AFRICA

African Rift, Valley grasslands,safari country, early hominids originated here

Africa is a continent of diverse geographic people, resources, culture, and societies….

North- Sahara- Arabic traders Nile river valleyWest- Tropical Jungle, Niger River is rich in natural mineral landEAST-Rift Valley grasslands Animal reservesSouthern- rich resources, dry plateau.

A Satellite View

•The Saharadesert separates North/ Arabicfrom the Sub-Saharan/Black region

Africa• History- points in early

history • Colonialism…& Legacy of • Resources• Sudan• Rwanda• Apartheid in South Africa

– History of South Africa– White Afrikanner colonialism– Apartheid– Nelson Mandela– Truth and Reconciliation

The

Complete

Topography

Of

AFRICA

Nile River

Congo River

Zambezi River

Niger River

Orange River

Limpopo River

Mediterranean Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Indian Ocean

Red Sea

L. Victoria

L. Albert-->

L. Chad-->

L. Tanganyika->

<--Gu

lf of A

den

Drajensburg Mts.

Ruw

enzori Mts.

Δ Mt. Kenya

Δ Mt. Kilimanjaro

Sahara Desert

Sahel

Kalahari

Desert

Nam

ib D

esert

Libyan Desert

Gre

at R

ift

Val

ley

Atlas Mts.

Tropic of Cancer 20° N

Tropic of Capricorn20° S

Equator 0°

Great Rift Valley

3,000 miles long

Mt. Kilimanjaro:Snow on the Equator?

Natural Resources

The African Savannah:

13 million sq. mi.

African Rain Forest

# Annual rainfall of up to 17 ft.

# Rapid decomposition (very humid).

# Covers 37 countries.

# 15% of the land surface of Africa.

Key points in Early African History

• Hominids orginate in Africa- five million yrs ago

• 5000 BC Ancient Egyptian civilizations in NE Africa domesticated animals, grew crops along the NILE- Art, Writing, Irrigation, Empire, Government, Architecture

• Ancient iron-age groups of people settled all parts of Africa with AGRICULTURE and

•TRADE of RESOURCES: trading gold, copper, precious stones, animal hides, ivory and metal goods

Look at the Colored tribal regionsAnd the gray country boundaries

Early Africa• There were many great empires in Sub-

Saharan Africa over the past few millennia, especially in West Africa and Southern Africa where important trade routes and good agricultural land allowed large states to develop.

• CHRISTIANITY-spreads into north Africa= Coptic Christians- Egyptians…

• Trade between Mediterranean countries and West Africa across the Sahara Desert, was important and this is how…

• Islam spreads into northern Africa in the 700-1000

– The arrival of Islam created a significant political and social change

– Leaders converted to Islam- Arabic and Muslim law in administration

– Mix of Arab and Native culture

• The Portuguese explore and again spread Christianity into No and West Africa in the 1500’s.

• The DUTCH in the 1600’s begin colonization of southern Africa

Africa and the age of exploration• Portuguese explorers Vasco Da Gama and Prince

Henry, the Navigator, were 1st to explore Africa looking for an oceanic route to the Indies. trading European wheat and cloth for African gold and slaves.

• The Portuguese wanted, to find a route to India and kept trying to circumnavigate Africa.

• Beginning in the 17th century, the Netherlands began exploring and colonizing Africa.

• To compete with the Portuguese, two Dutch companies were founded: the West Indies Company, with power over all the Atlantic Ocean, and the East Indies Company, with power over the Indian Ocean.

• the Dutch built 16 forts in different places, partly overtaking Portugal as the main slave-trading power.

• The Dutch left a lasting impact in South Africa, a region ignored by Portugal that the Dutch eventually decided to use as station in their route to East Asia. They founded Cape Town in 1652, starting the European exploration and colonization of South Africa.

Ancient African Societies

African Slave Trade

• The earliest African slave trade across the-Sahara. • When camels were introduced into Africa from Arabia in the 900’s slaves

were carried north mostly as servants. Women became servants and became part of harems

• The Atlantic slave trade developed later, and would have a much bigger impact. As colonies in the New world grew the demand for slave labor grew.

• Workers were needed for agriculture, mining and other tasks. To meet this new demand, a trans-Atlantic slave trade developed. Slaves purchased in those West African regions known as the Slave Coast, Gold Coast, were often captives of internal warfare or were exchanged with European slave traders for firearms, rum, fabrics and seed grain.

