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Course Question & AnswerHistory of Africa to 1890
Purpose of Course showclose
Course Information showclose
Course Designer: Trevor Getz
Course Introduction: For a long time, professional historians denied that Africa had a history prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The process of overturning this misconception has led to certain peculiarities in the study of Africa’s pre-colonial past, and you may notice them in this course. For example, we will explore several assumptions that we make in modern-day society that make it difficult for us to see how Africans understood and experienced their own lives in the past.We will also emphasize the many different types of sources and methods necessary for studying African history in this period outside of written texts. As you work through this course, think about the ethical issues that are present in this course and use them to inform your thinking about the ethics of studying the past in different times, places, and manners.
The struggle over Africa’s past has also created difficulties in the kinds of online resources available to construct a course like this. Some of the online sites are more emotional and polemical in nature than they are balanced and scholarly. Others make use of very difficult technical language to explain sophisticated techniques using multiple source types. We have tried to find authoritative sources that areas objective as possible while also remaining accessible to readers, but you will notice a big difference in the level of readership between different resources.
One of the very special resources discussed in this course is the Mande epic of Sundiata (Sogolon Djata), the first ruler of Mali. Your reading of this course will be greatly enriched if you manage to get a copy of the D.T. Niane version of this epic, available quite cheap in most cases. Additional outside readings available online include chapters of the UNESCO General History of Africa, which you can search for and find through your search engine. However, this course is entirely self-contained and should provide the information you need to gain a survey-level understanding of pre-colonial Africa.
Requirements for Completion: You must complete all of the assigned readings and materials presented over the course of each unit, including the final exam, which can be accessed via the link in the final resource box in this course. Note that you will be required to create a (free!) account in order to access this final exam unless you have already done so for another course. In order to pass this course, you must earn a score of 70% or higher on the final exam.
Time Commitment: This course should take you approximately 138 hours to complete.
Learning Outcomes showclose
- Locate major regions, geographic features, and populations in Africa and label them on a map.
- Identify major events and trends in the history of Africa prior to 1890 that describe change over time.
- Demonstrate the impact of the African environment on human history in Africa and explain how humans in turn changed that environment.
- Compare and contrast the diverse social and political structures and systems devised by Africans.
- Summarize the connections between Africans and other peoples of the world and the ways in which those connections changed over time.
- Demonstrate the usefulness, best practices, and limitations of different types of sources for understanding the African past.
- Appraise various conceptions of the African past given the evidence from that past.
- Assess the degree to which there can be said to be one, shared African history before 1890.
Course Requirements showclose
√ Have access to a computer.
√ Have continuous broadband Internet access.
√ Have the ability/permission to install plug-ins or software (e.g. Adobe Reader or Flash).
√ Have the ability to download and save files and documents to a computer.
√ Have the ability to open Microsoft files and documents (.doc, .ppt, .xls, etc.).
√ Be competent in the English language.
√ Have read the Saylor Student Handbook.
Unit Outline show close
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Unit 1: Perspectives on African History
The historian’s primary task is to identify evidence of the past and assemble this evidence to create narratives or interpretations of what happened in the past, how it was experienced, and how people talked and felt about it. The historian also plays an important public role, contributing to our contemporary understandings of the past and its implications for our society. This means that the historian has to master complex issues of methodology, theory, and ethics. The study of the African past plays a particularly significant role in the development of both public and academic history for two reasons. First, because of the world’s colonial past, African history has been disregarded and the views of Africans themselves sidelined for a long time, making the study of African history something of a political as well as a scholarly act. Second, since human history goes back so far in Africa, much of the African past involves preliterate societies. Therefore, African historians must make use of many different types of sources, including linguistics, archaeology, and oral tradition, as well as written documents, in order to piece together an understanding of early African cultures.
Unit 1 Time Advisory show close
In this unit, you will explore the preconceptions that hinder our ability to understand African experiences in the past. You will also get to look at various types of sources that help us reveal and construct narratives of the African past. Finally, you will begin to familiarize yourself with the physical features of the continent of Africa and the identities of its populations.
Unit 1 Learning Outcomes show close
- 1.1 Why Study the History of Africa?
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1.1.1 What Is History?
- Reading: The American Historical Association: Peter N. Stearns’s “Why Study History?”
Link: The American Historical Association:Peter N. Stearns’s “Why Study History?” (HTML)
Instructions: This article describes the purposes of studying history and provides a context for the subsequent debate as to why the history of Africa is particularly useful and important. Read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The American Historical Association: Peter N. Stearns’s “Why Study History?”
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1.1.2 Why Do We Need to Know about the History of Africa?
- Reading: Southeast Regional Seminar on African History: Joseph C. Miller’s “History and Africa / Africa and History”
Link: Southeast Regional Seminar on African History:Joseph C. Miller’s “History and Africa / Africa and History” (HTML)
Instructions: This was an address given by the African historian Joseph C. Miller when he served as president of the American Historical Association. It looks at the relationship between the study of Africa and the discipline of history. Please read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Southeast Regional Seminar on African History: Joseph C. Miller’s “History and Africa / Africa and History”
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1.1.3 The Questions of Relevance and Authenticity
- Reading: Pambazuka News: Chika Enzeanya’s “Black (or White?) History Month”
Link: Pambazuka News: Chika Enzeanya’s “Black (or White?) History Month” (HTML)
Instructions: The article linked above was written by a graduate student at Howard University. It frames the argument that African history, as it is commonly written and taught, may not effectively reflect the needs and worldviews of Africans and African-Americans. It should be read as a position paper, rather than as a fair reflection of both sides of the debate. Please read the article in its entirety.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Pambazuka News: Chika Enzeanya’s “Black (or White?) History Month”
- 1.2 Common Preconceptions of the African Past
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1.2.1 Notions of Africa
- Reading: World History Connected: Jonathan T. Reynolds’s “So Many Africas, So Little Time: Doing Justice to Africa in the World History Survey”
Link: World History Connected:Jonathan T. Reynolds’s “So Many Africas, So Little Time: Doing Justice to Africa in the World History Survey” (HTML)
Instructions: Note that this article was written to specifically discuss ways in which Africa is usually described in world history courses, but it suitably addresses the common preconceptions of Africa within our society. Please read it in its entirety.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: World History Connected: Jonathan T. Reynolds’s “So Many Africas, So Little Time: Doing Justice to Africa in the World History Survey”
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1.2.2 The Trouble with Tribe
- Reading: Teaching Tolerance: “The Trouble with Tribe”
Link: Teaching Tolerance: “The Trouble with Tribe” (HTML)
Instructions: This article helps us move beyond a specific preconception of African societies as “tribes.” You may wish to spend some time on the supplemental activity “One Zambia, One Nation,” although this deals with contemporary society and is not required.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Teaching Tolerance: “The Trouble with Tribe”
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1.2.3 Visual Images of and from Africa
- Reading: Teaching Literature: James Michira’s “Images of Africa in the Western Media”
Link: Teaching Literature: James Michira’s “Images of Africa in the Western Media” (PDF)
Instructions: This link should take you to the “Multicultural/World Literature” page. Use the link titled “Images of Africa.” This will take you to an article that describes the ways in which the media contributes to our preconceptions of African societies through both written and visual images.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Activity: The Saylor Foundation’s “Images of Africa”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Images of Africa” (PDF)
Instructions: Please open the linked file to access this activity. Note that no answer key is provided, as this activity is intended to be reflective and self-guided.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Teaching Literature: James Michira’s “Images of Africa in the Western Media”
- 1.3 Methodologies in African History
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1.3.1 What Are Our Sources?
