chapter 25 Flashcards
africa and the atlantic world
How many times did Thomas Peters cross the Atlantic Ocean in his life?
4 times
Who were the Black Pioneers?
a company of escaped slaves who fought to maintain British rule in the colonies
Where in North America were Blacks legally free, but ruling elites still forced them to till marginal lands and live in segregated villages?
Nova Scotia
How and where did Thomas Peters die?
died of malarial fever after arriving in Sierra Leone
What was significant about Thomas Peters’ life?
he personified the links connected the lands of the Atlantic Ocean basin
What sub-Saharan African empire replaced Ghana in the 13th century as the preeminent power in west Africa?
the Mali empire
- continued Ghana policy of controlling trans-Saharan trade
What state replaced the Mali empire in the 15th century?
Songhay empire
What trading city was the Songhay empire based in?
Gao
What did the Songhay ruler Sunni Ali do that was significant towards the rejection of Mali authority and solidification of the Songhay empire?
- embarked on campaign to conquer neighbors and consolidated Songhay empire
- brought important trading cities of Timbuktu and Jenne under his control, used wealth to dominate Niger valley
Describe Sunni Ali’s elaborate administrative and military apparatus.
- appointed governors who oversaw provinces
- instituted hierarchy of command that turned army into effective military force
- created imperial navy to patrol Niger River
All Songhay emperors practiced what religion?
Islam, they were all Muslim and supported the construction of mosques, schools, and universities, valued Islam as cultural foundation for cooperation with other Islamic states without abandoning traditional beliefs
How did the Songhay empire fall?
To attack from a musket-bearing Moroccan army, and subject peoples revolted against Songhay domination
The increasing prominence of __________ ________ in west African society worked against the interests of imperial states (like Songhay and Mali) which had relied on control of _____________ ______ to finance their empires.
Atlantic trade; trans-Saharan trade
With the fall of the Songhay empire, the kingdom of Kanem-Bornu rose to dominate the region around _______ ______.
Lake Chad
Who disrupted trade patterns enough to send Swahili cities into a decline from which they never fully recovered in the early 15th century?
the Portuguese
How did Vasco da Gama contribute to the collapse of Swahili cities?
His voyages to India prompted skirmishes with local forces, and later forced payment of tribute
- with greater exertion of the power over Swahili ports, the Portuguese launched a naval expedition, and soon built administrative centers in hopes of controlling trade in east Africa
How did the Portuguese establish close political and diplomatic relations with the kings of Kongo?
- supplied kings with advisors
- provided military garrison to support kings and protect Portuguese interests
- brought tailors, shoemakers, masons, miners, and priests to Kongo
What did the kings of Kongo do to establish closer relations with the Portuguese monarchy?
Converted to Christianity
What about Christianity made it appealing to the kings of Kongo?
- religion provided strong endorsement for their monarchical rule
- saints of Roman Catholic church similar to spirits long recognized in Kongolese religion
What was King Nzinga Mbemba of Kongo also known as?
King Alfonso I (r. 1506-1542)
- changed his name to be more Catholic, and appeal to Portuguese
What was the Kongo capital?
Mbanza, known to Europeans as Sao Salvador
Why did contemporaries refer to the Kongo capital of Mbanza as “Kongo of the Bell”?
it had so many churches during the sixteenth century due to King Alfonso I’s zealous promotion of Christianity
In exchange for textiles, weapons, advisors, and artisans that they brought to Kongo, the Portuguese sought what?
high-value merchandise like copper, ivory, and most of all, slaves
How did relations between the Portuguese and the Kongo deteriorate?
- Portuguese agents began to pursue opportunities south of Kongo, colonists to the south went to war with Kongo
- Portuguese merchants withdrew from Kongo in search of more profitable business in kingdom of Ndongo to the south
By what century did the kingdom of Kongo largely disintegrate?
18th century
What did the Portuguese refer to the kingdom of Ndongo as?
Angola, from the title of the king, “ngola”
What contributed to the rise of the kingdom of Ndongo/fueled their wealth?
trading directly with Portuguese merchants rather than through Kongolese intermediaries
Why did the Portuguese campaign in Ndongo?
To establish a colony that would support large-scale trading in slaves
What was one of the reasons conquest of Angola took so long?
Queen Nzinga led spirited resistance against Portuguese forces for forty years
What were Queen Nzinga’s goals for the kingdom of Ndongo?