• The AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE DEPLETED Africa of able bodied MEN and hurts their economic development

Slavery led to 7 million Africans being shipped out of Africa

IndustrialRevolutionIndustrialRevolution

Source forRaw

Materials

Source forRaw

Materials

Markets forFinishedGoods

Markets forFinishedGoods

EuropeanNationalismEuropean

Nationalism

MissionaryActivity

MissionaryActivity

Military& NavalBases

Military& NavalBases

EuropeanMotives

For Colonization

EuropeanMotives

For Colonization

Places toDump

Unwanted/Excess Popul.

Places toDump

Unwanted/Excess Popul.

Soc. & Eco.Opportunities

Soc. & Eco.Opportunities

EuropeanRacism

EuropeanRacism

“WhiteMan’s

Burden”

“WhiteMan’s

Burden”

SocialDarwinism

SocialDarwinism

These create fierce competition Economic and political motives overlap

Exploration to Colonization• European exploration of Africa

in the 17th and 18th centuries was very limited. Instead they were focused on the slave trade, which only required coastal bases and items to trade. The interior exploration and colonization of the African interior would start well into the 1800’s.

• Many explorers felt that it was their duty to introduce Western civilization and Christianity to "savage" black African peoples

• SOCIAL DARWIN, SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, WHITE MAN”S BURDEN to “IZE” Civilize, Christianize, Westernize the native people

European Colonialism• “Imperialism”- extending ones control over

another• Colonialism- annexing territory outright and

establishing governments to rule over people• Thru the 1800’s the Industrial revolution and

economic competition led European nations to COMPETE FOR COLONIES and the division of Africa. driven by small groups of wealthy financiers

• Europeans convene the BERLIN CONFERENCE 1844 to establish how AFRICA would be partitioned resulting in…..

• “Scramble for Africa”- most sudden case of colonization 1875-1902 Europeans colonized 90% of Africa in less that 20 years

• Colonial Administration of colonies: – Europeans were encouraged to settle in

colonies creating DOMINANT MINORITY SOCIETIES,

– Colonial administrators used one ethnic group over another… the “DIVIDE AND CONQUER” technique giving one group power over another to administer…. Thus was the case in RWANDA as we will see.

• In most cases colonial administrators could not fully administer the territories and relied on local power thus creating various factions with in the societies.

Legacy of European Colonialism

• European colonialism had a devastating impact on Africa.

• Africa is PLAGUED with, economic, political and humanitarian problems

• Profits from colonialism and empire building DID NOT MATCH EUROPEAN EXPECTATIONS

• Exploiting the native people and the land• THIS led to major political problems b/c of random

borders that were created without regard for ethnic groups and land

• WAR, corruption in military governments, famine, and disease all hamper economic progress.

• The struggle to rebuild is proving difficult.

Africa’s Problems

• The Legacy of European Colonialism has created:

• Political corruption, Militaristic dictators, lack of respect for rule of law, human rights violations are all common reasons for some of the causes of Africa’s problems.

• The artificial boundaries created by colonial rulers brought together many different ethnic people within a new nation that did not reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity.

Current problems in Africa

• Dictatorship- no democracy little free enterprise and RAMPANT POLITICAL CORRUPTION and political Instability

• Health Epidemics- AIDS, clean water• Lack of Infrastructure- roads, hospitals,

schools, extracurricular opportunities.• Inability to transform raw materials and natural

resources to economic activity= jobs• ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT lacks

The legacy of Belgian Colonialism• King Leopold of Belgium-takes the Congo as his personal “kings”

colony.• He forced the natives to provide him with quotas of Ivory, rubber and

other natural resources for his own personal wealth• He started the brutality of natives by having their hands CUT OFF as a

way to force them to provide him with resources.• His forces would also take the women and children and “brutalize’ them• These practices were then taken by on by rebels and leaders as a

system of brutality.

5-8 Million Victims! (50% of Popul.)

It is blood-curdling to see them (the soldiers) returning with the hands of the slain, and to find the hands of young children amongst the bigger ones evidencing their bravery...The rubber from this district has cost hundreds of lives, and the scenes I have witnessed, while unable to help the oppressed, have been almost enough to make me wish I were dead... This rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to rise and sweep every white person on the Upper Congo into eternity, there would still be left a fearful balance to their credit. -- Belgian Official

• King Leopold's legacy http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3516965.stm

South Africa

• Originally colonized by the Dutch then the British. A Dominant Minority Society was created

• Discovery of Diamonds, GOLD, wineries, Tourism, and European investments. Makes SA a modern nation

South Africa• The system of

Apartheid officially segregated the whites, mixed and blacks and oppressed and suppressed human rights.

