Ap Afam 1.1-1.4

History of African American Studies

• Toward the end of the Civl Rights movement and during the Black Power movement in the 1960s and 70s

• During this time, Black college students entered predominantly white institutions in large numbers for the 1st time

• Student Organizing:

  • Hundreds of thousands of Black, Latino, Asian, and white students led protests at over 1,000 colleges nationwide

  • They demanded greater opportunities to study the history and experiences of Black people

  • They also demanded greater support for Black students, faculty, and administrators

Iron

• Good quality steel was produced by Africans as early as 600 BCE in the Sahara desert fringer

• A preheating device (tuyere), which blasts hot air into a fiery furnace, has been shown to be indigenous to Africa

The Nok

• Early iron-age society

• As early as 500 BCE, they lived in organized, permanent settlements that were the centers of agriculture and iron work

• Made very detailed and good sculptures and figurines

Copper

• In the western-Sahara region, copper was smelted as far back as 570-400 BCE

• Copper mines were indigenous to West Africa and copper was a highly valued metal of commerce, exported and imported in the trans-Saharan trade

• Skilled copper pieces were made by craftsmen

What are Africa’s Climatic Zones?

• Desert

• Semiarid

• Savannah Grasslands

• Tropical/Rainforest

• Mediterranean

What are Africa’s Neighboring Seas and Oceans?

• Red Sea (Northeast)

• Mediterranean Sea (North)

• Atlantic Ocean (West)

• Indian Ocean (East)

What are Africa’s Major Rivers?

• Niger River

• Congo River

• Zambezi River

• Orange River

• Nile River

How Climate Impacted Trade

• Desert and Semiarid ares: Nomadic herders (Berbers), traded salt

• Sahel: Traded livestock or camels

• Savannah Grasslands: (Bantu descendants) cultivate grain crops, ironworking

• Tropical Rainforests: Kola trees/kola nuts, yams, gold

“Out-of-Africa” Theory

• Between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, homo sapiens evolved

• Began migrating: 1st into the Middle East and southern Europe

• Climatic conditions led to racial differences over time

“Multiregional” Model

• Argues that homo sapiens didn’t emerge only in Africa, but in Africa, Europe, and Asia

• Believes migration from Africa involved homo erectus

• Believes racial divergences occurred a million years ago

Reasons for Bantu Expansion

• Population growth that put pressure on their resources

  • Needed more land to grow crops and raise livestock

  • Needed more land to live on for themselves

• Fertile grasslands of the Sahara began to dry up

Languages from the Bantu People

• Bantu linguistic family contains 100s of languages spoken throughout West, Central, and South Africa

• Swahili, Kikongo, Zulu

Benefits of Bantu Expansion

• Technological developments in iron-smelting and iron-working were spread around Africa

• Food production increased and hunting was supported by agricultural development and land cultivation across Africa

Ancient Egypt and Nubia

• Egypt and Nubia emerged along the Nile River ~3000 BCE

• Nubia was the source of Egypt’s gold and luxury trade items, which created conflict between the 2 societies

• Sources of Conflict:

  • Economic Competition: Egypt wanted some control of the resources

  • Political Control: Egypt wanted control of the trade and the traded items, so it could have political control

  • Strategic Location: Protection and access to the resources needed to maintain and control those commodities

• Around 750 BCE, Nubia defeated Egypt and established the 25th dynasty of the Black Pharaohs who ruled Egypt for a century

Ancient Egypt

• Earliest civilization in Africa (and 1 of the earliest in the world) that emerged in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southwest Asia

• People had a mixture of racial features and language

• After hunting was abandoned in favor of farming, it united under the 1st kind

  • Old Kingdom (3200-2050 BCE)

  • Great Pyramids of Giza were built to protect the bodies of the 3 kings of the Old Kingdom so their souls could successfully enter the afterlife

• Was ruled by 31 dynasties until it became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BCE

• During the New Kingdom (1500-1100 BCE), kings began using the title pharaoh

  • Royal incest was customary, and kings chose 1 of their sisters to be their queen

• There were several female rulers, one of whom, Hatshepsut, reigned for 20 years (1478-1458 BCE)

• The most impressive of the early civilizations because:

  • No civilization lasted longer: 5,000 years

  • Achievements: Writing (hieroglyphics), astronomy, wigs, geometry, 365-day calendar, irrigation, architecture, sculpture, beds and chairs

  • Greatest confluence (coming together) of early cultures because it was situated between Africa, Asia, and Europe

Nubia (Kush) (Meroe)

• South of Egypt (Sudan today) 

• With the decline of Egypt, they established an independent nation

• During the 8th century BCE, they took control of Egypt

• It remained independent for 1,000 years

• One of the richest gold-bearing areas

  • It had international trade relations that made them extremely wealthy

• They migrated, taking concepts of state organization and specialized skills with them

• Used their military power to make sure their trade was protected

Aksum

• (Present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia) emerged in eastern Africa in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around 100 BCE from the Semitic people (spoke Semitic language) from the Arabian Peninsula

• Influenced by Hebrew culture and settled among local blacks

• Took over Kush during the 4th century CE

• Became the 1st Christian state in sub-Saharan Africa under King Ezana

• The Red Sea connected the empire to major maritime trade networks from the Mediterranean and the Roman Empire to India

• Its strategic location contributed to its rise and expansion

• Developed its own currency and script called Ge’ez

• Very strong and wealthy

• A lot of production of gold and luxury items

• Ge’ez, its script, is still used as the main liturgical (religious) language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

• Exemplifies African societies that adopted Christianity on their own, beyond the influence of colonialism or the later transatlantic slave trade

Connections to Recent History

• From the late 18th century onward, African American writers emphasized the significance of ancient African societies in sacred and secular texts (iconography)

  • These texts countered racist stereotypes that portrayed Africans and their descendants as societies without government or culture and formed part of the early canon of African American Studies

• In the mid-20th century, scholarship demonstrating the complexity and contributions of Africa’s ancient societies underpinned African’s political claims for self-rule and independence from European colonialism