- drive the Portuguese from her land
- expel the Dutch
- create vast central African empire embracing entire lower Congo basin
What two factors gave the Portuguese an advantage over Ndongo and allowed them to further extend their influence in central Africa?
powerful arms and considerable wealth
What was the first European colony in sub-Saharan Africa?
Angola
In the south, as in central Africa, regional kingdoms dominated ________ ______.
political affairs
Where was the Great Zimbabwe built?
near the city of Nyanda in modern Zimbabwe
Who was an African Queen known for dressing like a male warrior, and traveling with a group of “concubines” who were men dressed as women companions?
Queen Nzinga (r. 1623-1663)
What fueled the emergence of regional kingdoms in south Africa?
kingdoms emerged as early as 11th century with influence of trade–merchants from coastal regions like Swahili cities sought gold, ivory, and slaves from interior regions of south Africa
- able to control local commerce, increase wealth, power and extend authority
Europeans became especially active in south African affairs after _______ _________ built a trading post at _______ ______ in 1652.
Dutch mariners; Cape Town
What people did Dutch mariners encounter in builing their trading post at Cape Town?
Khoikhoi people, whom they referred to as Hottentots
What allowed Dutch mariners such great advantage over the Khoikhoi people?
firearms.
- claimed land for themselves and commanded Khoikhoi labor with ease
What religion was most popular in the commerical centers of west Africa and the Swahili city-states of east Africa?
ISLAM
- merchants travel and bring their religion with them!!
What west African trading city had a prominent Islamic university and 180 schools that taught the Quran?
Timbuktu
What positive implications did African syncretic Islam have on African society?
- made a place for African beliefs in spirits and magic
- permitted men and women to associate with each other on more familiar terms (opposed to other Islamic lands that were more strictly patriarchical)
How did more devout Muslims react to the syncretic African Islam?
thought to be “impure” and “offensive”
- travelers especially shocked by the freedoms granted to women and their lack of modesty
Before they were a group of zealous Muslims who advocated for the practice of a more pure Islam, who were the Fulani?
a pastoral people who for centuries kept herds of cattle in the savannas of west Africa
How did the Fulani impose their own brand of Islam in west Africa?
- led series of military campaigns
- founded powerful states now known as Guinea, Senegal, Mali, and northern Nigeria
- promoted spread of Islam beyond the cities to countryside
- established Islamic schools in remote towns and villages
- laid foundations for further Islamic state building in 19th and 20th centuries
Describe the foundational beliefs of African religion.
- many African peoples recognized a supreme, remote creator god
- devoted most of attention to powerful spirits who were thought to intervene directly in human affairs
- associated spirits with prominent geographic features
- power of ancestors’ spirits to determine descendants’ fates
Did the Fulani stamp out African religions and/or eliminate indigenous elements from syncretic Islam practiced in west Africa?
NO
Beyond the ___________, Christian teachings blended with African traditions to form syncretic cults.
ruling courts
Describe a way in which African traditions were blended with Christian teachings.
- some Africans regarded Christian missionaries as magicians
- wore crosses and other Christian symbols as amulets to ward off danger from angry spirits
What century did the Antonian movement flourish?
early 18th century
Who started the Antonian movement and how?
movement began in 1704 when Dona Beatriz proclaimed that St. Anthony of Padua had possessed her and chosen her to communicate his messages.
Who did Dona Beatriz believe had possessed her and chosen her to communicate his message?
St. Anthony of Padua
Who was St. Anthony of Padua, and why was he important to the Antonian movement?
- born in Lisbon, died near Padua in Italy where his followers build large church in his honor
- extremely popular amongst Portuguese Christians who introduced his cult to Kongo
- Dona Beatriz believed she was possessed by him, and started Antonian movement
What did Dona Beatriz gain a reputation for as she spread St. Anthony’s messages?
working miracles and curing diseases
What was the African form of Christianity that Dona Beatriz promoted with her prominence?
- taught that Jesus Christ had been a black African man
- taught that Kongo was the true holy land of Christianity
- heaven was for Africans
How did Dona Beatriz use her African form of Christianity to influence political affairs?
- urged Kongolese to ignore European missionaries and heed her disciples instead
- sought to harness widespread popular interest in her teachings and use to end wars plaguing Kongo
Because Dona Beatriz was a serious challenge to Christian missionaries in Kongo, what did they do to Beatriz?
persuaded King Pedro IV of Kongo to arrest prophetess on suspicion of heresy in 1706
- after examination determined her a false prophet, and sentenced her to death and burned at the stake
After Beatriz’s death, how did her disciples continue her work?