- Reading: Esperanza Brizuela-Garcia’s “Review of Writing African History, ed. John Edward Philips”
Link: H-Net: Esperanza Brizuela-Garcia’s “Review of Writing African History, ed. John Edward Philips” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this review of a book that tackles the multiple kinds of sources available to African historians.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Esperanza Brizuela-Garcia’s “Review of Writing African History, ed. John Edward Philips”
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1.3.2 What Can We Do with Our Sources?
- Lecture: Africa Past and Present: Radikobo Ntsimane’s “Oral History and Memory Work in Africa”
Link: Africa Past and Present: Radikobo Ntsimane’s “Oral History and Memory Work in Africa” (Mp3 Podcast)
Instructions: Listen to the entire podcast. This particular podcast deals specifically with oral history as a source. In later sections of this course you will look at resources and articles dealing with archaeology, linguistics, and other types of sources.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: Africa Past and Present: Radikobo Ntsimane’s “Oral History and Memory Work in Africa”
- 1.4 African Geography—“Orientations”
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1.4.1 Geography and Climate
- Reading: How Stuff Works: “Geography of Africa”
Link: How Stuff Works: “Geography of Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: Read sections 1–6. Note that some of the text on page 1 discusses Africa as if it really were a “dark continent” before the coming of Europeans. This interpretation is problematic. However, the rest of the material in this source is useful for understanding the geography of the continent.
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- Reading: How Stuff Works: “Geography of Africa”
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1.4.2 Flora and Fauna
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Flora and Fauna”
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Flora and Fauna”
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1.4.3 Historical Demography
- Web Media: Union for African Population Studies: Reiko Hayashi’s “Long Term Population Dynamics in Africa: A Perspective from the Urban Structure”
Link: Union for African Population Studies: Reiko Hayashi’s “Long Term Population Dynamics in Africa: A Perspective from the Urban Structure” (PDF)
Instructions: Go to the URL, which is a description of a poster presented at a session of an international conference, with links to the poster. Click on “see paper.” Much of the information on this poster is not relevant to this course. However, there is a chart in the left-hand corner that gives various scholars’ estimates of human population levels in Africa over the past 2000 years. It is exceedingly difficult to estimate prior to that period, although some questions of demography in earlier periods will be discussed in subsequent sections of this course.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Union for African Population Studies: Reiko Hayashi’s “Long Term Population Dynamics in Africa: A Perspective from the Urban Structure”
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Unit 2: Peopling the Continent (c. 265,000 BCE–1000 BCE)
Human life began in Africa, and human evolution has much to do with the African environment. Because of its great ecological and climatic diversity, Africa forced human populations to adapt to many different environmental settings. As the second largest continent in the world, Africa was host to diverse groups of hunter-gatherers. Before the end of the Ice Age (approximately 10,500 BCE), many groups lived in the interior or coastal highlands of sub-Saharan Africa. Then, the effects of the Ice Age transformed the Sahara into a fertile valley that attracted bands of hunter-gatherers. Five thousand years later, however, the rapid drying of the Sahara drove many peoples eastward, where they made permanent or semi permanent settlements in the Nile River valley. Two key factors led to the onset of the Agricultural Age (the emergence of sedentary farming communities): the domestication of cattle and donkeys around 6000 BCE and the rapid drying of the continent around 4000 BCE, which forced peoples to settle in more tropical regions. The introduction of new ironworking techniques during the so-called Iron Age affected these new agricultural societies; by 500 CE, metalworking was commonplace in East and West Africa.
Unit 2 Time Advisory show close
In this unit, you will look specifically at human interactions with the African environment over a very long period of time. You will study the impact of climatic change upon hunter-gatherers and agricultural communities. You will also consider how agricultural innovation, metalworking, and commerce transformed the nature of early African civilizations. Finally, you will see how these technologies spread around the African continent, helping Africans respond to challenges and take advantage of opportunities.
Unit 2 Learning Outcomes show close
- 2.1 Human Origins
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2.1.1 The African Environment and Human Origins
- Reading: The University of Iowa’s Art and Life in Africa Project: James Giblin’s “Issues in African History”
Link: The University of Iowa’sArt and Life in Africa Project:James Giblin’s “Issues in African History” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the first 20 paragraphs of this article as an introduction to unit 2. You may continue to read the rest as well, as it will form a good framework for much of the rest of the course, but this additional reading is not required.
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- Reading: The University of Iowa’s Art and Life in Africa Project: James Giblin’s “Issues in African History”
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2.1.2 Evolution
- Reading: The BBC: “Mother of Man – 3.2 Million Years Ago”
Link: The BBC: “Mother of man – 3.2 Million Years Ago” (HTML)
Instructions: This article introduces human evolution in Africa and focuses on an important archaeological discovery in the search to understand human evolution. Read the entire article.
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- Reading: The BBC: “Mother of Man – 3.2 Million Years Ago”
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2.1.3 Tools and Culture
- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
Link: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles” (HTML)
Instructions: Click on the map of Africa labeled “Lithic Technology.” Read all four sections of this activity: “Introduction to Lithics,” “Technology,” “Function,” and “Classification.”
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- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
- 2.2 Lifestyles
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2.2.1 Foraging
- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
Link: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles” (HTML)
Instructions: Click on the map of Africa labeled “Diet and Subsistence.” Read all four sections of this activity: “Explore Agriculture,” “Explore Hunting and Gathering,” “Explore Pastoralism,” and “Explore Ethnographic Examples.”
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- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
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2.2.2 Harnessing the Power of Animals
- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
Link: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles” (HTML and PDF)
Instructions: Click on the map of Africa labeled “Diet and Subsistence” and then again on “Explore Pastoralism.” Read all three sections, including the PDF on “Domesticated Animals.”
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- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
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2.2.3 Becoming Farmers
- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
Link: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles” (HTML)
Instructions: Click on the map of Africa labeled “Diet and Subsistence” and then on “Explore Agriculture.” Read all three sections including looking at the “Evidence for Agriculture.”
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Indiana University: “Prehistoric Puzzles”
- 2.3 New Technologies
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2.3.1 Iron
- Reading: africabib.org: Stanley B. Alpern’s “Did They or Didn’t They Invent It? Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa”
Link: africabib.org: Stanley B. Alpern’s “Did They or Didn’t They Invent It? Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa” (PDF)
Instructions: Please go to the hyperlink under the row entitled “Link.” Stanley B. Alpern’s article addresses the various debates on the origins of metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa. Download and read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: africabib.org: Stanley B. Alpern’s “Did They or Didn’t They Invent It? Iron in Sub-Saharan Africa”
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2.3.2 Pottery
- Reading: Mathilda’s Anthropology Blog: “Early African ceramics”
Link: Mathilda’s Anthropology Blog: “Early African ceramics” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read the linked blog entry. The author discusses the origins and dating of ceramics in Africa vis-à-vis other ancient societies. The blog entry also contains several links for further reading, although these are not required for this assignment.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Mathilda’s Anthropology Blog: “Early African ceramics”
- 2.4 Peopling Africa
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2.4.1 Language/Linguistics as a Tool
- Reading: Koen Bostoen’s “Linguistics for the Use of African History and the Comparative Study of Bantu Pottery Vocabulary”
Link: Koen Bostoen’s “Linguistics for the Use of African History and the Comparative Study of Bantu Pottery Vocabulary” (PDF)
Instructions: When you click the link above, you will be taken to an entry on Koen Bostoen’s article. Please click the small round icon next to “Documents” to access and read the PDF version of this article. In it, Bostoen discusses the ways in which scholars have used linguistic data—as opposed to traditional archival (that is, textual) sources—to reconstruct pieces of Africa’s variegated, and largely silenced, past. Read the entire article, but focus on sections 1, 2, 3, and 6.
