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week5_1.rarweek5_1/Activities Checklist - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017614 Activities Checklist 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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To meet the learning objectives for this topic, you will complete these activities. Print this page and use it as a checklist.
Review the Introduction and Objectives page Read Pages 143197 in your textbook. Read the lesson, Isn't A Slave A Slave? Read the lesson, The Sweet Tooth of Europe. Read the lesson, African Participation. Read the lesson, Unhealed Wounds. Complete all activities on the Learning Activities page. Read the Spotlight: Ghana page. Participate in Discussion: Slavery. Post any questions about the course or assignments in the Help! Discussion.
week5_1/African Participation - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017614 African Participation 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Individuals from the Kongo region of Central Africa were befriended by the Portuguese and came in conflict with other African states, most notably Ndongo. The economies of the region became more and more dependent on the slave trade. Increaed warfare and taxation became the means by which African states made demands upon the Europeans. Trade routes, depots and caravans were established to bring captives from as far as 2,500 miles inland to the coast. This tract is referred as the Continental Passage.
In the 1580s the Ngondo State was invaded by the Portuguese. While military conquest failed, alliances were able to gradually undermine the state. Princess Njinga rose to the throne in 1618, in a State unaccustomed to female sovereigns. (Side note: She dressed as a male and her consorts, which were male dressed as females). In 1641, she choose the wrong side and aligned with the Dutch who challenged the Portuguese over Kongo. The Dutch were defeated, which left Ndongo in a tenuous position. Though Ngondo was permitted to remain an independent state, they were forced to permit Christian missionaries. This era in Ngondo is an example of the complexity of African slavery. The Princess was an early example of African nationalism, an early feminist, and an opportunist that willingly involved her State in the abduction of slaves in order to acquire and maintain power.
In 1685, the Portuguese invaded Kongo, their former ally. Unsuccessful in their attempt to control the Kongo, they managed to disrupt the stable community. The king was killed, which led to instability and dynastic disputes and ultimately to civil war. By 1710, the Kongo totally disintegrated, which left the only victors in the turmoil slave traders, both European and African.
West Africa s experience was distinct from that of Central Africa. With a greater population and geographic region, no single community of West Africa suffered as high of per capital incidence of enslavement as Central Africa. Trade in West Africa shifted according to local political conditions. Benin and Warri, were trading partners with the Portuguese, trading other commodities as well as slaves. Benin s wealth was built on the diversity of the trading relationship. By 1516, the ruling oba (king) banned the trade of slaves, which lasted for nearly 200 years. However, as the European appetite for diverse products declined, so did the wealth of Benin, which lead them to reopen trade in slaves in the 1700s.
Oyo, Dahomey, and Asante represent three additional states in West Africa that participated in the slave trade. In order to increase their military power, slaves were traded for weapons. Oyo, who had a similar idea, built her military on a horsebased cavalry, which enabled her to defeat the Yoruba and assume the dominant role of the slave trade until the late 1700s.
Founded in the 14th century, Oyo was situated in the woodland north of the tropical forest, making it a region ideal for growing cereal crops and a region free of tsetse flies, making it suitable for horses. With the increased demand for slaves in the 1780s, Oyo became a major handler of slaves. The overdependence on the European appetite proved devastating when wars broke out between England and France in the 1790s which effectively reduced the demand for slaves. The loss of income, led to less wealth to support political constituents in Oyo and over taxation of peasantry and the decline of the State (Source: Shillington, 2005).
Dahomey was one of the neighboring communities of Oyo that was forced to pay tribute to the alafin (ruler). Founded in the early 17th century, Wegbaja organized a loose federation of communities into a powerful centralized state. Wegbaja took profits from the sale of captives and invested in firearms to secure his imperialistic appetite and consolidate power. The expansion of power permitted them to defeat coastal states in the early 1700s , thus allowed them to sell directly to European traders. At least one historian recorded that Dahomian king Agaja
2017614 African Participation 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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least one historian recorded that Dahomian king Agaja attempted to suppress the exportation of slaves out of Africa. He is reported to have asked Europeans to establish plantations in Dahomey using slave labor so that the slaves would not be actually lost to Africa, a proposal the Europeans rejected (Source: Shillington, 2005).