1708: army of almost 20,000 Antonians challenged King Pedro (who ordered Dona Beatriz’s killing) considering an unworthy ruler
Why was the Antonian movement significant in the greater efforts of Africans blending colonial religions with their inherited paganist beliefs?
illustrated the tendency of Kongolese Christians to fashion a faith that reflected their own needs and concerns as well as the interests of European missionaries
How did European peoples bring change to African society in early modern times, in terms of the way their societies were organized?
- African societies/villages/kinship groups emphasized production and cultivation of their own goods and products
- trade brough access to European textiles and metal goods
- European products of different materials and styles became popular as complements to native African wares
Before Europeans arrived and changed African social organization, how did African societies organize themselves?
originally, kinship groups were most important social units, agricultural villages and clans under leadership of prominent individuals organized affairs of kinship groups
What was the most important American crop to sub-Saharan Africa?
manioc, because of its high yield and because it thrived in tropical soils
- bread made from manioc flour became staple food in west and central Africa
Why was population growth in Africa especially striking?
demographic expansion took place precisely when millions of Africans underwent involuntary, forced migration to destinations in the Caribbean and the Americas
Of all the processes that linked Africa to the larger Atlantic world in early modern times, the most momentous was…?
the Atlantic slave trade
In exchange for slaves, African peoples mainly received what manufactured product?
firearms, used to strengthen military forces (that then sought further recruits for the slave trade)
Before African slaves were excessively shipped and traded throughout the world, where had the practice of slavery developed?
common throughout Africa after Bantu migrations spread agriculture to all parts of the continent
- most slaves came from ranks of war captives, criminals, and individuals expelled from clans
What kind of work did African slaves do in earlier developments of slavery throughout Africa?
- worked as cultivators in societies far from homes
- administrators, soldiers, or even highly placed advisors
What encouraged Songhay emperors to employ slaves as administrators or soldiers?
distrusted free nobles whom they considered excessively ambitious and undependable
How was African slavery different from the slavery practiced in Europe, Asia, and other lands?
African law did not recognize private property, but vested ownership of land in communities:
- wealth and power in Africa came from control over human labor that made land productive, not possession of land
- slaves became a form of private investment, means of measuring wealth
- assimilated slaves into kinship groups
The greater Atlantic slave trade began when _________ merchants organized the sale and distribution of African slaves to destinations in the Mediterranean basin, southwest Asia, India, and southeast Asia and China.
Muslim, initiated a millenium and more of Islamic slave trade
When Europeans began to pursue commercial interests in ________ and the ___________, the slave trade expanded dramatically.
Africa; Americas
The earliest European slave traders were __________ explorers who reconnoitered the west African coast in the mid-15th century.
Portuguese
Before the notion of purchasing slaves, Portuguese mariners obtained slaves through what?
raids
- encountered stiff resistance when attempting to capture slaves–by 1460 they were delivered 500 slaves per year to Portugal and Spain
In Europe, what kind of work did slaves do?
worked as miners, porters, or domestic servants, since free peasants and serfs cultivated the land
What were two factors that encouraged the use and increased the demand of slave labor in Portuguese plantations of south America?
- Portuguese population was too small to provide large numbers of colonists for labor
- Sugar planters on their various plantations called for slaves in increasing quantities
By the 1520s, some ___________ slaves per year went to the Portuguese plantation at Sao Tomé.
two thousand
During the 1530s, Portuguese planters imported slaves directly from Kongo and Angola to _______.
Brazil
What became the wealthiest of the sugar-producing lands of the western hemisphere?
Brazil
What encouraged Spanish conquerors to seek laborers to work their lands in the Caribbean and the Americas?
imported diseases ravaged indigenous populations and conquerors found themselves in possession of vast stretches of land but few laborers to work it
- native peoples frequently revolted against their overlords or fled
When did the first shipment of slaves go directly from west Africa to the Carribean?
1518
During the 1520s, Spanish authorities introduced slaves to where?
Mexico, where they worked as cultivators and miners
What did Europeans trade in the first leg of the triangular trade?
Europeans carried horses and European manufactured goods (cloth, metalwares, and especially firearms) to sub-Saharan Africa, where they exchanged for slaves
What did Europeans trade in the second leg of triangular trade?
