the story of africa

What’s the best way

to tell about history?

Is it best when it starts:

“Once Upon A Time...”

Should it be only facts?

Whose facts? What are facts, anyway?

"Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters."-African Proverb

So which is more interesting...

Charlemagne•Brought about centralized authority

in Western Europe.

•Lived from 768-814

•Had diplomatic contact with Abbasids and Byzantine Empire, unified his empire through warfare.

•Built a capital at Aachen

•Crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800

OR

Once upon a time, in 768 the grandson of Charles, “The Hammer” Martel came to the

throne. Though his father was known as Pepin “the Short,” Charlemagne stood at 1.84 meters (about 6 feet) which made him tall for his day. He is described as being heavily built, with lively

round eyes in a round head, white hair, and a short thick neck. He favored the color blue, and preferred having swords with gold and silver handles. Otherwise, he dressed like the ordinary people of

his time. His favorite food was roasted meat. Charlemagne was married 4 times and had 11 legitimate children

and 9 illegitimate children. He had two sets of twins. He also had 5 known concubines, who also bore him 9 children. Though he

inherited a kingdom, it was not at peace. He waged war against the Saxons for 32 years before finally defeating them. He also

defeated the Bavarians, Slavs, Lombards, and Avars, and put down a rebellion in Rome, earning the love of Pope Leo III, who crowned him Emperor of the Romans on December 25, 800. Despite being

illiterate himself, Charlemagne valued education and set up schools for law, literacy and Latin, and through his direct actions, preserved much of the ancient world’s written work. Charlemagne died January 28, 814 at the age of 71 of Pleurisy, an inflammation of the lining around the lungs. This usually is caused by repeated

infections (like bronchitis and pneumonia). He was buried the same day he died.

Shouldn’t history be interesting?

African history comes to us from

the griots

“I am a griot . . . we are vessels of speech, we are the repositories which harbor secrets many centuries old. The art of eloquence has no secrets for us; without us the names of kings would vanish into oblivion, we are the memory of mankind; by the spoken word we bring to life the deeds and exploits of kings for younger generations . . . I teach kings the history of their ancestors so that the lives of the ancients might serve them as an example, for the world is old, but the future springs from the past” (D.T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, p. 1).

Take a look at page 490 for the story of Sundiata, the first

Lion King.

Is this map accurate? Is it fair?

•Groups: Z, Kilwa, Kongo, Axum-how does the text describe them? Modify the map based on that description

•Add the presence of religion

•Add goods exported/imported

•expand the trade routes

Then, on your blog:•Post answers to these questions:

•Why show an isolated Africa?

•Why not color code religions?

•Why not color code other kingdoms?

•Why not show goods and trade partners?

•What’s the overall impact on your image of Africa that comes from these omissions? What’s changed?

Religion in S.S. Africa

•Islam in East Africa (Swahili Coast)

•Rulers/Elites convert but don’t force others to do so.

•Retain pagan practices at home, Islam in public.

•Islam becomes a social “glue” for merchants and political partnerships.

Religion in S.S. Africa cont.

•West African rulers/elites convert

•Kings of Ghana in 10th century

•Forms positive connections with North Africa; syncretic versions arise

•Sundiata nominally Muslim, but doesn’t force conversion

•Mansa Musa devout, encourages conversion

Religion in S.S. Africa cont.

•Christianity popular in Egypt & North Africa, weak in S.S. Africa

•Axum is converted to Christian kingdom

•merchants bring it, elites convert

•Bible translated liberally into Ethiopian

•Isolated from the rest of Africa (Muslim) and Euro-Christendom

•Syncretic with African traditions

Religion in S.S. Africa cont.•Traditional African religion: Hugely

diverse.

•Common element is a single male creator god; lesser deities associated with nature

•Ancestor worship common

•Oracle reading, medicine men, magical interventions, Diviners all common

•Stresses morality and balance, not theology

Social Structure

•Some kingdoms/empires/city-states have defined social groups:

•Merchants, Ruling Elites, Peasants

•Most areas follow kinship group structure

Kinship Groups

•Extended families or clans

•Age is the factor that matters

•Little private property

•Land held communally, children raised communally

•Harvest distributed by council of elders

Gender Roles•Men work in specialized skill areas

•Tanning, iron working, heavy labor

•Both work equally in agriculture

•Women have opportunities in politics, economics and military--not full equality, but closest we see in the world

•Islamic and Christian norms slow to arrive.

Something unique

•Age grades

•Cross social class, family, and locale

•Like your school stratification

Slavery

•Practiced since Bantu migration

•POWs, suspected witches, criminals, rarely debtors (little private property...)

•used in agriculture, mostly male

•Slaves become status symbols--labor is wealth, not property.

Slave trade

•Vibrant and the norm within Africa

•Trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean trade tap slave trade in 9th century--high demand

•shifts internal slave trade: large states raid smaller kinship groups for slaves to sell

•10,000-20,000 per year exported

•Swahili Coast the center for slave trade

Big revolt--Zanj•Mesopotamia--slaves used to

harvest sugar cane and mine salt deposits

•869, slave named Ali bin Muhammad leads a revolt of 15,000 slaves

•Captures the city of Basra.

•Crushed by Abbasid military