Africa
Political
vVaried geography (coastal, savanna, desert, rainforest acting as a mirror like image moving out from the equator) = diverse cultures
vPower shared among village people (decisions by consensus and councils)
vPowerful trading empires of west developed - Ghana, Mali, & Songhai (West African Kingdoms)
vGhana: 800 -1000; $ from gold trade, Muslim influences (military, gov't, Arabic writing, architectural styles)
but distinct culture preserved
vMali: 1200-1450; conquers Ghana, most powerful ruler was Mansa Musa (converted to Islam, based laws on
the Quran, went on hajj), Timbuktu (center of Muslim learning)
vSonghai: 1450-1600; largest West African state, efficient bureaucracy
vEthiopia: East African empire, trade network connecting Africa, India, & Mediterranean; introduced to
Christianity due to location near Red Sea and Middle East; defeats Italy during the Scramble for Africa but
taken over under Mussolini (doesn't last)
vBenin: West African civilization in rain forests, traded ivory, pepper, & slaves, dealt w/ Portuguese in 1500s
(learned to caste bronze sculptures)
vGreat Zimbabwe: 1500s powerful centralized city-state in rainforests of Sub-Saharan Africa by the Limpopo
River; dominated gold trade & commerce w/ Swahili merchants but declined due to unknown reasons vEast African city-states: Mogadishu, Kilwa, Sofala, etc.; trade w/ Arab & Persian merchants & India; cultural
blending (Arabic + Bantu = Swahili)
Economic
vAfrica's biggest contribution to global trade has been raw materials and slaves
vEarly trading networks (gold, salt, iron, copper, & minerals) such as Indian Ocean trade network (dominated
by Muslim merchants) & the Asian sea trade (e.g. China would manufacture goods & SEA spice islands
would provide the raw materials) thrived peacefully
vWest African empires traded gold (Wangara) from savanna for salt from (Taghaza)Sahara
vSlave trade (Muslim merchants bought for domestics)
vPortuguese arrive in the late 1400s (Prince Henry the Navigator sets up schools to map the East coast of
Africa to find a trade route to Asia w/o middlemen)à1652, Cape Colony set up in southern tip of Africa by
Dutch; British take Cape Colony in 1806 - independence granted in 1910 vIntroduction of crops and animals from Europe & Asia
vCoffee native to Africa but sugar would be grown after it comes in from South Asia
Religion
vDifferent forms of animism (worshipped forces of nature w/ rituals)
vIslamization of North Africa began in late 600s as Umayyad conquested, Islamic merchants brought Islam to
East African city-states & West African Empires; but as Christianity spread during New Imperialism Islamic
conversion became somewhat violent,
vChristianity in Ethiopia; during slave trade, Portuguese missionaries introduced Chritianity to places like the
Kongo kingdom
Society
vBantu migrations = basic similarities in language/culture/farming techniques/tools in Sub-Saharan east, south and southeast; share cognates
vPopulation affected aversely by slave trade (families disrupted, unequal proportion between sexes as men were shipped to the New World yet introduction of New World crops like the potato would recover the populations
Innovations
vTimbuktu developed & manuscripts were translated in its universities vTraditional literature (folk tales) passed down orally by griots vDocuments used in law, religion, & history written in Arabic
Arts/Architecture
vCreated in ivory, wood, & bronze (particularly Benin Kingdom)
vJenne Mosque in Mali showed a cultural blending of Islamic architectural influences with native architecture vEthiopian Churches carved into the mts.