Europeans took enslaved Africans to Carribean and American destinations
After being brought to the Carribean and the Americas, merchants sold slaves to plantation owners for _______________ what they had cost on the African coast.
two to three times
As European demand for slaves grew, how did tensions amongst African chieftains and relations between individuals change?
- chieftains organized trading parties
- many launched wards for the purpose of capturing victims for the slave trade
What was the middle passage?
the trans-Atlantic journey aboard filthy and crowded slave ships
DId ships crews attempt to preserve the lives of their slaves, or did they not care?
Yes, but only because they needed them for profit later
- they used tools to pry open the mouths of those who refused to eat, and also pitched sick individuals into the ocean rather than have them infect others or waste limited supplies of food
- as volume of trade grew, ships were bigger and more water and nourishment to decrease mortality rates
How long did the journey to Caribbean and American destinations take from Africa?
took four to six weeks
During early days of slave trade on particularly cramped ships, mortality sometimes exceeded __ percent.
50
Before 1600 the Atlantic slave trade operated on a ______ scale. On average about __________ slaves left Africa annually during the late 15th and 16th centuries.
modest; 2,000
During the 17th century, slave exports rose dramatically to ______ per year
20,000
When did the high point of the slave trade come?
during the 18th century, when the number of slaves exported to the Americas averaged 55,000 per year
From beginning to end, the Atlantic slave trade brought about the involuntary migration of about _______ _______ Africans to the western hemisphere?
12 million
How many slaves died resisting seizure or during captivity before arriving at their intended destination?
4 million
Which African kingdoms largely escaped the slave trade?
Rwanda, Bugunda, on the great lakes, and herding societies of Masai and Turkana of east Africa
Why did some African kingdoms escape the slave trade?
- because they resisted it
- because their lands were distant from the major slave ports on the west African coast
What African peoples took advantage of the slave trade to obtain firearms from European merchants and build powerful states in west Africa?
Asante, Dahomey, and Oyo peoples
- from raiding, taking captives, and selling slaves to Europeans, able to profit handsomely from trade
Although Africa as a whole experienced demographic growth, individual societies…?
experienced severe losses because of the slave trade
- West African societies like Senegal and Angola especially vulnerable to slave raiding because of their proximity to active ports
About how many peoples did the Atlantic slave trade deprive African societies of?
16 million, but several million others consumed by continuing Islamic slave trade in early modern era
Approximately two-thirds of all slaves were ____ ___ between fourteen and thirty-five years of age.
young men
What did imbalance in sex ratios throughout slave trade reflect?
- European preference for men in their physical prime
- had best potential for providing heavy labor over extended period of time - coincided with desire of African slavers to retain female slaves for use in households
What implications did the gender imbalance of slaves have on colonial America?
plantation owners and slavers needed to look constantly to Africa as a source for new slaves
What implications did the gender imbalance of slaves have on sub-Saharan societies?
- encouraged polygamy, as societies were mostly female
- women took on duties that earlier had been the responsibility of men
Where was the need to replenish male slave populations especially acute?
on Caribbean sugar plantations, death rates were especially high
Violence in African societies escalated especially after the late _________, when African peoples increasingly exchanged slaves for European firearms.
17th century
How did the exchange of firearms, of all commodities, encourage greater violence amongst African societies?
Had the Europeans traded anything else besides firearms, they probably wouldn’t have broken out into more violence. African peoples used this increasing supply of firearms to capture more slaves and complete more successful slave raids
How did the kingdom of Dahomey expand rapidly?
- increasing its arsenal of firearms
- maintaining constant flow of slaves to the coast
Why was the Dahomey kingdom significant in their slave-raiding force?
illustrated the potential of the slave trade to alter the patterns of African politics and society
What was the African diaspora?
the dispersal of African peoples and their descendants
Most African slaves went to ________ in the tropical and subtropical regions of the western hemisphere.
plantations
Where were the first plantations established?
Spanish colonists established the first plantation of the island of Hispaniola in 1516
During the 17th century, ______ rivaled sugar as a profitable product.
tobacco
What was the common element amongst Caribbean and American plantations?
all specialized in the production of some agricultural crop in high demand
What were common features of plantations?
- purpose was to profit from the production and export of commercial crops
- plantations relied almost exclusively on slave labor
- featured a sharp racial division of labor
- small numbers of European or Euro-American supervisors governed plantation affairs, and African or African American slaves performed most of community’s physical labor
What was distinct about plantations in the Caribbean and South America?