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- Activity: Exploring Africa: “Language Activity”
Link: Exploring Africa: “Language Activity” (HTML)
Instructions: Answer questions 1, 2, and 3 (located beneath the map of Africa). This activity will help better familiarize you with modern Africa’s linguistic diversity.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Koen Bostoen’s “Linguistics for the Use of African History and the Comparative Study of Bantu Pottery Vocabulary”
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2.4.2 Nilo-Saharan Peoples
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Nilo-Saharan Peoples”Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Nilo-Saharan Peoples” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the entire article.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Nilo-Saharan Peoples”
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2.4.3 The Spread of Humans—West Africa
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Spread of Humans—West Africa”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Spread of Humans—West Africa” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked article.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Spread of Humans—West Africa”
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2.4.4 The Spread of Humans—The Bantu Diffusion
- Reading: UCSD: David K. Jordan’s “The Bantu Expansion”
Link: UCSD: David K. Jordan’s “The Bantu Expansion” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read the entirety of David K. Jordan’s article, which discusses the origins and expansion (or “migration”) of the Bantu language in Africa.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: UCSD: David K. Jordan’s “The Bantu Expansion”
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Unit 3: Ancient and Classical Africa—The North (c. 2700 BCE – 700 CE)
The earliest and most sophisticated civilization to emerge in Africa in the early period was ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptian civilization emerged in northern Africa along the Nile River around 3000 BCE. It benefitted from Mesopotamian trade and influence, but also emerged as a distinct culture. Capable of adapting to the volatile flood cycle of the Nile River, the ancient Egyptians used sophisticated irrigation techniques to grow surplus crops. In turn, these surplus crops created extra resources that fueled social development and culture. The ancient Egyptians created new trade networks, an independent writing system based on hieroglyphics, and a strong army to assert Egyptian dominance throughout the Nile River valley. They also undertook significant agricultural and construction projects, building monumental temples, pyramids, and obelisks. Egyptian society (which was comprised of farmers, artists, craftsmen, and slaves) was highly stratified and was ruled by a pharaoh and a powerful bureaucracy of elite scribes, religious leaders, and administrators. Despite the deserts, mountains, and ocean that surrounded them, Egyptians were not isolated. They lived in concert with societies of the Mediterranean, Horn of Africa, Mesopotamia, and Upper Nile.
Unit 3 Time Advisory show close
In this unit, you will study the complex nature of ancient Egyptian society and culture, and that of the African societies that surrounded it. The topics we will look at include daily life, religion, and political organization. You will also look at the experiences of Greek and Roman rule in the period following the demise of the pharaonic state.
Unit 3 Learning Outcomes show close
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3.1 Egypt’s Environment and the Origins of Egyptian Society
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Egypt’s Environment and the Origins of Egyptian Society”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Egypt’s Environment and the Origins of Egyptian Society” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked introduction to this unit.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the Time of the Great Egyptian Civilization”
Link: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the Time of the Great Egyptian Civilization” (HTML)
Instructions: The article discusses ancient Egyptian civilization from 3100 BCE to 332 BCE (often referred to as the Pharaonic period) while at the same time addressing the history of other regions of Africa during the same period. After reading the article, fill in the missing sections of the timeline (located at the bottom of the page). Please read the article in its entirety.
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- Reading: Fordham University: “Hymn to the Nile, c. 2100 BCE”
Link: Fordham University: “Hymn to the Nile, c. 2100 BCE” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “Hymn to the Nile.” As you read, consider both the physical and metaphysical importance assigned to the River Nile in ancient Egyptian theology.
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- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Egypt’s Environment and the Origins of Egyptian Society”
- 3.2 Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt
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3.2.1 The Old Kingdom
- Lecture: YouTube: University of Houston: “HIST 3379 LECTURE 2B”
Link: YouTube: University of Houston: “HIST 3379 LECTURE 2B” (YouTube)
Instructions: This lecture provides an overview of the geography, ecology, and theology of ancient Egypt during the period known as “The Old Kingdom.” Watch the entire lecture in its entirety.
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- Lecture: YouTube: University of Houston: “HIST 3379 LECTURE 2B”
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3.2.2 The Middle Kingdom
- Reading: Teaching Company: “The Middle Kingdom”
Link: Teaching Company: “The Middle Kingdom” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry, which touches upon the period of ancient Egypt known as “The Middle Kingdom.” During this period, ancient Egypt established new trade contacts and routes, introduced various administrative and institutional changes, and significantly expanded its territories.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Teaching Company: “The Middle Kingdom”
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3.2.3 The New Kingdom
- Reading: Teaching Company: “Imperial Egypt”
Link: Teaching Company: “Imperial Egypt” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry, which covers the period during which ancient Egypt saw its most dramatic imperial expansions into the Near East. As the lecture makes clear, this period represents the zenith of Pharaonic Egypt’s imperial power.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Teaching Company: “Imperial Egypt”
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3.2.4 Post-Imperial Egypt
- Web Media: BBC and The British Museum: “Sphinx of Taharqo”
Link: BBC and The British Museum: “Sphinx of Taharqo” (HTML, Flash Video, and Java)
Instructions: Read the article and view the slideshow and video. This particular sphinx features the face of King Taharqo, one of several Kushite (or Sudanese) pharaohs to rule Egypt in the post-imperial period. As you read about and view this historical object, consider the political and ethnic diversity of ancient Egypt.
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- Reading: Fordham University: “Egypt under the Roman Empire”
Link: Fordham University: “Egypt under the Roman Empire” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this short excerpt from Strabo’s Geography (ca. 22 CE) in which he describes life and politics in ancient Egypt under the Roman Empire.
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- Web Media: BBC and The British Museum: “Sphinx of Taharqo”
- 3.3 Egyptian Religion and Culture
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3.3.1 Origin Myths
- Reading: Egypt Art: “Creation Mythology: The Great Creators”
Link: Egypt Art: “Creation Mythology: The Great Creators” (HTML)
Instructions: Read all three sections of “The Great Creators” for an overview of ancient Egyptian mythology.
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- Reading: Aldokkan: “Egyptian Creation Myth: Heliopolis Version”
Link: Aldokkan: “Egyptian Creation Myth: Heliopolis Version” (HTML)
Instructions: Browse through the entire article and read the “Conclusion” section. Note the similarities between ancient Egyptian and ancient Hebrew mythologies.
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- Reading: Egypt Art: “Creation Mythology: The Great Creators”
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3.3.2 The Memphite Theology
- Reading: Charles H. Long’s “Egyptian Mythology”
Link: Charles H. Long’s “Egyptian Mythology” (HTML)
Instructions: Charles H. Long’s article provides an overview of Memphite theology, an outgrowth of the general theology of ancient Egypt. Please read it in its entirety.
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- Reading: Michael Wilson’s “Sources on Memphite Theology”
Link: Michael Wilson’s “Sources on Memphite Theology” (HTML)
Instructions: Read all four sections. This resource contains primary source texts on Memphite theology.
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- Reading: Charles H. Long’s “Egyptian Mythology”
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3.3.3 Death and Resurrection
- Reading: Tour Egypt: Marie Parsons’s “The Book of the Dead: An Introduction”
Link: Tour Egypt: Marie Parsons’s “The Book of the Dead: An Introduction” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read Marie Parsons’ article, which provides a brief introduction to one of ancient Egypt’s most well-known primary source documents: “The Book of the Dead.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Tour Egypt: “The Declaration of Innocence—Chapter 125”
Link: Tour Egypt: “The Declaration of Innocence—Chapter 125” (HTML)
Instructions: Contained within “The Book of the Dead,” “The Declaration of Innocence” was intended to be recited by the deceased in the Hall of Two Truths for the express purpose of gaining entry into the afterlife. Please read the entire document.
