

63. Empire of Songhai
Arab rulers of North Africa threatened with loss of trade
King of Morocco sent mercenaries to Songhai in 1591

64. Empire of Songhai Defeated the Songhai army and empire fell apart
When Moroccans left the region
West Africa without a government powerful enough to stop the Portuguese

65. West African Forest Region
Cultural diversification
Small powerful kingdoms
Benin City
Little influenced by Islam or Christianity

66. West African Forest Region
Trading center
Gold, peppers, ivory, and slaves
By 17th century dependent on slave trade

67. V. Kongo and Angola
Kongo-Angola region
Trade with the interior of the continent
Late 15th century rulers more welcoming of Portuguese
Nzinga Mbemba tried to convert kingdom to Christianity
Unrest, Portuguese greed, and slave trade destroy the kingdom

68. 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

69. 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

70. Women (cont.) Sande: a secret society for women
Taught sex education to girls
Initiated into adulthood
(Poro: male secret society)

71. Both societies established standards of Male and female conduct
Women (cont.)
Both societies established standards of
Male and female conduct
Emphasized female virtue and male honor

72. Class and Slavery Royalty
Landed nobles, warriors, peasants and bureaucrats
Lower classes
Artisans and laborers: blacksmiths, butchers, tanners, and oral historians called griots

73. 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

74. 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

75. 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

76. Religion Introduced by Arab traders
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

77. Religion (cont.) Indigenous religions Strongest in forest areas
Polytheistic and animistic
One creator God and a host of lesser gods

78. Religion (cont.) Saw the force of God in all things
Ancestor worship, magicians, and oracles
Ceremonies and animal sacrifices

79. 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

80. Literature Oral histories, poetry, and tales
Specially trained poets and musicians
Served kings and nobles
Views of common people also represented

81. Literature Prose tales Human characters
Tales about creation, success, romance
Animal characters
“Trickster tales”
Entertained and taught lessons

82. 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.