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Becoming African: Africa

1. Africa is the second largest continent and the birthplace of humanity according to fossil and genetic evidence. 2. Ancient civilizations like Egypt flourished along the Nile River and other regions in Africa had powerful kingdoms centered around trade and agriculture. 3. West African societies were diverse with various ethnic groups engaged in farming, herding, crafts, and trade between communities and the outside world including North Africa and Europe. Women held various roles and slaves had a range of legal protections and social positions depending on the region. 4. Indigenous religions coexisted with the spread of Islam and aspects of African culture like oral traditions, woodcarving, textiles, and music continued

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293 views

Becoming African: Africa

1. Africa is the second largest continent and the birthplace of humanity according to fossil and genetic evidence. 2. Ancient civilizations like Egypt flourished along the Nile River and other regions in Africa had powerful kingdoms centered around trade and agriculture. 3. West African societies were diverse with various ethnic groups engaged in farming, herding, crafts, and trade between communities and the outside world including North Africa and Europe. Women held various roles and slaves had a range of legal protections and social positions depending on the region. 4. Indigenous religions coexisted with the spread of Islam and aspects of African culture like oral traditions, woodcarving, textiles, and music continued

Uploaded by

bobbynichols
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Part I

Becoming African

Chapter 1

Africa
I. A Huge and Diverse Land

 Second largest continent in the world


 From North to South
– A succession of climatic zones
– Desert, savannah, rain forest, mountain
ranges
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
III. Ancient Civilizations
 Egypt and the Nile River Valley
 Mesopotamia and Sumer
– Race debate
• Martin Bernal
– Black Egyptians colonized ancient Greece
– Became the progenitors of Western civilization
• Mary Lefkowitz
– Modern racial categories irrelevant to ancient Egypt
• Egypt influenced Greek and Western
civilization
Egyptian Civilization

 Nile River
– Annual flooding irrigates
• River banks and deposits new
• Wheat, barely, goats, sheep, and cattle
• Transportation and communications artery
Egyptian Society

 Patrilineal/patriarchal
– Male dominated
 Hierarchical
– Warriors, priests, merchants, artisans,
peasants
– Comprehensive bureaucracy
Egyptian Society (cont.)
 Women
– Owned property
– Managed household slaves
– Educated their children
– Held public office
– Served as priests
– Operated businesses
Egyptian Society (cont.)
 Polytheistic religion
– Re (Ra): the sun god
– Osiris: god of the Nile
 Immortality
– Personal and state combined in kings
• Elaborate funerary
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
• Accorded semi-divine status to their kings
• Cultivated crops
• Tended domesticated animals
• Produced iron tools and weapons
– Trade with North Africa
• Essential part of the economy and kingdoms
Ghana
 First known kingdom in the western Sudan
– Founded between fourth and eight centuries CE
– Warfare and iron weapons created an empire
 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
West African Forest Region

 Cultural diversification
– Patchwork of diverse ethnic groups
• Variety of languages and traditions
– Small powerful kingdoms
• Benin City
– Little influenced by Islam or Christianity
– Trading center
» Gold, peppers, ivory, and slaves
» By 17th century dependent on slave trade
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
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
– Millet, rice, sorghum, peas, okra, watermelons
– Yams replaced grains in the forest regions
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
Class and Slavery
 Royalty
– Landed nobles, warriors, peasants and
bureaucrats
 Lower classes
• Artisans and laborers: blacksmiths, butchers, tanners,
and oral historians called griots
 Slavery
– Common in West Africa
• More so in the savannah region than in forest areas
– Variety of forms
• Not necessarily a permanent condition
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
– 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
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
Religion (cont.)
– Indigenous religions
• Strongest in forest areas
– Polytheistic and animistic
– One creator God and a host of lesser gods
– Saw the force of God in all things
» Ancestor worship, magicians, and
oracles
» Ceremonies and animal sacrifices
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
Literature
 Oral histories, poetry, and tales
– Specially trained poets and musicians
• Served kings and nobles
– Views of common people also represented
• Prose tales
– Human characters
» Tales about creation, success, romance
• Animal characters
– “Trickster tales”
– Entertained and taught lessons
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.

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