• In 1994 After an anti-Apartheid movement. Apartheid ends and Nelson Mandela becomes the first black President

• Mandela credited Mahatma Gandhi as a major source of inspiration in his life, both for the philosophy of non-violence and for facing adversity with dignity.

Genocide in Rwanda

1993 Black Hawk Down Occurs in SOMALIA

1994 after years of ethnic fighting genocide breaks out in Rwanda

US DOES NOT WANT TO INTERVENE

A Brief History of Hutus and Tutsis• Hutus first settled in the Great

Lakes region of Central Africa between 500 and 1000 BC. Generally, Hutus were an

agricultural people who lived in large family groups. They agreed to raise crops for the Tutsi in return for protection.

• The Tutsis, a tall, nomadic, warrior people, who began arriving in the Great Lakes region from Ethiopia some four hundred years ago, settled among the Hutus

• They intermarry - adopting their language, beliefs and customs, the two lived in harmony.

•The Hutu make up about 85% of the population and the Tutsi only about 15%

Causes of the Hutu Tutsi conflict• Colonialism identifies economic differences. The

Tutsis as cattle-herders were often in a position of economic dominance to the soil-tilling Hutus. That is not to say that all Tutsis were wealthy and all Hutus were poor, but in many areas, like Rwanda, the minority Tutsis ruled the Hutus

• Colonial rule, in the late 19th Century, did little to bring the groups together.

• The Belgians, who ruled what would later become Rwanda and Burundi, saw the Tutsi, who were taller and a bit lighter, as superior to the Hutu’s

• They forced Hutus and Tutsis to carry ethnic identity cards. The colonial administrators further exacerbated divisions by only allowed Tutsis to attain higher education and hold positions of power

• The animosity of the Tutsis by the Hutus has grown since their independence

Before the Genocide

• Since the end of colonialism the fighting between Hutus and Tutsis has existed leading to the massacre of ½ a million and more in refugees

• 2,500 UN peace keeping forces have been in central Africa since 1990 overseeing a cease-fire accord agreement

• Belgian troops have also been stationed trying to keep ethnic tensions under control

The Genocide begins

• Hutus turned on Rwanda's Tutsi minority on the night of April 6, 1994, after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and neighboring Burundi was shot down.

• Bands of Hutu thugs, working mostly with machetes and astonishingly relentless enthusiasm, killed almost 1 million men, women and children and turned another 2 million into refugees, all for the crime of being Tutsis

Genocide in Rwanda• Between APRIL AND

JUNE… 100 days 800,000 Rwandans were Killed as the world stood by. (8000 per day)

• This Ethnic Genocide occurred between the HUTU’s and TUTSI’S.

• Most of the Victims were the Tutsi’s and moderate Hutu’s

• The Perpetrators--- were the Hutu’s led by an extremist group– the Interahamwe.

• The west and the UN were aware of this massacre AS it was happening

• The Ethnic conflicts between Hutus and Tutsi’s created hundreds of thousands of refugees spilling over into neighboring Zaire and Burundi

800,000 killed in 100 dayssystematic slaughter of men,women and children

1 million refugees

Lieutenant-General Roméo A. DallaireCommander of the United Nations Assistance Mission

for Rwanda during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide• Dallaire did everything he could,

pleading for 2000 more peacekeepers to be added to his insufficiently equipped 3000 man force.

• If they had answered Gen. Dallaire's pleas, the U.N. could have stopped the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans. Instead, following the deaths of 10 Belgian Peacekeepers assigned to protect the President, most white Europeans left RWANDA and his forces were cut down from 3000 to a mere 500 men,

• “A Good Man In Hell”

Roméo A. Dallaire• Gen. Romeo Dallaire,

frustrated, and disheartened by the U.N.'s passive attitude, repeatedly confronted his superiors and the extremists.

• He was unable to prevent horrific events from unfolding.

• They essentially watched as one of the most horrible genocides in human history took place before their very eyes.

UN admits Rwandan genocide failure

• The United Nations Security Council has explicitly accepted responsibility for failing to prevent the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

• UN council members acknowledged that their governments lacked the political will to stop the massacres.

