Week four- Africa in a historical perspective

Question 1

When did homo sapiens appear

Answer 1

around 150,000 to 200,000 years ago

Question 2

What evidence do we have of pastoralism

Answer 2

Rock based art

Question 3

What are the first evidence of agriculture

Answer 3

Agriculture ~1000BC
Forest zone- cultivation of root crops
Savanna zone- cultivation of grain crops

Question 4

What crop were planted during the agriculture revolution

Answer 4

Cereals, roots and tubers, oil crops, starch and sugar plants, vegetables, fruits, stimulants, Fiber plants (e.g., cotton)

Question 5

What are the major kingdoms of west Africa

Answer 5

Ghana (330 ad 1100ad)
Mali (1300 ad - 1400 ad)
Songhai (1400s to 15000s)

Question 6

What are the major kingdoms of southern Africa

Answer 6

Bantu states and Great Zimbabwe

Question 7

What are the major kingdoms of Eastern Africa

Answer 7

Kush and Akum

Question 8

Characteristics of the kush kingdom

Answer 8

AREA: Egypt & Northern Sudan (Nile valley).

Advanced architecture & agriculture

Economy: Processing Iron & Gold

Strong ties with Egypt

Very strong sense of nationhood

Collapse: Resource drain (Soils & forest resources)

Question 9

Characteristics of the Aksum kingdom

Answer 9

Located in present day Northern Ethiopia & Eritrea
Growth was precipitated by good climate and strategic location. A major player in the trade route between the Roman Empire and Ancient India
Their rulers called themselves King of Kings
Sphere of influence grew tremendously (Northern Sudan, Djibouti, Western Yamen…etc). Eventually defeated Kush
Embraced Christianity under the rule of Ezana (fl. 320 – 360 AD)
Mainly traded in Ivory and Gold.
Believed to have been defeated by Islamic Empire
Tradition claims Axum as the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the purported home of the Queen of Sheba.

Question 10

Characteristics of bantu

Answer 10

Migrated from West Central Africa. Bantu migrations started around 1000BC. One of the largest in SSA history
Population, conflict, land

Bantu migrants settled in most regions south of the Sahara

Over time, different groups developed their unique socio-cultural structures, agricultural societies

Question 10

Bantu influence in Africa

Answer 10

Hunter-gatherers agrarian societies
Iron axes, hoes

Crop dispersion

Iron smelting (history points to discovery)

Settled across most areas south of the Sahara

Question 10

Great Zimbabwe

Answer 10

Occupied Present-day Zimbabwe
The Shona people began building it in the 11th century till it was abandoned in the 15th century
Stone city of about 7.22 sq. km which could have housed 18000 people
Its people were skilled metalworkers
The city was part of a trade network linked to Kilwa and extending as far as China.
Traded gold & ivory, kept cattle
Mined gold (> 20 million ounces of gold extracted from the ground).
Fell due to decline in trade, exhaustion of gold mines, famine, political instability, water shortages

Question 10

The Ghana Empire

Answer 10

Located in present-day Mali, Senegal and Mauritania
Mined gold with iron tools
Traded gold across Sahara into northern Africa
Had a large army – they charged people for protection
Had a strong system of taxation and governance – imported salt (one gold dinar) and exported salt (two gold dinar) were taxed to raise money.
Imported goods included goods such as textiles, leather goods and ornaments. Main centre of trade was Koumbi Saleh (the capital of the Empire), playing an important role in the Trans-Sahara trade.
Ivory, horses, swords, spices, silks, and books from Europeans were also traded in.
A melting pot, spreading ideas, culture and technology

Question 10

The Shonghai Empire

Answer 10

Largest West African Empire
Captured trade center, Timbuktu
Controlled gold and salt trade
Very strong army.
The slave trade became an important part of the Songhai Empire.
Songhai Empire began to weaken due to internal strife and civil war

Question 10

The empire of Mali

Answer 10

Islamic empire
Traded gold, salt, ivory & slaves
Timbuktu - important political and cultural centre of empire.
Timbuktu thrived as the world epicentre for Islamic learning.
Established by Sundiata, Later Mansa Moussa took over

Question 11

East africa slave trade

Answer 11

5million Slaves
Driven by the sultanates of the Middle East.
African slaves used as sailors in Persia, pearl divers in the Gulf, soldiers in the Omani army and workers on the salt pans of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).
Many people were domestic slaves, working in rich households.
International transportation of EA slaves
Increased during the 18th and 19th century
Most slaves from Congo basin (Arab and Swahili traders responsible)
Mainly involved women and children. Women were taken as sex slaves.

Question 12

Trans Sahara slave trade

Answer 12

Occurred between Northern Africa and SSA

~9.4 million slaves exported between AD650 and 1900

Numerous deaths reported

Camels were used by the slave raiders

Question 13

Trans atlantic slave trade

Answer 13

Initial contacts were restricted to coastal trade.
Established kingdoms prevented Europeans from penetrating into the interior.
The trade included gold, ivory, cola nuts, and palm tree products in return for guns from Europe.
Starting from the 7th century A.D., slaves were a principal export from Africa.