- slave populations usually unable to sustain populations, many fell victim to tropical diseases like malaria or yellow fever
- brutal working conditions
- low rates of reproduction
Of all the slaves delivered from Africa to the western hemisphere, about ____ went to the Caribbean, and _____ went to Brazil.
half; one-third
Only about __ percent of enslaved Africans went to North American destinations.
5
What made plantations/slavery in North America distinct?
- diseases less threatening
- imported larger numbers of female slaves, encouraged slaves to form families and bear children, especially during 18th century when prices of slaves rose dramatically
How did slaves resist their slave owners?
- sabotaged plantation equipment or work routines
- running away from plantation community
- worked slowly for masters
What were runaway slaves known as?
maroons
What did maroons do after they ran away?
built their own self-governing communities, raided other communities, gained military experience, organized escaped slaves into effective military forces
What was the most dramatic form of resistance to slavery?
slave revolt
Slave revolts mostly failed to bring slavery to an end because their European ruling elites had…?
access to arms, horses, and military forces that extinguished most rebellions
While slave revolts were mostly unsuccessful in abolishing slavery, which revolt actually succeeded in doing so?
in the French sugar colony of Saint-Domingue
What did the slaves of Saint-Domingue do after abolishing slavery as an institution in 1793?
- declared independence from France
renamed island Haiti - established self-governing republic in 1804
- inspired slaves throughout western hemisphere
What did the slaves of Saint-Domingue rename the island after declaring independence from the French?
Haiti
Without the labor of enslaved African peoples and their African-American descendants, what wouldn’t have been possible?
the emergence of prosperous new societies in the Americas during the early modern era
The crops and products of slave labor flowed disproportionately to whom?
European peoples and their Euro-American descendants
_______ languages were the dominant tongues in the slave societies of the western hemisphere, but _______ languages also influenced communication.
European; African
Creole languages combined aspects of what two langauges?
drew of several African and European languages
Slaves in South Carolina communicated in the creole language of what?
Gullah
Slaves in Georgia communicated in the creole language of what?
Geechee
Most Africans and African-Americans did not practice European Christianity but rather…?
a syncretic faith that made considerable room for African interests and traditions
What were some exceedingly popular African Christianity faiths amongst slaves?
Voudou in Haiti
Santeria in Cuba
Candomblé in Brazil
How did African-American religions draw inspiration from Christianity?
- made use of European Christian paraphernalia
- associated African deities with Christian saints
- relied heavily on African rituals
- preserved beliefs in spirits and supernatural powers
What did African music represent to slaves?
a sense of cultural grounding and belonging, home, and community
How did slaves fashion a new form of musical tradition in their American plantations?
- played instruments that resembled African instruments
- adapted west African call-and-response patterns of singing to rhythms of field work on plantations
- evolved to mirror difficult and often chaotic circumstances of black life in the Americas
What are some examples of African foods that were spread amongst Caribbean and American societies?
combined African okra with European-style sauteéd vegetables and American shellfish= gumbo
- introduced rice cultivation
The _______ and _____ revolutions stimulated the abolitionist cause.
American; French
What did Americans call for in their revolution?
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
What did the French call for in their revolution?
liberty, equality, and fraternity
Who published an autobiography detailing experiences as a slave and as a free man, contributing greatly to the abolitionist movement, strengthening antislavery movement in England?
Olaudah Equiano
When did Olaudah Equiano buy his freedom?
1766
Apart from moral and political arguments, economic forces through what contributed to the end of slavery and the slave trade?
the decreasing profitability of slavery
- Europeans shifted investments from sugarcane and slaves to newly emerging manufacturing industries
How did Europeans begin shifting their economic investments and resources–shifts that encouraged the end of the slave trade?
- realized wage labor in factories was cheaper than slave labor on plantations
- free workers spent their income on manufactured goods
- European investors wanted to leave Africans in Africa where they could secure raw materials and buy manufactured goods in exchange
In 1803, who abolished trade in slaves?
Denmark
When did the United States abolish trade in slaves?
1808
The last documented ship that carried slaves across the Atlantic arrived in Cuba when?
1867
The illegal commerce of slaves still continued even after the abolition of slave trade, but who helped prevent this trade?
British naval squadrons prevented trade by patrolling west coast of Africa and conducting search and seizure operations, helped it ground to a halt
Other forms of slavery including debt bondage, contract labor, sham adoptions, servile marriages, and other forms of servitude still oppress more than ________ people.
two hundred million, mostly in Africa, south Asia, and Latin America
When did the United States abolish slavery as an institution?
1865