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- Reading: Tour Egypt: Marie Parsons’s “The Book of the Dead: An Introduction”
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3.3.4 Arts and Literature
- Reading: Crystal Links: “Art in Ancient Egypt”
Link: Crystal Links: “Art in Ancient Egypt” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this article for an overview of ancient Egyptian art, from sculpture and paintings to literature and architecture.
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- Reading: Aldokkan: “The Egyptian Cinderella”
Link: Aldokkan: “The Egyptian Cinderella” (HTML)
Instructions: This article contains the text of what is considered by many to be the oldest version of what is commonly known as the Cinderella story. Please read it in its entirety.
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- Reading: Crystal Links: “Art in Ancient Egypt”
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3.3.5 Everyday Life
- Reading: St. Petersburg Times: “Egypt: Daily Life”
Link: St. Petersburg Times: “Egypt: Daily Life” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read the linked article, which addresses everyday life in ancient Egypt, ranging from food consumption, clothing, and cosmetics to forms of entertainment and government.
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- Reading: Canadian Museum of Civilization: “Mysteries of Ancient Egypt: Daily Life”
Link: Canadian Museum of Civilization: “Mysteries of Ancient Egypt: Daily Life” (HTML)
Instructions: Browse through each of the five sections. This website details aspects of everyday life in ancient Egypt through various visual and textual primary sources. Note the changes in dress and appearance that took place between the Old Kingdom and the New Kingdom (see the “Clothing and Adornment” section).
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- Reading: St. Petersburg Times: “Egypt: Daily Life”
- 3.4 Societies of the Nile and Horn
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3.4.1 Kush
- Reading: Nicholas C. J. Pappas’s “Kush, Meroe, and Nubia”
Link: Nicholas C. J. Pappas’s “Kush, Meroe, and Nubia” (HTML)
Instructions: This reading outlines the history of Kush between 2700 BCE and 1300 CE. Pay close attention to the “Christian Nubia” and “The Coming of Islam” sections, as they will be helpful to you when you study Christianity and Islam in Africa in unit 5.
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- Reading: Fordham University: “Accounts of Meröe, Kush, and Axum, c. 430 BCE–550 CE”
Link: Fordham University: “Accounts of Meröe, Kush, and Axum, c. 430 BCE–550 CE” (HTML)
Instructions: This resource contains primary sources on ancient Nubia and Ethiopia. Skim through each of the sections, paying close attention to the differences between each of the authors (i.e., some are Africans and some are not).
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- Reading: Nicholas C. J. Pappas’s “Kush, Meroe, and Nubia”
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3.4.2 Axum
- Reading: About.com: K. Kris Hirst’s “Aksum of Ethiopia: Ancient African Kingdom of the Axumites”
Link: About.com: K. Kris Hirst’s “Aksum of Ethiopia: Ancient African Kingdom of the Axumites” (HTML)
Instructions: K. Kris Hirst’s article outlines the history of one of East Africa’s most powerful ancient civilizations: Axum (or Aksum). Please read it in its entirety.
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- Web Media: YouTube: RodvienAPWH’s “Kingdom of Aksum”
Link: YouTube: RodvienAPWH’s “Kingdom of Aksum” (YouTube)
Instructions: Please watch the linked video, which contains a slideshow presentation on the history of Aksum between the first century CE and the rise and spread of Islam in the early eighth century CE.
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- Reading: About.com: K. Kris Hirst’s “Aksum of Ethiopia: Ancient African Kingdom of the Axumites”
- 3.5 Greek and Roman North Africa
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3.5.1 Ptolemaic Egypt
- Reading: Tour Egypt: “Alexandria: The Ptolemaic Dynasty”
Link: Tour Egypt: “Alexandria: The Ptolemaic Dynasty” (HTML)
Instructions: This article provides a brief history of the ancient city of Alexandria. Founded by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE, Alexandria went on to become one of ancient Egypt’s most populous and powerful cities. Controlled by both the Greeks and the Romans, Alexandria was witness to the gradual decline of ancient Egypt as both a regional and imperial power. Read the entire article in its entirety.
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- Reading: Fordham University: “The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century”
Link: Fordham University: “The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century” (HTML)
Instructions: Written in Greek, this is a first- to third-century CE document detailing the Greco-Roman navigation and trade routes that existed between Roman Egypt and India. Please read the entire resource.
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- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Map of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea”
Link: Wikipedia: “Map of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea” (JPG)
Instructions: View and analyze the linked map.
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- Reading: Tour Egypt: “Alexandria: The Ptolemaic Dynasty”
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3.5.2 Roman Africa
- Reading: United Nations of Roma Victrix: “Provinces of Roman Africa”
Link: United Nations of Roma Victrix: “Provinces of Roman Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: This resource outlines ancient Rome’s various provinces in Africa. Read the entire article.
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- Reading: Villanova University: “A Brief History of Roman North Africa”
Link: Villanova University: “A Brief History of Roman North Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the first section, titled “The Rise and Fall of Carthage.” This section briefly discusses the rise and fall of the capital of one of North Africa’s most powerful ancient civilizations: the Phoenicians.
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- Lecture: YouTube: Academic Earth: Diana E. E. Kleiner’s “Roman North Africa: Timgad and Leptis Magna”
Link: YouTube: Academic Earth: Diana E. E. Kleiner’s “Roman North Africa: Timgad and Leptis Magna”(YouTube)
Instructions: Watch the entire lecture. In it, Diana E E Kleiner outlines the history of two of the most famous ancient Roman cities in North Africa: Timgad and Leptis Magna.
See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: United Nations of Roma Victrix: “Provinces of Roman Africa”
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Unit 4: Ancient and Classical Africa—Sub-Saharan (c. 2750 BCE–1500 CE)
The same drying of the Sahara that concentrated Africans into the Nile River valley also led to the emergence of sophisticated societies in sub-Saharan Africa. The first highly structured societies probably developed in the Sahelian region of West Africa, but over time, the spread of technologies, the growth of populations, and the development of trade routes stimulated similar growth elsewhere. Nevertheless, many African societies chose not to go the route of centralized “states” in this period, preferring other methods of organization.
In this unit, we will look at these societies in all of their diversity, beginning with a thematic exploration of the origins of complex states and societies and moving on to an examination of societies in the Sahel, the forests of West Africa, and then other regions of Africa in the period before circa 1500 CE.
Unit 4 Time Advisory show close
Unit 4 Learning Outcomes show close
- 4.1 The Origins of Sub-Saharan African States
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4.1.1 Migration and Adaptation
- Reading: About.com: Alistair Boddy-Evans’s “Nok Culture: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Earliest Civilization?”
Link: About.com: Alistair Boddy-Evans’s “Nok Culture: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Earliest Civilization?” (HTML)
Instructions: Alistair Boddy-Evans’s article addresses a significant archeological discovery that helped to date the origins of one of sub-Saharan Africa’s earliest and most complex ancient societies. Read the entire article.
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- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Nok Terracottas (500 B.C.–200 A.D.)”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Nok Terracottas (500 B.C.–200 A.D.)” (HTML)
Instructions: This article addresses the same subject as the article in the previous reading. However, a greater emphasis is placed upon the artistic qualities of the terracotta sculptures, as well as the various cultural readings that can be drawn from them. Please read the article in its entirety.