vClosely tied to animistic religion (statues & masks)
eNvironment
vPortuguese merchants began to set up trading posts on the West and East African coast in the 1500s
vCape Town was set up in the 1400s on the Southern tip; changed hands through the centuries
vSlave trade expanded w/ the European arrival = growth of triangular trade sent thousands of African slaves to
the New World to work in plantations (families & demography disrupted) but African slave traders &
kingdoms in alliance w/ the Europeans profited w/ new weapons & technology
vScramble for Africa in the 1800s would end all African independence (with exception of Liberia and Ethiopia)
vVaried geography (coastal, savanna, desert, rainforest acting as a mirror like image moving out from the equator) = diverse cultures
vPower shared among village people (decisions by consensus and councils)
vPowerful trading empires of west developed - Ghana, Mali, & Songhai (West African Kingdoms)
vGhana: 800 -1000; $ from gold trade, Muslim influences (military, gov't, Arabic writing, architectural styles)
but distinct culture preserved
vMali: 1200-1450; conquers Ghana, most powerful ruler was Mansa Musa (converted to Islam, based laws on
the Quran, went on hajj), Timbuktu (center of Muslim learning)
vSonghai: 1450-1600; largest West African state, efficient bureaucracy
vEthiopia: East African empire, trade network connecting Africa, India, & Mediterranean; introduced to
Christianity due to location near Red Sea and Middle East; defeats Italy during the Scramble for Africa but
taken over under Mussolini (doesn't last)
vBenin: West African civilization in rain forests, traded ivory, pepper, & slaves, dealt w/ Portuguese in 1500s
(learned to caste bronze sculptures)
vGreat Zimbabwe: 1500s powerful centralized city-state in rainforests of Sub-Saharan Africa by the Limpopo
River; dominated gold trade & commerce w/ Swahili merchants but declined due to unknown reasons vEast African city-states: Mogadishu, Kilwa, Sofala, etc.; trade w/ Arab & Persian merchants & India; cultural
blending (Arabic + Bantu = Swahili)
Economic
vAfrica's biggest contribution to global trade has been raw materials and slaves
vEarly trading networks (gold, salt, iron, copper, & minerals) such as Indian Ocean trade network (dominated
by Muslim merchants) & the Asian sea trade (e.g. China would manufacture goods & SEA spice islands
would provide the raw materials) thrived peacefully
vWest African empires traded gold (Wangara) from savanna for salt from (Taghaza)Sahara
vSlave trade (Muslim merchants bought for domestics)
vPortuguese arrive in the late 1400s (Prince Henry the Navigator sets up schools to map the East coast of
Africa to find a trade route to Asia w/o middlemen)à1652, Cape Colony set up in southern tip of Africa by
Dutch; British take Cape Colony in 1806 - independence granted in 1910 vIntroduction of crops and animals from Europe & Asia
vCoffee native to Africa but sugar would be grown after it comes in from South Asia
Religion
vDifferent forms of animism (worshipped forces of nature w/ rituals)
vIslamization of North Africa began in late 600s as Umayyad conquested, Islamic merchants brought Islam to
East African city-states & West African Empires; but as Christianity spread during New Imperialism Islamic
conversion became somewhat violent,
vChristianity in Ethiopia; during slave trade, Portuguese missionaries introduced Chritianity to places like the
Kongo kingdom
Society
vBantu migrations = basic similarities in language/culture/farming techniques/tools in Sub-Saharan east, south and southeast; share cognates
vPopulation affected aversely by slave trade (families disrupted, unequal proportion between sexes as men were shipped to the New World yet introduction of New World crops like the potato would recover the populations
Innovations
vTimbuktu developed & manuscripts were translated in its universities vTraditional literature (folk tales) passed down orally by griots vDocuments used in law, religion, & history written in Arabic
Arts/Architecture
vCreated in ivory, wood, & bronze (particularly Benin Kingdom)
vJenne Mosque in Mali showed a cultural blending of Islamic architectural influences with native architecture vEthiopian Churches carved into the mts.
vClosely tied to animistic religion (statues & masks)
eNvironment
vPortuguese merchants began to set up trading posts on the West and East African coast in the 1500s
vCape Town was set up in the 1400s on the Southern tip; changed hands through the centuries
vSlave trade expanded w/ the European arrival = growth of triangular trade sent thousands of African slaves to
the New World to work in plantations (families & demography disrupted) but African slave traders &
kingdoms in alliance w/ the Europeans profited w/ new weapons & technology
vScramble for Africa in the 1800s would end all African independence (with exception of Liberia and Ethiopia)