The most successful of the states was the Asante, which was founded by Osei Tutu in 1670. At its peak, Asante controlled much of the region of modern Ghana, comprising about 100,000 square mile and a population of 3 million. Asante did not export all of its captives, many were retained to work in the gold mines and work on plantations. By the 19th century. Asante was faced with the growing coastal influence of the British, who supported the Fante confederation. The Asante and Europeans fought in a series of wars for control of the coast and trade. The first headto head battle took place in 1824. The Asante killed the British governor, giving them the victory. Then in 1874, military technology shifted the balance of power to the British who defeated the Asante and burned and sacked their capital.
week5_1/Introduction and Objectives - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017614 Introduction and Objectives 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Introduction
The African Diaspora is one of the largest, if not the largest, forced movement of a people in history. A capitalistic venture, the toll and devastation of trans Atlantic slave trade echoes through history. The trans Atlantic Slave Trade began during the 15th century, when the Portuguese shifted their interest toward a more readily available commodity than goldslaves. The expansion of European Empires in the New World brought with it the need for a labor force. For multiple reasons, Native Americans and Europeans would not do, so Africans seemed the reasonable choice. Excellent workers, experienced with the live stock and crops, and resistant to diseases, from the perspective of European capitalists, the choice was logical.
Since we are in the United States, at least since the campus is, we are going to also explore when Africans came to the United States. Mary Frances Berry stated it this way, "The Americas became an outpost of West African culture between the seventeenth and midnineteenth centuries." A culture many would argue is reflected in the US today "in music, folktales, proverbs, medicine, food, architecture, art, and religion" (Berry & Blassingame, 1982).
Objectives
After completing the learning activities for this topic, you will be able to:
Explain plantation economy supported slavery. Differentiate systems of slavery. Explain the role of Africans in the transAtlantic slave trade. Identify remnants of African culture in 21st century America.
week5_1/Isn't A Slave A Slave_ - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017614 Isn't A Slave A Slave? 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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The TransAtlantic Slave Trade began around the midfifteenth century when Portuguese interests in Africa moved away from gold to a much more readily available commodity humans aka slaves. The trade ended, at least officially in the 18th century, to the disappointment of many. Disappointment for a multitude of reasons; the two dominant being profit and social distinction. First, slavery was profitable, plain and simple. Each leg of the trade produced wealth. Let s be realistic, economically if had it not been profitable, it would have ended looooooooooooong before it finally did. Second, slavery produced a social hierarchy in the world.
As previously discussed slavery had existed within Africa before contact with Europeans. What appears to be vastly different is the character of the institution prior to the transAtlantic slave trade. The system of property ownership without an acknowledgment of human rights for the slaves, the system that existed in the Americas, is undocumented anywhere prior to the transAtlantic trade.
The United Nations defines slavery as the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised" and a slave as "a person in such condition or status (Source: BoddyEvans). But, that is a modern definition, so the question remains, whether the systems found around the world prior to the transAtlantic trade qualify as slavery or should be defined as something else.
Pawnship, similar to debtpeonage, was the use of an individual as collateral for a debt. The collateral could be the person who owed the debt or someone in the family, especially the child. This terminology leads to a highly contested debate between Afrocentrics and nonAfrocentric historians. Afrocentrics would argue that slavery only very loosely defines pawnship. Labor was assigned to someone in the community or family (Source: BoddyEvans), therefore, the community bond implies a social tie that dictates a community standard of citizenship and therefore, governs treatment (Source: Karenga, 2002).
Clientship occurred when someone voluntarily assigned their labor. This would have occurred in circumstances when the individual was unable to survive, or provide the necessities for survival. A woman who became a widow or a man who lost his assets because of drought are examples of extreme circumstances under which one may opt to assign their labor and become a dependent. Because this relationship was voluntary and could be terminated at the will of the client, defining this system as slavery is problematic for some.
Prior to the transAtlantic trade, a slave, generally speaking, in African society was not denied basic human rights. Even prisoners of war, were afforded basic rights of humane treatment and had an opportunity to become a citizen of community A major distinction between the system that existed prior to and after European contact.
Chattel slavery, unlike any system previously recorded, stripped human beings of all rights. Chattel slavery was a generational system of property ownership Children born to slaves were slaves. As with any other property, the survival and treatment was totally at the discretion of the owner. These slaves had no rights, were expected to perform whatever service(s) at the command of a master.
The position of the Portuguese in Africa solidified during the 15th century and there was a gradually shift in who had the dominant position.
