Africa and the Atlantic World Chapter 25 Overview

  • Slides: 21
Download presentation
Africa and the Atlantic World Chapter 25

Africa and the Atlantic World Chapter 25

Overview: African Politics and Society • Review: Bantus – migrations, stateless societies -> chiefdoms

Overview: African Politics and Society • Review: Bantus – migrations, stateless societies -> chiefdoms and regional kingdoms -> Trans. Saharan trade -> large kingdoms, empires, and city-states • Early modern Africa: state formation continues, influenced by maritime trade • Plus, with trade, increasing Islam and Christianity

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire • 1464: Sunni Ali

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire • 1464: Sunni Ali conquers Mali -> empire • Elaborate administrative and military structures: provinces with governors, military hierarchy, imperial navy • Prosperity due to Trans-Saharan trade • Emperors supported Islam (schools, mosques, etc. ), but most people practiced traditional religions

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire • Decline: 1511, attached

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire • Decline: 1511, attached by Moroccan army with guns • -> small regional kingdoms and city-states, with some larger emerging on coast due to trade with Europeans

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire • Swahili city-states decline:

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire • Swahili city-states decline: fighting with Portuguese and attempted control = unsuccessful, but disruptive

The Kingdoms of Central & South Africa • Increasing trade -> state-building • Kingdom

The Kingdoms of Central & South Africa • Increasing trade -> state-building • Kingdom of Kongo: large Portuguese influence (advisors, garrisons, tailors, priests, etc. ) -> kings converted • Portuguese est’d colony in Angola for copper, ivory, and slaves, making alliances with local leaders => undermined king’s authority and relationship deteriorated

The Kingdoms of Central & South Africa • Smaller kingdoms, made alliances with Dutch

The Kingdoms of Central & South Africa • Smaller kingdoms, made alliances with Dutch and Portuguese • Dutch trading post at Cape Town, claimed land labor of natives (Khoihol/Hottentots) • 1700 s, colonists arrive, further impacting natives

Islam and Christianity • Increasingly popular, esp. in commercial centers syncretic blend of Islam

Islam and Christianity • Increasingly popular, esp. in commercial centers syncretic blend of Islam or Christianity and traditional African religions (exception: the Fulani = very strict form of Islam) • Example: syncretic cults in Kongo based on possession of woman by St. Anthony

Social Change • Changes resulting from European contact: trade goods, American crops (manioc, peanut,

Social Change • Changes resulting from European contact: trade goods, American crops (manioc, peanut, maize) population growth

Atlantic Slave Trade • = labor source for Euro-American plantations • Bought in exchange

Atlantic Slave Trade • = labor source for Euro-American plantations • Bought in exchange for European goods (esp. guns) • Slave trade ended in early 1800 s, slavery was abolished later

Foundations of the Slave Trade • Common in agricultural societies, including the Bantus •

Foundations of the Slave Trade • Common in agricultural societies, including the Bantus • Mostly POWs, criminals, outcasts • Could be worked, punished, and sold by owners • Mostly worked as cultivators • = form of wealth

Islamic Slave Trade • 8 th – 20 th centuries: increasing demand = new

Islamic Slave Trade • 8 th – 20 th centuries: increasing demand = new methods (raiding) • Transported through Trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean trade • In 15 th century: European figured out how to tap into the established system, causing it to expand

Atlantic Slave Trade • Mid-1400 s: Portuguese tried kidnapping, then figured out how to

Atlantic Slave Trade • Mid-1400 s: Portuguese tried kidnapping, then figured out how to buy them (worked in Europe and Atlantic sugar plantations) • Spanish also needed laborers in Caribbean and Mexico • Then, English North American colonies • Establishment of Triangular Trade and Middle Passage (horrible conditions and many deaths en route)

Social Effects: Slave Trade in Africa • African societies: some were barely influenced, some

Social Effects: Slave Trade in Africa • African societies: some were barely influenced, some benefitted, many suffered • Losses of individuals (but pop. Still rose due to American crops!) • Sex ratios: most were males -> constant demand (esp. in S. Am. and Caribbean were mortality rate was high) – In Africa, more women -> polygyny and some women performed male duties

Political Effects: Slave Trade in Africa • More violence and wars, esp. with more

Political Effects: Slave Trade in Africa • More violence and wars, esp. with more guns -> captured slaves from unarmed neighboring societies -> more guns and political power

The African Diaspora • = dispersal of African peoples and their descendants • Jobs:

The African Diaspora • = dispersal of African peoples and their descendants • Jobs: urban workers, domestic servants, miners, cultivators • Methods of resistance • Hybrid cultural traditions • Abolition of slave trade and slavery

Plantation Societies • For production of cash crops, esp. sugar (later, tobacco, rice, indigo,

Plantation Societies • For production of cash crops, esp. sugar (later, tobacco, rice, indigo, then, cotton and coffee) • Common elements: high demand product, food gardens, slave labor, racial division of labor

Plantation Societies: Regional Differences • Caribbean and S. A. : pop. Couldn’t be maintained

Plantation Societies: Regional Differences • Caribbean and S. A. : pop. Couldn’t be maintained (disease, brutal conditions, lack of females/families) -> constant demand • N. Am. : pop. Grew (less disease, less harsh conditions, more females/families) -> less demand

Resistance and Revolt • Methods of resistance: feet-dragging, equipment sabotage, running away (=maroons communities)

Resistance and Revolt • Methods of resistance: feet-dragging, equipment sabotage, running away (=maroons communities) • Slaves outnumbered Europeans and could overwhelm them: often didn’t due to fear and European military ability to put down rebellion (exception = Haiti) • Overall, slaves made a huge contribution to the global economy, but only Europeans/Americans benefitted

African-American Cultural Traditions • Preserved African traditions, but adapted to Euro. American culture ->

African-American Cultural Traditions • Preserved African traditions, but adapted to Euro. American culture -> distinctive cultural tradition – Creole languages developed: mixture of African and European languages – Syncretic religions developed: combined African (deities = saints, rituals, magic, spirits) and Christian elements (churches, salvation, Christian stuff) = Vodou, Santeria, etc. – Also, syncretic music, food, crafts

End of the Slave Trade and Abolition • Stimulated by Enlightenment ideas and the

End of the Slave Trade and Abolition • Stimulated by Enlightenment ideas and the Age of Revolution (MORAL) • Became less profitable: military costs of rebellions, feet-dragging, cost of “care, ” lower sugar prices, higher slave prices, new opportunities for investors (factories) (ECONOMIC) • 1803: slave trade mostly ended • Abolition followed (last – 1888 Brazil)