AP African American Studies- Unit 1: Origins of the African Diaspora

African

A person from Africa or of African ancestry; historically, the most common term for people of African descent in the United States until the late 1820s.

African American

A Black American descended from Africans enslaved in the United States; the term emphasizes both African ancestry and a distinct American history and identity.

African diaspora

The global dispersal of African peoples and their descendants and the communities, cultures, and identities they established across different regions.

Afro-descendant

Any person of African descent, regardless of nationality or ethnic identity.

ancestral

Connected to the people, societies, and cultures from which later groups descended.

Black

A broad racial and cultural identity that connects diverse people of African descent through shared experiences and African heritage; widely embraced as a term of racial pride beginning in the 1960s.

Black Campus Movement

A student-led movement of the 1960s and early 1970s that pushed colleges to create Black Studies programs and expand representation and support for Black students and faculty.

Black Power

A movement emphasizing Black pride, self-determination, political power, and greater control over Black communities and institutions.

Colored

A historical term adopted by many Black Americans in the nineteenth century as a form of self-identification and an assertion of their Americanness.

innovation

The development or adoption of new technologies, practices, or ideas that contributed to population growth and social, economic, or political change.

interdisciplinary

Using multiple academic fields or perspectives to study and understand a topic.

Negro

A historical racial term rooted in Spanish colonialism that became a widely used self-identifier among Black Americans in the early twentieth century.

paradox

A situation in which seemingly contradictory ideas or realities exist at the same time; in African American Studies, it can describe the coexistence of democratic ideals and racial inequality.

climate zone

A geographic region characterized by similar patterns of temperature and precipitation that influence agriculture, settlement, and human activity.

cultivated

Intentionally grown and managed by humans for food production or other uses.

emergence

The process through which new societies, states, cultures, or patterns of interaction develop over time.

nomadic

Describing groups whose movement across regions is often tied to seasonal changes, trade, or access to resources.

Sahel

A semi-arid ecological zone south of the Sahara that facilitated migration, trade, and cultural exchange across Africa.

Savanna

A tropical grassland ecosystem with scattered trees and seasonal rainfall that supports farming, herding, and settlement.

semi-arid

Describing a climate that receives limited precipitation and supports grasslands, shrubs, and drought-resistant crops.

vegetation

plant life characteristic of a particular region or environment.

Bantu expansion

The migration of Bantu-speaking peoples across central, eastern, and southern Africa that contributed to the spread of agriculture, ironworking, languages, and cultural practices.

causal

Related to the factors or conditions that produce a particular outcome.

diffusion

The spread of ideas, technologies, languages, and cultural practices between peoples and regions through migration and interaction.

ethnolinguistic

Relating to both a group's language and cultural identity; often used to describe the diversity of African peoples.

linguistic

Relating to language, language families, or language patterns.

migration

The movement of people or populations from one region to another, contributing to cultural exchange and the spread of ideas and technologies.

transatlantic slave trade

The forced migration of millions of Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas as part of a global system of slavery.

Complex society

A society with developed political, economic, technological, or cultural systems.

Maritime trade network

A system of trade routes connecting regions through travel and exchange by sea.

Script

A system of writing used to represent a language.

Ironworking

The skilled process of producing tools or other objects from iron.

Terracotta

Fired clay used to create sculptures and other objects.

Liturgical language

A language used in religious worship or ceremony.

Canon

A collection of texts or scholarship considered foundational to a field of study.

Artifact

A physical object created or used by people that provides evidence about a society.

African Agency

Africans making choices and shaping their own societies, institutions, and historical developments.

Sudanic empires / Sahelian empires

The West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, which flourished at different times and expanded as earlier empires declined.

trans-Saharan commerce

Long-distance trade across the Sahara that connected West Africa with North Africa and beyond; it brought North African traders, scholars, and administrators and facilitated the spread of Islam throughout West Africa.

Mansa

A title referring to a ruler or king among Mande speakers; used for rulers of the Mali Empire.

hajj

The Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca; Mansa Musa's 1324 hajj increased Mali's connections and visibility across the Mediterranean world.

Atlantic trade

Trade along Africa's Atlantic coast that expanded after Portuguese exploration; the shift toward Atlantic routes diminished Songhai's wealth.

federation

A political system in which smaller states or communities retain some local authority while belonging to a larger political unit.

centralization

The concentration of political and administrative power under a central ruler or government.

historical causation

A historical reasoning process that explains how and why events, conditions, or developments contributed to particular outcomes.

change and continuity

A disciplinary reasoning process that examines what changed and what remained consistent across time or geography.

corroboration

Comparing evidence from multiple sources to determine how the sources support, reinforce, refine, or complicate one another.

source limitation

A boundary on what a source can reliably show or establish.

source credibility

The degree to which evidence presented by a source can be considered trustworthy for supporting a claim.

line of reasoning

The logical connection among a claim, evidence, and reasoning that develops an argument.

contextualization

Placing a source, event, development, or process within its broader historical, cultural, political, or social setting to better understand its meaning or significance.

Indigenous cosmologies

A community's beliefs about the spiritual world and how people relate to it.

Religious syncretism

Blending aspects of an introduced faith with existing spiritual beliefs or practices.

Ancestor veneration

Honoring ancestors as part of a community's spiritual practices.

Divination

Seeking spiritual knowledge or guidance through practices such as interpreting signs or consulting a spiritual specialist.

Orisha

A divine being in Yoruba spiritual traditions associated with particular powers or aspects of the world.

Institutional education

Learning organized through schools and communities of scholars.

Community-based education

Knowledge shared through people and practices within a community.

Griot

A respected West African historian, storyteller, and musician who preserves and shares community knowledge.

Oral tradition

Knowledge passed across generations through spoken or sung stories.

Epic

A long narrative about important people and events.

Autonomy

The ability to govern independently.

Administrative activities

Activities involved in organizing and managing a community or government.

City-state

A city and its surrounding territory governed as an independent political unit.

Lingua franca

A shared language used for communication among communities with different first languages.

African Catholicism

A distinct form of Catholicism that incorporated elements of Christianity and local African aesthetic and cultural traditions.

Kinship

Social relationships based on family and lineage that can organize communities and form the basis of political alliances.

Iyoba

The title for the queen mother in the Kingdom of Benin, a position of political influence and authority.

Sovereignty

The authority of a state or ruler to govern independently and exercise control over its territory.

Guerrilla warfare

Irregular warfare in which smaller forces use mobility, surprise, and knowledge of local terrain against a larger or more conventional military force.