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V granted the Portuguese the authority to attack and enslave "the Moors, heathens, and other enemies of Christ" who lived south of Cape Bojador (Morocco). El Mina (The Mine)
2017614 Isn't A Slave A Slave? 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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was built on the coast to facilitate trading initially in gold. Then, in 1494, The Spanish signed the Treaty of Tordesillas with Portugal to supply all the Spanish colonies in the Americas with African slaves (Source: Departure from Africa, 2002).
Over the next century, other European nations followed Portugal. The Dutch, English, and French developed trade relations with different West African nations, building castles to house troops and store trade goods, especially slaves.
The European representative developed relationships with local tribal leaders, who worked to supply goods, including slaves. Europeans capitalized on the existing African slave trade, so the first slaves were likely prisoners of war and debtors. But, as the European demand escalated, so did the number of peoples captured for the European market.
European Slave Castles
Country Present Day Location
Dutch Gambia, Ghana, Benin
British Senegal, Benin, Sierra Leone
Portuguese Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana
French Ivory Coast
Many of the slaves were brought from remote regions of Africa, included were the kingdoms of Senegal, Gambia, GuineaBissau, and Sierra Leone. As the Europeans traded farther south, more Africans were brought from the CongoAngola and Nigeria (Source: Departure from Africa, 2002).
week5_1/question.docx
Please answer the following question. Your answer should be thorough and demonstrate your understanding of the material.
Cultural genocide is the phrase a former History 215 classed coined to describe the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The question is often debated which was the worst, the trans-Atlantic slave trade or the Nazi extermination of Black, Disabled, Homosexuals, Gypsies, and Jews? It seems to get caught-up in that debate is a waste of valuable brain cells. Each atrocity should be permitted to stand on its own as a badge of shame humankind must bear. That being said, there is another question that looms as to why did the trans-Atlantic slave trade scar the image and psyche of Africans of the Diaspora? What about this atrocity, created a world that seemingly looks down on Africanism as less than other ethnic groups of the world? Include in your answer an explanation of which came first, racism or the TransAtlantic slave trade?
Make sure you support your answer with evidence from the readings.
week5_1/Spotlight_ Ghana - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017614 Spotlight: Ghana 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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subjected to forced labor or prostitution, and a few Ghanaian adults have been identified as victims of false labor in the US; women and girls from Vietnam, China, and neighboring West African countries are sex trafficked in Ghana; the country is also a transit point for sex trafficking from West Africa to Europe.
week5_1/The Sweet Tooth of Europe - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017614 The Sweet Tooth of Europe 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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For centuries, the trade along a triangular trading route, provided the capital to finance the industrialization of Europe and development of the European economy trade only possible at the expense of slaves.
The Triangular Trade consisted of three stops:
The outward passage from Europe to Africa bearing manufactured goods. The middle passage from Africa to the Americas bearing African captives. The homeward passage from the Americas to Europe carrying sugar, tobacco, cotton, rice, indigo, and cocoa (Source: Triangular Trade).
We know that before the Middle Passage, a slave trade already existed in Africa, but this was different. The Middle Passage was a systematic process of extracting Africans for a specific purpose, as workers stripped of their humanity in the New World.
The illfated relationship between the Kongolese and Portuguese evolved over time. While the Portuguese struggled to find an asset with which they could entice the Africans to trade, the shift in their subservient position was gradual. The influx of European goods, particularly firearms, slowly disrupted West African cultures. The technological advancement of gunfire brought the Europeans power and wealth, but for some West Africans is empowered them to more efficiently captured slaves. Religious and political structural division within West African states reinforced the slave system and produced a profitable supply of slaves which were traded for European goods, largely guns. Those communities that captured the most slaves received the most European goods, and were the best equipped to expand their power and prestige in West Africa (Source: Scott).
The Ashantis and Dahomeans specialized in the art of enslaving. Initially cut off from the Europeans by coastal tribes, who acted as middlemen, these two tribes from the interior of Africa, pushed toward the sea, extending their terror as their power increased. In 1727, John Atkins complained that the triumph of Dahomey had destroyed the orderly patterns of the slave trade. Specialized trading states was matched by the arrival of independent traders who sights were set on acquiring slaves quickly for maximum profit (Source: Scott).
It can be argued quite effectively that sugar was the number one crop that produced growth for Europe. Sugar production and potential profits served as the basis for a plantation complex that fueled the need for slaves. Your textbook states that something as evil and gruesome as the Atlantic slave trade was set in motion largely to produce something as apparently benign as sugar. While that is overly simplified, it paints a vivid reality trafficking of humans for their labor to satisfy the sweet tooth of Europe and to feed the coffers of capitalists (though they would not have been called capitalists in the 15th century).