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- Web Media: YouTube: acti0ns’s “African History—The Nok”
Link: YouTube: acti0ns’s “African History—The Nok” (YouTube)
Instructions: This video provides a basic overview of the terracotta discoveries mentioned in both of the articles above, as well as a general history of the Nok themselves. Please watch the entire video.
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- Reading: About.com: Alistair Boddy-Evans’s “Nok Culture: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Earliest Civilization?”
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4.1.2 The Implications of Trade
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Implications of Trade”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Implications of Trade” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: National Endowment for the Humanities: “Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in Ancient West Africa”
Link: National Endowment for the Humanities: “Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in Ancient West Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: Using the menu provided on the left-hand side of the screen, navigate to and read the following sections: “Introduction,” “Guiding Questions,” “Learning Objectives,” “Lesson Activities,” and “Assessment.”
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- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Implications of Trade”
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4.2 Sudanic States
- Reading: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the Time of the Great West African Kingdoms”
Link: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the Time of the Great West African Kingdoms” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses three of the kingdoms of West Africa between 800 CE and 1500 CE: the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the Time of the Great West African Kingdoms”
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4.2.1 The Development of State and Society
- Assessment: Xavier University of Louisiana: J. Rotondo-McCord’s “Using the Tests”
Link: Xavier University of Louisiana: J. Rotondo-McCord’s “Using the Tests” (HTML)
Instructions: Test your knowledge! Take the exams for the following sections: “Trade,” “Mali,” and “Songhay.” When you select an answer, the website will let you know whether your choice is correct or incorrect.
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- Reading: African Kingdoms, “Kingdoms of Africa: Cradle of Civilizations and Humanity”
Link: African Kingdoms, “Kingdoms of Africa: Cradle of Civilizations and Humanity” (HTML)
Instructions: Read “The Kingdom of Ghana.” This section of the article discusses several twentieth-century archeological discoveries, in what are today Mali and southern Mauritania, that illuminated the origins of ancient complex societies.
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- Reading: Susan J. Herlin’s “Ancient African Civilizations to ca. 1500”
Link: Susan J. Herlin’s “Ancient African Civilizations to ca. 1500” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “West Africa in Antiquity” section. This section of the article addresses the physical and cultural changes that took place in West Africa between 3000 BCE and 500 BCE.
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- Assessment: Xavier University of Louisiana: J. Rotondo-McCord’s “Using the Tests”
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4.2.2 The Creation of Mali—The Sonjata Epic
- Reading: West Chester University: “Background to D. T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali”
Link: West Chester University: “Background to D. T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses the topics of geography, religion, society, and politics of what is now Mali. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: Cora Agatucci’s “The Epic of Sundjata”
Link: Cora Agatucci’s “The Epic of Sundjata” (HTML)
Instructions: Cora Agatucci’s article provides both a summary of the epic story of Sundjata and a general historical context in which to read and interpret the story’s text. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: West Chester University: “Background to D. T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali”
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4.2.3 Honor and Gender in Mali
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Honor and Gender in Mali”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Honor and Gender in Mali” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Honor and Gender in Mali”
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4.2.4 Songhay
- Reading: African Kingdoms: “Kingdoms of Africa”
Link: African Kingdoms: “Kingdoms of Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “Kingdom of Songhay” and “Mali Was in Ruins” sections.
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- Reading: African Kingdoms: “Kingdoms of Africa”
- 4.3 Varieties of States and Societies in West Africa
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4.3.1 The Forest States
- Reading: G.O.M. Jameson’s “A Short History of Africa”
Link: G.O.M. Jameson’s “A Short History of Africa”
Instructions: Click on the first link to download the PDF. Read chapter 7: “The West African Forest Kingdoms.”
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- Web Media: BBC and The British Museum: “Ife head”
Link: BBC and The British Museum: “Ife head” (HTML, Flash Videos, and Java)
Instructions: Please read the entire article (being sure to click on the “…Read more” button in the “Kingdom of Ife” section) and browse through the photos provided in the interactive multimedia viewer.
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- Reading: G.O.M. Jameson’s “A Short History of Africa”
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4.3.2 Confederations
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Confederations”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Confederations” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Confederations”
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4.3.3 Acephalous Societies
- Reading: Exploring Africa: “Types of Government in Pre-Colonial Africa”
Link: Exploring Africa: “Types of Government in Pre-Colonial Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses the variety of polities and structures of government that existed in pre-colonial West Africa. Read the entire article.
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- Reading: Exploring Africa: “Types of Government in Pre-Colonial Africa”
- 4.4 State and Power in East, Central, and South Africa
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4.4.1 Central African Kingdoms
- Reading: Exploring Africa: “History of Central Africa”
Link: Exploring Africa: “History of Central Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “Growth of Trade” section. This section of the article discusses the growth of trade networks in Central Africa and their socio-economic impacts on the region.
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- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Kingdoms of the Savanna: The Luba and Lunda Empires”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Kingdoms of the Savanna: The Luba and Lunda Empires” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses the origins and growth of two major centers of power in Central Africa during the late early-modern period: the Luba and Lunda Empires. You can also use the menu on the left-hand side of the screen to explore further, but this is not required. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: Exploring Africa: “History of Central Africa”
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4.4.2 Kingdoms of Kongo
- Reading: The History Files, “African Kingdoms: Central Africa”
Link: The History Files, “African Kingdoms: Central Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “Kongo Kingdom” section. This section of the article provides a general overview of the origins of the Kongo Kingdom (ca. 1400 CE–1914 CE).
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- Reading: Art & Life in Africa: “Kongo Information”
Link: Art & Life in Africa: “Kongo Information” (HTML)
Instructions: This resource provides brief descriptions of various aspects of the Congo, such as its economy, political systems, religion, and types of art. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: The History Files, “African Kingdoms: Central Africa”
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4.4.3 Mwene Mutapa
- Reading: Afropede@: “Mutapa Empire”
Link: Afropede@: “Mutapa Empire” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read the linked article, which discusses the origins and growth of the Mutapa Empire between the mid-fifteenth and mid-eighteenth centuries. Founded in modern day Zimbabwe and extending to the coasts of what is now Mozambique, the Mutapa Empire was the most powerful political entity in the region during its heyday in the mid- to late-fifteenth century.
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- Reading: Afropede@: “Mutapa Empire”
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Unit 5: Africa and The World Systems (c. 1000–1800 CE)
Africa is a vast continent, and many of its regions are located at some distance from the main trading axes of the world. Nevertheless, African societies have been deeply integrated into global trends and transnational systems for long periods of time. Intercontinental exchange in the Mediterranean dates back thousands of years, and the Red Sea and Indian Ocean zone have for a long time been sites of trade and contact. The Atlantic zone (discussed in the next unit) was the last frontier breached, about 500 years ago.
In this unit, we will look at the relationships between Africans and others in a period that overlaps the time periods covered in units 3 and 4. Part of this unit focuses on religion, as Africa has historically served as a major site of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious heritage and religious practice. We will also look at commerce and the movement of ideas, particularly in terms of the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean worlds and their connections to multiple African societies.
Unit 5 Time Advisory show close
Unit 5 Learning Outcomes show close
- 5.1 Religious Worlds
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5.1.1 Christianity in Egypt
- Reading: Tour Egypt: Lara Iskander and Jimmy Dunn’s “An Overview Of The Coptic Christians Of Egypt”
Link: Tour Egypt: Lara Iskander and Jimmy Dunn’s “An Overview Of The Coptic Christians Of Egypt” (HTML)
Instructions: This article provides an excellent introduction to the history, beliefs, and organization of Coptic Christianity. Please read the article in its entirety.
