Africa and the Atlantic World - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Africa and the Atlantic World

Chapter 25Slide2

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 ChristianitySlide3

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire

1464: Sunni Ali conquers

Mali

-> empire

Elaborate administrative and military structures:

p

rovinces with governors, military hierarchy, imperial navy

Prosperity due to Trans-Saharan trade

Emperors supported Islam (schools, mosques, etc.), but most people practiced traditional religionsSlide4

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 EuropeansSlide5

The States of West Africa and East Africa: Songhay Empire

Swahili city-states decline: fighting with Portuguese and attempted control = unsuccessful, but disruptiveSlide6

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 deterioratedSlide7

The Kingdoms of Central & South Africa

Smaller kingdoms, made alliances with Dutch and Portuguese

Dutch trading post at Cape Town, claimed land and labor of natives (

Khoihol

/Hottentots)

1700s, colonists arrive, further impacting nativesSlide8

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 Slide9

Social Change

Changes resulting from European contact: trade goods, American crops (manioc, peanut, maize)

 population growthSlide10

Atlantic Slave Trade

= labor source for Euro-American plantations

Bought in exchange for European goods (esp. guns)

Slave trade ended in early 1800s, slavery was abolished laterSlide11

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 wealthSlide12

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 expandSlide13

Atlantic Slave Trade

Mid-1400s: 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)Slide14

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 dutiesSlide15

Political Effects: Slave Trade in Africa

More violence and wars, esp. with more guns -> captured slaves from unarmed neighboring societies -> more guns and political powerSlide16

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 slaverySlide17

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 laborSlide18

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 demandSlide19

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 benefittedSlide20

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, craftsSlide21

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)