Sugar was introduced to Europeans by Muslims during the Crusades. Cultivation
2017614 The Sweet Tooth of Europe 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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began in Cyprus and Sicily at least a centuries before the Portuguese started exploring the African coast. Initially, the Italians controlled the sugar trade. Italians dominated the European commercial world during the 12th and 13th centuries (remember the Italian Renaissance?). They had the finances to support the cultivation of sugar cane, acquisition of the labor force (Slavic slaves) and to purchase equipment to convert the cane into crystallized sugar. They also had the business acumen to recognize an opportunity to produce wealth.
It is not an understatement to say that the capitalism and slavery grew up together and fed each other. There was a major shift going on in Europe money and skill acquired in commerce (trading) was invested in agriculture and industry. The agricultural side, was labor intensive crops which consumers demanded with more and more frequency.
It was mentioned previously that, Slavic (from which the term "slaves" originated) forced labor was used to work the fields. Then, a couple things happened almost simultaneously that shifted Europe s attention to the continent of Africa for their slaves. First, Constantinople (Christian gateway, later called Istanbul by the Turks) was captured by the Turks. This gave the Turks (Muslims) control of the strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean which was the route the Italians (Catholics) had used to transport slaves to European islands, which cutoff the availability of slaves.
The second thing was that the Portuguese acquired the skills necessary to navigate the coast of Africa. With Italian funding, the Portuguese established a island off the West Coast of Africa, produced sugar cane, and developed a relationship with the Kingdom of Kongo, and seized control of the slave trade replacing the Slavs with Africans. On the island of São Tomé sugar production flourished. It was the Portuguese who first demonstrated on São Tomé that sugar could be produced a distance from the consumer and that the relationship between Africans labor and the sugar economy was established. Therefore, when Europeans established sugar plantations in the Americas, from their perspective, the logical source of labor was West Africa.
week5_1/Unhealed Wounds - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
2017614 Unhealed Wounds 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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It would seem naive to deny the toll the Atlantic slave trade took on the continent of Africa. While the numbers range from 2 million to 100 million, best estimates support between 10 and 15 million men and women were trafficked across the Atlantic. That number does not account for the numbers lost in the trek from the interior of Africa to the coast.
Estimates TransAtlantic Exports by Region: 1650 1900
Region Number of Slaves Accounted
For Percentage
Senegambia 479,900 4.7
Upper Guinea 411,200 4.0
Windward Coast 183,200 1.8
Gold Coast 1,035,600 10.1
Bight of Benin 2,016,200 19.7
Bight of Biafra 1,463,700 14.3
West Central 4,179,500 40.8
South East 470,900 4.6
Total 10,240,200 100 From: Transformations in Slavery by Paul E. Lovejoy
Logically, though arguably, the loss of population suppressed economic, social and political advancement. Since slavers preferred young adult men and women, the technological breakthroughs and societal enrichment they could have produced were nonexistent. The breakdown of the traditional social systems ultimately weakened the society (Source: ThinkQuest). Looking at the continent of Africa in modern times, one should consider what unhealed wounds or scars trafficking of human souls left.
What about racism? West Indian historian Eric William refuted the idea that African's were targeted primarily due to racism. He argued that slavery was not born of racism; rather racism was the consequence of slavery (Source: Bulliet, 2009). The deep roots of slavery are probably more complex, not just the exploitation of Africans for a plantation economy, but enslavement of Africans undoubtedly played a part. For the 300 years African slavery was an acceptable labor system, Africans were viewed by Europeans almost exclusively as slaves, as though it was natural state. It was a short leap from this argument to the view that Africans were naturally inferior to Europeans. Europeans, not all but likely most, argued that by removing Africans from their circumstances, they were doing God's work civilizing and Christianizing the barbarians (Source: Shillington, 2005).
Maulana Karenga argued the effects of slavery was that "the morally monstrous destruction of human possibility involved redefining African humanity to the world, poisoning past, present and future relations with others who only know us through this stereotyping and thus damaging the truly human relations among peoples."