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- Reading: Tour Egypt: Lara Iskander and Jimmy Dunn’s “An Overview Of The Coptic Christians Of Egypt”
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5.1.2 Christianity in Ethiopia
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “African Christianity in Ethiopia”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “African Christianity in Ethiopia” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the entire article and browse through the image slideshow located at the top of the page. The article provides an excellent overview of the history of Christianity in Ethiopia between the late-ancient and modern periods.
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- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “African Christianity in Ethiopia”
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5.1.3 Judaism in Africa
- Reading: Wikipedia: “African Jews”
Link: Wikipedia: “African Jews” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “Introduction” at the top, “Ancient communities,” “Medieval arrivals,” and “Emergent modern communities.” Also note the map in the upper-right-hand side of the screen, which depicts the distribution of Jews throughout the continent.
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- Reading: Wikipedia: “African Jews”
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5.1.4 Islam in North Africa
- Reading: RiadReviews.com: “The Spread of Islam in North Africa”
Link: RiadReviews.com: “The Spread of Islam in North Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses Islam’s expansion westward from the Arabian Peninsula to North Africa during the late-antique period. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: “Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses the spread of Islam into Africa via trade networks between the Arabian Peninsula and North and East Africa, between the late-antique and the early-medieval periods.
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- Reading: RiadReviews.com: “The Spread of Islam in North Africa”
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5.1.5 The Caliphates of North Africa
- Reading: Socyberty: “The Almoravids and Almohads of the Maghrib”
Link: Socyberty: “The Almoravids and Almohads of the Maghrib” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses the growth of Islam amongst two of North Africa’s most powerful Berber groups during the medieval period: the Almoravids and the Almohads. Please read all four pages of the article (see page numbers at the bottom of the screen).
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- Reading: Socyberty: “The Almoravids and Almohads of the Maghrib”
- 5.2 Trading Worlds—Indian Ocean
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5.2.1 The Indian Ocean Trade Network
- Reading: History Cooperative: Erik Gilbert’s “Putting Africa in World History and Vice Versa”
Link: History Cooperative: Erik Gilbert’s “Putting Africa in World History and Vice Versa” (HTML)
Instructions: Erik Gilbert’s article on Africa’s place in world history is an excellent meditation on the ways in which historians have and have not included Africa’s many pasts in their recounting of world historical developments. Please read the entire article.
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- Lecture: Africa Past & Present: “Episode 32: Africa and the Indian Ocean”
Link: Africa Past & Present: “Episode 32: Africa and the Indian Ocean” (Mp3 Podcast)
Instructions: In this podcast, historian Ned Alpers of UCLA discusses the increasing incorporation of the previously separate historiographies of the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Please listen to the entire episode.
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- Reading: History Cooperative: Erik Gilbert’s “Putting Africa in World History and Vice Versa”
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5.2.2 The East African World
- Reading: History Cooperative: Erik Gilbert’s “Coastal East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean: Long-Distance Trade, Empire, Migration, and Regional Unity, 1750–1970”
Link: History Cooperative: Erik Gilbert’s “Coastal East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean: Long-Distance Trade, Empire, Migration, and Regional Unity, 1750–1970” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the entire article, but focus on the following sections in particular: “Introduction”; “Who are the Swahili?”; “Regions and the Historiography of Coastal East Africa”; “Periodizing Western Indian Ocean History”; “1750–1850: Period of Transition”; “1850–1960: High Imperialism and the Age of Steam”; and “Conclusion.”
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- Reading: History Cooperative: Erik Gilbert’s “Coastal East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean: Long-Distance Trade, Empire, Migration, and Regional Unity, 1750–1970”
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5.2.3 Swahili Society
- Reading: Swahili Language & Culture: “A Brief History of the Swahili Language”
Swahili Language & Culture: “A Brief History of the Swahili Language” (HTML)
Instructions: This article provides a brief overview of the history of the Swahili language, including its incorporation of words from other languages and its spread from the coastal stretches of East Africa into neighboring regions. Read the entire article.
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- Reading: Swahili Online: “Culture”
Link: Swahili Online: “Culture” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the following sections: “Introduction,” “Early Inhabitants,” “Coastal Trade,” “Garden Cities: Rise & Fall,” “Garden Cities: Good Living,” and “Dialogue & Resistance.” You may also want to view the “Timeline,” but this is not required.
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- Reading: Swahili Language & Culture: “A Brief History of the Swahili Language”
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5.2.4 Great Zimbabwe
- Reading: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the time of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe”
Link: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the time of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe” (HTML)
Instructions: This resource discusses the history of one of southeastern Africa’s largest and most powerful kingdoms: Great Zimbabwe. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: Archaeology: Roderick J. Mcintosh’s “Riddle of Great Zimbabwe”
Link: Archaeology: Roderick J. Mcintosh’s “Riddle of Great Zimbabwe” (HTML)
Instructions: Roderick J. Mcintosh’s article discusses the twentieth-century archeological discovery of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, and its impact on our understanding of the history of this region of the continent. Please read it in its entirety.
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- Reading: Exploring Africa, “History of Africa during the time of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe”
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5.2.5 Somali Society
- Reading: Wikipedia: “History of Somalia”
Link: Wikipedia: “History of Somalia” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “Ancient,” “Medieval,” and “Early Modern” sections. This article provides a general overview of the history of what is now Somalia.
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- Reading: Wikipedia: “History of Somalia”
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5.2.6 Polynesia and Africa
- Reading: Stephen Ellis’s “A History of Madagascar”
Link: Stephen Ellis’s “A History of Madagascar” (HTML)
Instructions: Stephen Ellis’s article provides a brief history of the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: Stephen Ellis’s “A History of Madagascar”
- 5.3 Trading Worlds—The Mediterranean and Sahara
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5.3.1 The Mediterranean Trading System
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Mediterranean Trading System”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Mediterranean Trading System” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Mediterranean Trading System”
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5.3.2 Across the Sahara
- Web Media: Library of Congress: “Ancient Manuscripts: From the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu”
Link: Library of Congress: “Ancient Manuscripts: From the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu” (HTML)
Instructions: Click on “Enter Exhibition” and browse through the list of manuscripts. Pay particularly close attention to those discussing slavery.
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- Activity: MERLOT: “Learning Exercise: Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu”
Link: MERLOT: “Learning Exercise: Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu” (HTML)
Instructions: Test your knowledge! After working through the Library of Congress’s manuscript exhibit in the resource before, click on the link provided above and scroll down to the “Text of Learning Exercise” section. Answer questions 1–5.
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- Web Media: Library of Congress: “Ancient Manuscripts: From the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu”
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5.3.3 Ottoman Africa
- Reading: Countries Quest: “History, Mamluk Rule and Ottoman Conquest”
Link: Countries Quest: “History, Mamluk Rule and Ottoman Conquest” (HTML)
Instructions: This resource discusses the various Islamic powers that, at various points, ruled stretches of North Africa between the medieval and early modern periods. Read the entire article.
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- Reading: Sanderson Beck’s “Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco 1700-1950”
Link: Sanderson Beck’s “Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco 1700-1950” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the sections “Algeria in the Ottoman Empire 1700-1830” and “Tunisia under the Ottoman Empire 1700-1881.”
