Part I Becoming African

1. Part I Becoming African Chapter 1 Africa

2. I. A Huge and Diverse Land • 2nd largest continent in the world • From North to South • several of climatic zones • Desert, savannah, rain forest, mountain ranges

3. II. Birthplace of Humanity • Fossil and genetic evidence • Out-of-Africa model • Modern humans emerged 200,000 years ago • Migrated to the rest of the world 100,000 years ago • “Eve” model • All modern humans from a single African woman

4. 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

5. Egyptian Civilization

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

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

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

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

10. 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

11. 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

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

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

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

15. Ghana • Commerce • 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

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

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

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

19. 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

20. Empire of Mali (cont.) • Mansa Musa • Reigned 1312-1337 • Pilgrimage across Africa to Mecca in Arabia • Empire declined with Musa’s death

21. Empire of Songhai, 1461-1591 • The last and largest of the Sudanese empires • Sunni Ali • Reigned 1464-1492 • Conquered people paid tribute • Generally ran their own affairs

22. Empire of Songhai (cont.) -- Askia Muhammad Toure • Reigned 1492-1528 • Devout Moslem

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

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

25. Empire of Songhai (cont.) • Askia Daud • Reigned 1549-1582 • Songhai failed to adapt to changing political atmosphere • Portuguese established trading centers along the Guinea coast

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

27. 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

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

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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

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

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

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

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

39. Religion • 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

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

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

42. 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

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

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

45. 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.