Question 14

Triangular trade

Answer 14

Europe brought guns cloth, iron, and beer to Africa. Africa to Caribbeans brought slaves. Caribbeans to North American slaves sugar and molasses. Caribbean and North America to Europe whale oil, lumber, furs, rice silk indigo, tobacco, sugar, molasses, and wood. Europe to North America manufactured goods and luxuries. North America to Africa rum, iron, gunpowder, cloth, and tools

Question 15

slavery in Africa

Answer 15

The number of slaves?
10 to 15 million slaves exported via Atlantic Ocean.
17 Million minus dead (UNESCO)

Men, Women and Children

Source of labour for mines and plantations in the Americas and the Caribbean (The New World).

Main slave traders: the English, Danes, Dutch, Swedes, French, Portuguese, etc.

Question 16

Brutal conditions

Answer 16

People forced to travel long distances up to 100 days to coast;
Kept at coast for 200 days or more.
Many people perished on the way (1/2 never reached their final destinations.
Castles built to facilitate slave trading.

Question 17

What is a significant feature of the Elmina Castle in Ghana

Answer 17

Slaves awaiting to board boats saw the door of no return often the last visual they would see of africa

Question 18

Implications of the slave trade

Answer 18

Loss of tremendous human life from numerous societies (millions of people) over 400 years

Disrupted, transformed political-economy of the region:
increase in warfare, guns & political rivalry throughout region
development of slave-trading states and rulers
Compromised agrarian growth

Disrupted economic, food and social systems throughout the region – many of these impacts are still visible today;

Psycho-social implications for culture & society.

Question 19

The end of the slave trade

Answer 19

No longer of major economic benefit to industrial revolution in Europe

England banned slave trade in 1807; France, Holland and US followed

England enforced ban using navy – although slave trade still flourished during this period

Slavery not abolished in US until 1864; in British Caribbean 1883.

Question 20

Colonial rule

Answer 20

In 1870, nine tenths of Africa was still under Africa
But by 1914, nine tenths was under European control.
Borders based on European interests
Often divided people and former states
Few colonial officials appointed with complete authority and privilege.

Question 20

The partition of Africa

Answer 20

The invasion, occupation, division, and colonisation of African territory by European powers during a short period known to historians as the New Imperialism (between 1881 and 1914).

The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 formalized what has become known as the ‘Scramble for Africa’. European powers arbitrarily partitioned Africa and began administrating their new colonies.

Question 21

What three places weren’t colonized

Answer 21

Liberia, Sierra Leon, and Ethiopia

Question 22

Motivating factor for scramble for africa

Answer 22

Acquisition of new scientific and geographical knowledge for the benefit of Europe.

The desire to spread Europe’s civilization and Christianity.

Efforts to bolster Europe’s grandeur and economic prowess (Grant, 2015).

Question 23

European settlers colonies

Answer 23

Best agricultural land allocated to white European settlers (e.g. 90% of land in South Africa; 2 million ha in Kenyan highlands)
Restrictions on crops Africans could grow, where they could sell crops;
Forced labour for railways, roads, agriculture;
Hut tax (a type of taxation on household basis) forced Africans to work as labourers on European estates and in mines.
Malawi
Ghana
Botswana
Zimbabwe

Question 24

Mining under colonial rule

Answer 24

Diamonds and Gold (South Africa) Copper (Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, Belgian Congo, now DR. Congo)

Poor working conditions & low wages e.g. between 1900-1933 over 30,000 men lost lives in southern Rhodesia due to disease and working conditions;

Other colonies used as labour reserves (Ghana/Gold Coast)

Question 25

positive impacts

Answer 25

Development of infrastructure.
Roads
Railways
Schools
Medical facilities

Question 26

Colonial legacy

Answer 26

Increased uneven terms of trade: economies reliant on 1-2 primary commodities, no manufacturing, destruction of local industry; designed to benefit European settlers & companies

Roads, railways, infrastructure built for export to Europe

Land inequalities intensified; food production reduced.
Social, class and ethnic divisions widened, fostered and hardened;

Establishment of repressive states built on corruption and elite class seeking individual interests.

Limited social services (health, education) centred on European settler communities and African workers;

Education through missionaries, Eurocentric, implicitly racist.

Irrational national borders -> led to a large number of land-locked countries.
Roads and railways  typically extended from port cities to regions rich in resources.
Educational systems emphasized rote learning.
English/French as medium of instruction -> local languages not encouraged.
Ethnic tensions -> national boundaries were cut through towns & villages

Question 27

Who was Mary Kingsley

Answer 27

Mary recorded a vast amount of data on the geography of Africa

Question 28

What happened in rwanda

Answer 28

When the german were in control they put the Tutsi in colonial power and it became a trigger for the genocide that would later happen

Question 29

Did colonialism distort contemporary African development

Answer 29

Yes: In equatorial Africa, rural communities are at the point of collapse because of centuries of outside intervention

Case study of Gabon, Congo and CAR

Due to French colonial legacy, forests and lands are being controlled by state institutions whose main goal is to enrich indigenous elites and outside commercial interests.

Colonial patterns of resource extraction has not really ended
No: Primary argument - colonialism was good

African colonies that were held for longer periods of time tend to have performed better, on average, after independence.

The length of colonization is positively and significantly associated with better economic growth (n=24 SSA countries)