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- Reading: Countries Quest: “History, Mamluk Rule and Ottoman Conquest”
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Unit 6: Africans and The Atlantic World (c. 1440 – 1820 CE)
After 1450, much of Africa was brought into the Atlantic trade system, increasingly through involvement in the slave trade. Through the institution of slavery, African lifestyles and cultural practices were transferred to the New World, where they developed as cultures of survival, resistance, and production in plantation societies and elsewhere. The first African slaves brought directly to Portugal arrived in 1441. As European relations with African rulers expanded, the export of slaves grew in volume. With the development of plantation agriculture in the Atlantic islands, and then the Americas, slaves became the primary component of the coercive labor system. By 1600, the slave trade was the most lucrative element of European trade with Africa. Between 1450 and 1850, about 12 million Africans were shipped to plantations in the Americas.
In this unit, you will study the complex and brutal nature of the Atlantic slave trade. We will also take a look at the indigenous slavery of West African kingdoms, European commercial interests in Africa, the relationships between African rulers and European traders, and the rise of New World slave societies.
Unit 6 Time Advisory show close
Unit 6 Learning Outcomes show close
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6.1 The Making of the Atlantic World
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Making of the Atlantic World”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Making of the Atlantic World” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked article.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Dr. J. Jemmott’s “Lecture Outlines”
Link: Dr. J. Jemmott’s “Lecture Outlines” (PDF)
Instructions: Read “Introduction to the Atlantic World.” This lecture outlines the birth of the transatlantic system of economic, social, and cultural exchange known as the Atlantic World during the early modern period (between 1400 CE and 1600 CE).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “The Making of the Atlantic World”
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6.2 Origins and Operation of the Atlantic Slave Trade
- Reading: About.com: Alistair Boddy-Evans’s “Types of Slavery in Africa”
Link: About.com: Alistair Boddy-Evans’s “Types of Slavery in Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: This article outlines the various forms of slavery that existed in Africa both before and after the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: About.com: Alistair Boddy-Evans’s “Types of Slavery in Africa”
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6.2.1 Causes and Origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade
- Lecture: Arizona State University: “The Birth of the Modern: Europe and Its Others”
Link: Arizona State University: “The Birth of the Modern: Europe and Its Others” (iTunesU Audio)
Instructions: Listen to both “The African as Other Part I” and “The African as Other Part II” (lectures 17 and 18, respectively).
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- Reading: PBS: “Europeans Come to Western Africa”
Link: PBS: “Europeans Come to Western Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: This article describes the first fateful points of contact made between Western Europeans and the various inhabitants of Africa’s West Coast during the early modern period. Please read the entire article.
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- Lecture: Arizona State University: “The Birth of the Modern: Europe and Its Others”
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6.2.2 Operation of the Atlantic Slave Trade
- Reading: Exploring Africa: “The Atlantic Slave Trade-Engage”
Link: Exploring Africa: “The Atlantic Slave Trade-Engage” (HTML)
Instructions: This resource provides an overview of the origins and outcomes of the transatlantic slave trade and its various impacts on both Africa and the global African Diaspora. Please read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Steven Mintz, ed.: “Excerpts from Slave Narratives”
Link: Steven Mintz, ed.: “Excerpts from Slave Narratives” (HTML)
Instructions: Browse through the following sections: “… Enslavement,” “… The Middle Passage,” “… Arrival,” “… Conditions of Life,” and “… Emancipation.” This resource provides transcribed first-hand accounts of the experience of enslavement and emancipation in North America.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Exploring Africa: “The Atlantic Slave Trade-Engage”
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6.2.3 Demographic Patterns
- Web Media: SlaveVoyages.org: “The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database”
Link: SlaveVoyages.org: “The Tranatlantic Slave Trade Database” (HTML)
Instructions: Study the maps on the website provided above. These maps detail the locations of origin and arrival, as well as the astonishing numbers of slaves between Africa and the Americas. (Also, interested students might want to further explore this extraordinary online resource by clicking on “Voyages Database” in the main menu at the top of the page. This section of the website allows users to conduct statistical searches on specific transatlantic slave trade voyages between Africa and the Americas. However, this activity is not required for this particular assignment.)
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Assessment: Felicia McCrary and Diane Marie M. St. George’s “Mortality and the Transatlantic Slave Trade” (PDF)
Link: Felicia McCrary and Diane Marie M. St. George’s “Mortality and the Transatlantic Slave Trade” (PDF)
Instructions: Click on the “Download Mortality and the Transatlantic Slave Trade” link to open the PDF. Scroll down to the “Student’s Worksheet” section. Read the introductory paragraph, analyze the data in tables 1 through 5, and answer questions 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: SlaveVoyages.org: “The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database”
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6.2.4 Organization of the System
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Organization of the System”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Organization of the System” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Organization of the System”
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6.2.5 Abolition
- Reading: UNC Press: “The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Origins, Effects, and Legacies”
Link: UNC Press: “The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Origins, Effects, and Legacies” (PDF)
Instructions: When you click on the link above, you will be directed to a webpage for the UNC Press. Select the “Guide for Teachers” link from the menu on the left-hand side of the page, beneath the heading for “Special Features.” Read chapters 1 and 2, which discuss the origins and effects of abolitionism in the nineteenth-century Atlantic World.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford: “Am I not a Man and a Brother?”
Link: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford: “Am I not a Man and a Brother?” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “Introduction” and browse through the abstracts of primary source texts pertaining to the transatlantic slave trade that immediately follow. The introductory essay provides a brief overview of the process of abolishing the slave trade among Great Britain, France, and other Western European imperial powers.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Lecture: YouTube: Inge Dornan’s “Transatlantic slave trade—Inge Dornan”
Link: YouTube: Inge Dornan’s “Transatlantic slave trade—Inge Dornan” (YouTube)
Instructions: Watch Inge Dornan’s lecture on the transatlantic slave trade.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: UNC Press: “The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Origins, Effects, and Legacies”
- 6.3 Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade
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6.3.1 Political and Economic Impact
- Reading: UNC Press: “The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Origins, Effects, and Legacies”
Link: UNC Press: “The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Origins, Effects, and Legacies” (PDF)
Instructions: When you click on the link above, you will be directed to a webpage for the UNC Press. Select the “Guide for Teachers” link from the menu on the left-hand side of the page, beneath the heading for “Special Features.” Read chapter 3, which explores the legacies of slavery in the post-emancipation Atlantic World.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Le Monde diplomatique: Elikia M’bokolo’s “The Impact of the Slave Trade on Africa”
Link: Le Monde diplomatique: Elikia M’bokolo’s “The Impact of the Slave Trade on Africa” (HTML)
Instructions: Elikia M’bokolo’s article discusses the “state of the field” on the topic of the origins, outcomes, and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade. Please read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: UNC Press: “The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Origins, Effects, and Legacies”
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6.3.2 The Atlantic Slave Trade in Memory and Tradition
- Reading: New West Indian Guide: Ted Maris-Wolf’s “Many Seasons Gone: Memory, History, and the Atlantic Slave Trade”
Link: New West Indian Guide: Ted Maris-Wolf’s “Many Seasons Gone: Memory, History, and the Atlantic Slave Trade” (PDF)
Instructions: When you click the link above, you will be taken to an entry on the article listed above. Click the link for “PDF” at the bottom of the page to access and read the article. Ted Maris-Wolf’s review essay synthesizes the theses and content of two monographs—African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade and Lose Your Mother—on the cultural legacies of the transatlantic slave trade.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: New West Indian Guide: Ted Maris-Wolf’s “Many Seasons Gone: Memory, History, and the Atlantic Slave Trade”
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6.3.3 Congo and Central Africa in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- Reading: Country Studies: “Kongo Kingdom
Link: Country Studies: “Kongo Kingdom” (HTML)
Instructions: This article briefly discusses the Kongo Kingdom both before and after the introduction of the transatlantic slave trade. Read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Millersville University: John Thornton’s “African Political Ethics and the Slave Trade: Central African Dimensions”
Link: Millersville University: John Thornton’s “African Political Ethics and the Slave Trade: Central African Dimensions” (HTML)
Instructions: John Thornton’s article addresses the varying, and often contentious, attitudes of African elites towards the transatlantic slave trade. Please read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Country Studies: “Kongo Kingdom
- 6.4 The African Diaspora
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6.4.1 Africans in the New World
- Reading: PBS: “The Growth of Slavery in North America”
Link: PBS: “The Growth of Slavery in North America” (HTML)
Instructions: This article discusses the onset and growth of slavery in North America. Pay particularly close attention to the various forms of dissuasion and punishment used by slave owners to manage slaves’ behavior and obedience on North American plantations. Please read the entire article.