Culture, language, religion, and human possibility were destroyed by what he and other argue was not trade, but exploitation (Source: Karenga, 2002). Therefore, what seems at first glance to be a relatively simple historical story the slave trade forms the core of a complex historical process whose ramifications reverberate through history (Source: Racism and the Slave Trade). To America
2017614 Unhealed Wounds 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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To America
In the 15th and 16th centuries, world events changed Europe and Africa forever. The most important of these events was the European discovery and opening of the New World. It is almost ironic that the first black captives Black Christians born in Spain and Portugal were with the first European explorers and settlers. Black explorers servants, slaves, and free accompanied Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the expeditions in North and South America. Black were with Pizarro in Peru, Cortes in Mexico, Balboa when he discovered the Pacific Ocean, and Menendez in Florida. W.E.B. DuBois said other Blacks accompanied DeSoto and one of them stayed among the Indians in Alabama and became the first settler. . . " (Bennett, 1992).
Spaniards, who took the lead in exploration of the New World, attempted first to enslave Native Americans. An effort that proved ineffective for a variety of reasons, which led Bishop Bartolome Las Casas, missionary, to recommend in 1517 the importation of Africans. The development of largescale sugar plantations created a demand for men that could not be supplied by just kidnapping. So, there was a shift in the previous civil dialogue between Africans and Europeans to an almost oneway monologue focused mainly on a trade of humans. Bennett put the tragedy this way, within a few years hundreds of thousands of Blacks were crossing the Atlantic each year and the soil of Africa and America was drenched with their blood. Strange, said Eric Williams, that an article like sugar, so sweet and necessary to human existence, should have occasioned, such crimes and bloodshed (Bennett, 1992).
The numbers of Africans that were transported directly to the United States range from 400,000 to 1 million between 1619 and 1808, when the importation of slaves became illegal. That did not stop the importation of slaves, but seriously slowed down the business of importation. And, please do not get the importation of slaves mixed up with the slave trade. The only thing that became illegal in the United States in 1808 was importing slaves, not slavery! That decision was made as part of the compromises that solidified the U.S. Constitution in 1789 (Berry & Blassingame, 1982).
The first Black immigrants in the Jamestown settlement of 1619 are of critical importance to the history of Blacks in America. They came the same way that most of the first white immigrants came under duress and pressure. The system of indentured servitude was the means by which poor people came to America, selling their services for a specific number of years to planters. Under the system thousands of poor whites were shipped to the colonies and sold to the highest bidder (Bennett, 1992).
In Virginia, the first Black settlers were absorbed into a wellestablished socioeconomic system that was not initially racial in its nature. Racial distinction and discrimination came later. For about a 40 year period, Blacks comingled with whites on a basis of equality. Acquiring property, land and servants, testifying in courts, and voting. During the 40 years the Black population of Virginia grew through both natural means and importation. In the 1624 census, Blacks constituted about 2% of the total population of 1,227 (Bennett, 1992).
While the historic records indicate thriving communities of Black Africans in the American colonies, by the 1660s, men who ran the colonies, made decisions that would lead, stepbystep to the racist foundation of human labor. Colonial men, decided to base the American economic system on human slavery organized around the melanin in human skin. Virginia and Maryland led the way, enacting laws in the 1660s that forbade intermarriage and made Blacks slaves for life. Under the law, children born of African women were ruled slave or free, according to the status of the mother. Almost immediately an additional step was taken the creation of an ideology of racism that justified the subordination of Blacks (Bennett, 1992).
Lasting Impact
From a historical perspective, the importance of slavery lies in three areas. First it was the major determinant of American race relations. Second, slaves played a crucial role in transforming African culture to a unique Black culture in America. And, third, African slavery stood as America's greatest accuser.
When one looks at race relations across the centuries, arguably the most visible example of America's discrimination of its minority populations is its treatment of African and African descendants. During the 19th century, Jim Crow laws became the standard by which America defines its schools, housing, employment, and justice. Legal separation of Blacks and whites, was the legal standard until 1954 and many would argue is the defacto standard by which the nation operates even today.
2017614 Unhealed Wounds 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Black culture in America stands uniquely in contrast to, sometimes in opposition to, the dominant culture. Music, dress, religious worship, language patterns, and names are but a few of the cultural styles that are often explicitly defined by a social group. In the next lesson we will explore an African connection by tapping into African traditions.
The third element stands as a mirror by which the nation sees its reflection. Forever reminded of the tragedy and travesty of history, slavery is a reality check for the American psyche. Always having to see its greatest in light of its evil. Its national story of liberty and justice for all in contrast to its legacy of chattel slavery. Although some form of involuntary slavery had existed in all societies prior to the formation of the United States, none of them had the fundamental documents and philosophies so unequivocably contradict the very foundation of the nation (Berry & Blassingame, 1982).
