CLWH Chapter 13

controlled the trans-Saharan trade by taxing for gold

kings of Ghana gained financial resources they needed to field a large army and influence affairs in West Africa

major gold trader

13th century, replaced Ghana

continued to control the trans-Saharan trade

Timbuktu

emerged when the Mali empire weakened and became the dominant power of the western grasslands

(1464-1493) reined Songhay ruler

embarked on a campaign to conquer his neighbors and consolidate the Songhay Empire

he brought the important trading cities of Timbuktu and Jenne under his control and used their wealth to dominate the central Niger valley

he built an elaborate administrative and military apparatus to oversee affairs in his realm

he also appointed governors to provinces and instituted a hierarchy of command that turned his army into an effective military force

created an imperial navy to patrol the Niger River

musket-bearing Moroccan army trekked across the Sahara and attacked the Songhay forces

prominent empire in east Africa

declined around the same time as the Songhay Empire

skirmished with local forces on the eastern coast

1502- forced rulers of Kilwa to pay tribute

1505: Portuguese gunships dominate Swahili ports

constructed forts through the region to control trade however they did not succeed and disrupted trade patterns to send Swahili states into a decline

the best known kingdom in central Africa

abundant written records throw light on its experience in early modern times

had relations which Portuguese their goal was to make relationships and striking deals with African leaders, and bringing riches/objects from trade back to Europe

King of Kongo (1506-1542)

also known as Alfonso I (his Christian name)

converts to Christianity and wanted everyone to convert all his subjects to Christianity

Portuguese traded textiles, weapons, advisers, and artisans to Kongo

in exchange they expected high-value merchandises such as copper, ivory, and enslaved people

Portuguese often did slaving expeditions and made alliances with local authorities and provided them with weapons in exchange for captured people

Kongo Kings tried to appeal to slow down slave trade but the Portuguese attack Kongo and decapitate the king in 1665

gains wealth and independence from Kongo via slave trade

resisted Portuguese influence by possing as a male king

establishes a temporary alliance with Dutch in unsuccessful attempt to expel Portuguese

after her death there was a decline of Ndongo power

controlled the commerce of merchants from the Swahili city-states of coastal east Africa and increased in wealth, enhanced their power, and extended their authority

1300

a massive, stone-fortified city and dominated the gold-bearing plain between the Zambesi and Limpopo rivers

Khoikhoi people (Hottentots)

the Dutch claimed land for themselves and commanded Khoikhoi labor which eventually led to the formation of Dutch and British colonies in Africa

the most prominent Islamic university and 180 schools that taught Quran

Islam and Christianity

Islam being more adopted in the commercial centers of west Africa and the Swahili city-states of east Africa

African Muslims blended with Islam

created a syncretic style of Islam and women became more associated with each other

waged a series of wars designed to impose their own strict interpretation of Islam

founded powerful states and promoted the spread of Islam beyond the cities to the countryside

Portuguese community

adopted European-style Christianity

particularly influential form of Christianity

18th century

began the Antonian movement in 1704

proclaimed that St. Anthony of Padua had possessed her and chosen her to communicate his messages

gained a reputation for working miracles and curing diseases and promoted an African form of Christianity

taught that Jesus was a black African man and Kongo was the true holy land of Christianity and heaven was for Africans

burned at a stake when Christian missionaries persuaded King Pedro IV of Kongo

manioc (most important: high yield and thrived in tropical soil, staple bread flour), maize, and peanuts

supplemented bananas, yams, rice, and millet, the principal staple foods of sub-Saharan Africa

increased food supply boost population growth despite the slave trade

a form of private investment, a type of heritable property, and a means of measuring wealth

the more slaves you had the more you were able to harvest crops and accumulate more wealth than others

Societies between Senegal and Angola due to their proximity to the most active slave ports

Rwanda, Bugunda, Masai, Turkana

young men between fourteen and thirty-five years of age

women made up more than two-thirds of the adult population of Angola and there was not enough men around to reproduce children

there was a continuous demand for new shipments of enslaved people and there was not many men due to high mortality rates

women often took on duties that were the responsibility of men aswell

increase in the exchange of enslaved people for European firearms

with the use of firearms kingdom of Dahomey captured people for unarmed neighboring societies and exchange them for more weapons

tropical and subtropical regions

sugar

slaves

tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever

brutal working conditions, sanitation, nutrition

gender imbalances

conditions were bad in the south and mainly men were working

north America had less diseases and more normal sex ratio

slaves who ran away from the plantation and often raided nearby plantations for arms, tools, provisions, and other enslaved people

revolt to abolish slavery as an institution and the enslaved Africans of Saint-Domingue declared independence from France and renamed the name Haiti

several African and European languages

former slave authors best-selling autobiography’

Eloquent attacks on institutions of slavery

military expenses to prevent rebellions

price of sugar falls; price of slaves rises

wage labor becomes efficient