African History - Final Exam Flashcards
Peyton Skipwith
- born enslaved in Virginia in 1800
- emancipated at 33 years old by his slave owner John Cocke
- Cocke supported the migration of free slaves to Liberia (colony in West Africa)
- Skipwith went to Liberia with his wife and six kids, and wrote letters to Cocke describing what a struggle it was to live there (loved ones were dying and work was difficult to find)
Why important: It shows us how initial attempts at civilization were brutal
“Legitimate” Trade
- Europeans & Africans
- Slave trade to ‘legitimate’ trade
- During the industrial revolution 1760-1830
- Showed how Europeans approached Africa with new needs
- palm oil, rubber, adhesive
“Treaties with Barbarians”
Anti-slavery treaties with African leaders which resulted in a considerable shift in power from indigenous people to British monarchs. James Stephen, a British lawyer and politician who was associated with the abolitionist movement argued that these were not treaties rather they were agreements that could be amended as they saw fit. Seen as dealing with barbarians as opposed to civilized people.
Quinine
This drug allowed Europeans to now survive disease in Africa. West Africa was dubbed “white man’s grave” . The drug was discovered in the 17th century and became popular in the mid-1800s
Why important: helped facilitate colonial expansion within Africa.
The Berlin Conference
Called for by Otto von Bismark, Chancellor of Germany, as well as other European nations
- 1884-1885
- discuss how land should be divided up in Africa
- up to this point, colonial contact with Africa had been primarily through trading posts
William Melton
- British official in the 1870s who served as a magistrate
- was responsible for Abina’s case in 1876
- Was manipulated by slaveowners who were on the jury, but believe in doing what was right - to that point he was a very fair judge and he frequently ruled in favor of enslaved individuals almost as often as in favor of the slave owner
Yowah
“Yaw Awoah” was the man who sold Abina to Quamina Eddoo in 1876
- When Abina sues, he testifies that he did not sell her
Why important: shows how both African and European leaders can work together to turn a blind eye to slavery problems
Cash Crops
These crops were generally sold for a profit.
- monocrop agriculture - farmers would sell the one crop they grew to obtain everything else they needed
- in 1800 most african farmers were substence farmers meaning that they didn’t grow edible things
- Europe began demanding crops that only Africa could produce and cash cropping became more widespread through the 18th & 19th centuries
Why important: it prohibits economic growth because the farmers were dependent on European markets and their demand
Indigenat
Form of brutal direct rule
- End of the 19th century (at at the turn of the century)
- came off the heals of the Berlin Conference
- a set of laws that gave inferior legal status to Africans in French Colonies, called “indigines” where they were denied political participation
- Had a rule that males over the age of 15 had to give French colonial governing officials 2 weeks of labor (as a labor tax)
- This happened first in Algeria but then spread across the whole Colonial French Empire
Why important: Example of how economic transformations spurred colonial rule.
Roger Casement’s Report
- published by journalist Roger Casement in 1904
- documented the violent system of enforcing rubber taxes that occurred in the Belgian Congo
- Rubber came from sap of branches, but people had to go father and farther to harvest new trees
- individuals who didn’t meet quota got tortured/beaten
- there was a lot of starvation
Why important: extreme example of how colonial rule affected Africa - representative of the Congo, but not colonial rule at large
Kimberly
- in present Northern Cape of Africa
- 1867 two children found a large diamond
- 1891 De Beers mining company took over and set up a mining sytem
- Black Africans flocked there for work - 100K laborers, separated from family for long-term contracts - worked in horrendous working conditions (20% mortality rate)
- 14.5M carats of diamond were found (90% of the World’s diamonds)
- Diamond rush to Kimberly from all over the world kicked the blacks out
F.D. Lugard
- a man who pushed for British colonial rule
- argued that it needed to become a ‘fad’ and British colonies had to hold on to existing colonies
- He was a colonial officer/governor of Nigeria
- 1922 he wrote a textbook with recommendations for British colonial rule:
- Taxation is a sign of civilization
- Appoint a chief if there isn’t one
- Take efforts to understand islam
- Don’t spend too much money on government
Panama Canal
Built 1904-1914 accross the narrow straight land in Panama
- France started the project but then US took it over
- 77 mi long/series of locks/cost $8.6B in today’s currency
- 1906 - 80% hospitalized due to dangerous work/malaria/yellow fevor
Why important: helped facilitate maritime trading
The Great Migration
- 1916-1930 - 1.6M people (primarily blacks) went from South to North in the United States
- The results included segregation and extreme racial tensions
- Example: 1919 race riot in Chicago - much damage/houses burned & in general white racism in the south
African Association
- formed by Henry Sylvester in 1897 to promote/protect the interests of all Africans
- example of the Pan-African Movement whose aim was to bring individuals of African descent together to speak on their own behalf
- 1900 - Sylvester plans the Pan-African Conference in London to different nations of the World
Why important: Discussions on human rights - it doesn’t do much, but set the wheel in motion for future changes