Massacre in church in NibouyeA technical college in the south Project Rwanda- Orphanage

Why was there no U.S. response

• Clinton administration officials identify factors, including the "Somalia syndrome." Congress and the Clinton administration were reluctant to send U.S. troops into more humanitarian missions after the disastrous retreat from Mogadishu

•Rwanda was a country of no strategic importance and President Clinton has been criticized for lack of leadership and lack of national interest in responding to the genocide in Rwanda

End of the Genocide

• The Tutsi rebels, called the (RPF) Rwandan Patriotic Front led by the now president, Paul Kagame,

• Put an end to the massacre by overthrowing the Hutu leaders and capturing the capital Kigali.

• Elections have been held and both groups are represented in the government

Paul Kagame

DARFUR

About Darfur, Sudan

• The Sudan is located in North Africa. Neighboring countries include Chad, to the west, and Saudi Arabia, to the east across the Red Sea.

• Darfur is located in the western region of Sudan, Africa.

How It Began• An outbreak of civil war in

Darfur, entirely separate from Khartoum’s 21-year assault against the African peoples of southern Sudan.

• The people of Darfur rose up in a rebellion early in 2003 and militarily.

• The Islamic government of Sudan, is deliberately destroying the African tribal peoples of the region.

• What the U.N. and Western diplomats are calling “ethnic cleansing”, it is actually an ongoing genocide.

Genocide in Sudan

• Through a system of torture, rape and murder, the government sponsored Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, has succeeded in killing almost one half million black tribal Africans since February of 2003. Their goal is to eliminate the black tribal African farmers in that region.

• WHY

Genocide in Sudan• 4 million are starving. • Estimated 500 people a day die

in the region. • Disease takes its toll on a great

number of people in the refugee camps,

• There are inadequate medical supplies, shelter, food, as well as poor sanitation for the excessive number of people who need it. The international community has taken notice- the U.S. Congress recently labeled the situation in Darfur a genocide.

• A team of U.N. human rights investigators reported that the government and the Janjaweed have instituted a "reign of terror".

Genocide in Sudan• Like in the Rwandan

genocide in 1994, nothing substantial has been done to stop the atrocities in Darfur.

• Two "cease-fires", in 2004 and 2006, have not prevented the violence from continuing, and the situation is becoming increasingly dire.

A Genocide warning• The Principal victims include the

Dinka and Nuer peoples in southern Sudan and the Nuba in central Sudan.

• The Sudanese government; a military regime based in the north led by Omar al- Bashir is Primarily responsible for the devastation.

• The genocide warning has been issued based on the following actions.

• 1. Divide and Destroy: strategy of pitting ethnic groups against each other with enormous loss of civilian life.

• 2. The use of mass starvation as a weapon of destruction. Food supplies and livestock have been destroyed

A Genocide warning• 3. Rape and enslavement of

women and children by the government allied militia.

• 4. Bombings of hospitals, clinics, schools, and other civilian and humanitarian targets.

• 5. Disruption and Destabilization of the communities of those who flee the war zones to other parts of Sudan.

• Taken together these actions threaten the destruction of an entire group.

WHY• OIL sits under the land in DARFUR and

the Arab military government, which came to power after a Coup take over of a democratically elected government, can get OIL revenues only if it gets the land.

• Why Target China?• China is the leading foreign investor in

Sudan, with an annual trade value of roughly $1 billion. In the past several years,

• China has developed a number of oil fields, built a 900 plus mile pipeline, as well as a refinery and a port. Sudan represents China's largest overseas investment, worth at least $3 billion, and Sudan is the third largest supplier of oil to China.

• China's trade in oil with Sudan has close connections with arms dealing. Many of the helicopter gunships used by Khartoum were purchased from China using expected revenues from oil extracted in South Sudan.

• Amnesty International has documented the effect of China's arms exports to Sudan, noting that Chinese equipment has been used by the Government of Sudan and Janjaweed in operations in Darfur.

CHINA• It is incumbent upon China to do

all it can to address the tragedy in Darfur and Chad. As a key supplier of arms and funds to the Khartoum government, China is especially responsible for the continued violence in Darfur at the hands of the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed.

• Furthermore, by virtue of its close relationship with the Government of Sudan, China is one of only a few actors that can exert pressure to end the targeting of civilians in Darfur, and fulfill commitments Khartoum has made to disarm the Janjaweed and adhere to its responsibility to protect civilians in Sudan.

The Death Toll• The death toll

exceeds 100,000 and may be more than 400,000

• About 2 million civilians have been driven from their homes, their villages torched and their property

• thousands of women raped