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- Reading: PBS: “The Growth of Slavery in North America”
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6.4.2 “Survivals” and “Transformations”
- Reading: Study World: “The African Diaspora in the New World”
Link: Study World: “The African Diaspora in the New World” (HTML)
Instructions: This paper addresses the new cultures that were created as a result of the experience of enslavement in North America. Please read the entire paper.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: BBC and The British Museum: “Akan Drum”
Link: BBC and The British Museum: “Akan Drum” (HTML, Flash Videos, and Java)
Instructions: Read the entire article (being sure to click on the “…Read more” button in the “Taken from Africa” section) and browse through the photos provided in the interactive multimedia viewer. The object featured in this online resource is believed to be one of the oldest surviving African-American objects and, thus, represents a new social and cultural phase in the global African diasporic experience.
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- Reading: Study World: “The African Diaspora in the New World”
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Unit 7: Capitalism, The Industrial Revolution, and Africans (c. 1652 – 1890 CE)
Despite the damage caused by the Atlantic slave trade, Africans had, by the late eighteenth century, constructed diverse, cosmopolitan, functioning societies across the continent that interacted with one another as well as with trading partners and co-religionists around the world. Historians often look to the 1890s and the formal colonization of Africa as the end of this diversity and independence. However, African independence was arguably first threatened during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During this period, industrial revolution created massive productivity imbalances between western Europe and other parts of the world. Africans were conscripted or recruited into global trade as producers of raw materials, rather than as manufacturers of finished goods. As a result, Africa generally lost wealth while western Europe gained it. This had a massive impact on the economic (and ultimately political) independence of African societies.
In this unit, we will explore the industrial revolution and its impact in Africa, and examine the ways that Africans participated in it. We will also look at two specific situations—the production of oilseeds (palm kernels and peanuts) in West Africa and the settlement of southern Africa—that serve as particularly advanced examples of this process. Finally, we will explore the situation in Africa on the eve of colonialism.
Unit 7 Time Advisory show close
Unit 7 Learning Outcomes show close
- 7.1 Development and Underdevelopment
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7.1.1 The Industrial Revolution
- Reading: BBC: Robin Blackburn’s “Enslavement and Industrialisation”
Link: BBC: Robin Blackburn’s “Enslavement and Industrialisation” (HTML)
Instructions: Robin Blackburn’s article addresses the various ways in which the transatlantic slave trade helped fuel the rapid growth of the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe. Please read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: BBC: Robin Blackburn’s “Enslavement and Industrialisation”
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7.1.2 How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
- Reading: Revealing Histories: Washington Alcott’s “The Underdevelopment of Africa by Europe”
Link: Revealing Histories: Washington Alcott’s “The Underdevelopment of Africa by Europe” (HTML)
Instructions: Washington Alcott’s article addresses the origins and causes of modern Africa’s so-called “underdevelopment.” Please read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Revealing Histories: Washington Alcott’s “The Underdevelopment of Africa by Europe”
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7.2 From Slaves to Oilseeds in West Africa
- Reading: Think Africa Press: Rizwana Monir’s “The Economics of African Slavery”
Link: Think Africa Press: Rizwana Monir’s “The Economics of African Slavery” (HTML)
Instructions: In this article, Rizwana Monir argues that the West’s various economic policies continued to fuel the institution of slavery in Africa long after its abolition. Please read it in its entirety.
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- Reading: Think Africa Press: Rizwana Monir’s “The Economics of African Slavery”
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7.3 Settlers and Africans in Southern Africa
- Reading: South African History Online: “The Pre-Mandela Period: Colonial History of South Africa (1652–1917)”
Link: South African History Online: “The Pre-Mandela Period: Colonial History of South Africa (1652-1917)” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the following sections: “Introduction,” “The Trek Boers and the Great Trek,” “The Anglo-Boer War,” and “The Legislative Framework and Opposition to White Rule.” This resource provides a brief colonial history of South Africa leading up to the twentieth century.
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- Reading: South African History Online: “The Pre-Mandela Period: Colonial History of South Africa (1652–1917)”
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7.3.1 Khoi-San Encounters with Europeans in Southern Africa
- Reading: South African History Online: “A Land Dispossession History 1600s–1990s”
Link: South African History Online: “A Land Dispossession History 1600s–1990s” (HTML)
Instructions: This article outlines the history of contact between Europeans and South Africans and provides an excellent historical context in which to read the following assignment.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: South African History Online: “A Land Dispossession History 1600s–1990s”
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7.3.2 European Expansion
- Web Media: South African History Online: “Great Trek 1835–1846”
Link: South African History Online: “Great Trek 1835–1846” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the following sections: “Great Trek 1835-1846,” “Trek and the ‘empty lands’,” “Dispossession and land seizure.” The Great Trek was an attempt by Dutch-speaking colonists—known as Boers—to migrate into the interior of South Africa.
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- Web Media: South African History Online: “Great Trek 1835–1846”
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7.3.3 The Conquest of the Xhosa
- Reading: South Africa History Online: “Conquest of the Eastern Cape 1779-1878”
Link: South Africa History Online: “Conquest of the Eastern Cape 1779-1878” (HTML)
Instructions: This article covers the Frontier Wars (or Xhosa Wars), which took place in South Africa between various colonial administrations and native insurgents during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Please read the entire article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: South Africa History Online: “Conquest of the Eastern Cape 1779-1878”
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7.3.4 The Zulu-British Encounter
- Reading: KZN North Happenings: “History of the Zulu Nation”
Link: KZN North Happenings: “History of the Zulu Nation” (HTML)
Instructions: This article provides a brief overview of the history of South Africa’s Zulu Nation.
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- Reading: South African History Online: “Anglo-Zulu Wars 1879–1896”
Link: South African History Online: “Anglo-Zulu Wars 1879–1896” (HTML)
Instructions: This article covers the Anglo-Zulu Wars (1879–1896) and the destruction of the Zulu kingdom in South Africa.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: KZN North Happenings: “History of the Zulu Nation”
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7.4 Africa at the Crossroads: The Mid-Nineteenth Century
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Africa at the Crossroads: The Mid-Nineteenth Century”
Link: The Saylor Foundation’s “Africa at the Crossroads: The Mid-Nineteenth Century” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the linked entry.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Saylor Foundation’s “Africa at the Crossroads: The Mid-Nineteenth Century”
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Final Exam
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's "HIST251 Final Exam"
Link: The Saylor Foundation's "HIST251 Final Exam"
Instructions: You must be logged into your Saylor Foundation School account in order to access this exam. If you do not yet have an account, you will be able to create one, free of charge, after clicking the link.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's "HIST251 Final Exam"
