The Early Congo Ms. Vargas MWH - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Early Congo

Ms. Vargas MWHSlide2

Modern Democratic Republic of the CongoSlide3

Third largest country in Africa

Congo River

Home to Africa’s Rainforest

Mineral deposits of gold, diamonds, manganese, copperSlide4

First settlers in the Congo area were “hunter –gatherer” tribes called Pygmies – some still live in the rainforests to this day – 40,000 BCE

Bantu tribes from the West moved in and pushed out many

Pygmie

tribes beginning in 500 BCE

Could smelt iron and make tools

Nilotes

moved into the area from SudanKnowledge of farming, fishing, herding animalsBy 600 CE there were three distinct groups living in the Congo area

Early Congo Tribes Slide5

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/ca/books/bkf3/imaps/AC_06_206_bantu/

AC_06_206_bantu.html

Bantu Migration MapSlide6

Commonalities:

Religion: worship of multiple spirits that are associated with a Supreme Being

Prayer to the dead who can influence spirits

Leaders derive their power from religious practices

ReligionSlide7

These groups lives in the Savannah south of the Congo River –

environment

was able to support dense populations

Trading networks to access copper mines in the South and salt from the east

Luba

,

Lunda, and the KongoSlide8

By the 1480s Portuguese Ships had reached the mouth of the Congo river (center of the

Kongo

Kingdom)

Initially the

Kongo

were glad to trade – new markets for their goods

But eventually, the Portuguese determined that the Kongo could not provide the volume of gold, copper, and other resources that they wantedThey found slaves to be a more easily accessible commodity

Slave Trading Slide9

Slavery had existed throughout the continent of Africa but it was different from later European imposed slavery

Prisoners of wars, in debt

Allowed to marry and own land, earn money

Ability for later generations to assimilate into society

But this does not mean that there was not abuse or a desire for freedom by those enslaved

African SlaverySlide10

Intensity of conflicts – searching for captives

Introduction of guns and manufactured goods

Example of King Alfonso I (1506) – pleads for end to the slave trade

Many tribes abandoned previous practices in order to focus solely on the slave trade

Effects of Slave Trade on African SocietySlide11

By the 1800s slaves were arriving to be sold on the coast from as far inland as 700 miles

Change in power shifts from coastal kingdoms to middleman traders

Chokwe

and the

Lunda

gain prominence over the

KongoSlave Trade IntensifiesSlide12

European Views of AfricaSlide13

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-

16295827

Human ZoosSlide14

It was there that

Baartman

, scarcely more than a teenager, was left both orphaned and widowed after a European-led commando ambushed her betrothal celebration, killing her father and husband. She was taken to Cape Town where she worked for

Cesars

and his wife as a house servant and wet nurse. Eventually,

Cesars

and Alexander Dunlop, a British military doctor, smuggled her into England in hopes that her oversized posterior would make their fortune. Baartman was thrust onto the stage in Piccadilly, in a skintight, flesh-colored get-up, complete with a panoply of African beads and ostrich feathers. Baartman’s

seminaked

display left little to the imagination and reinforced England’s obsession with bottoms, both literally and figuratively.

Hottentot Venus

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/books/review/Elkins.t.html?_r=

0