Ghana
a trading nation with a strong Muslim influence
consolidated its power during the fourth and fifth centuries
came to dominate west Africa for the next seven hundred years
The Kingdom of Mali
united virtually all of west Africa
commercial cities brought traders from the Middle East and southern Europe
University in Timbuktu brought foreign scholars
Portuguese
desire to trade in areas where gold was minded and interest in pepper
this drought them to west Africa coast during the fifteenth century
The Songhai Empire
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Senegal, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, and Ivory Coast
West Africa
today, the regions of the Songhai Empire is known as this
History of slavery
provided the American model with validation and affirmation
successful societies such as the Greek and the Roman Empires, thrived on the slavery system
Religious misconceptions
proponents of slavery had used to justify their stance, biblical references also
old testaments about the existence of slaves in the age of prophets, served to rationalize the innate hierarchy of societies
Physiognomic differences
white and non-white
racist ideology of white supremacy
slavery was the simple implementation of the natural hierarchy of race
slavery is to question the natural order itself
Mental inferiority of the non-whites
deemed unable to provide for themselves
Slavery was thus a virtue for slaves as it provided them with food and shelter; assets that they could have not otherwise provided for their own
had convinced slave owners that they are in fact doing their slaves a favor by enslaving harboring the
Recapitulation of the arguments justifying slavery
economy
history
religion
morality
race
pseudo-science
Economy x slavery
slavery was profitable
History x slavery
Greek and Roman societies thrived on slavery
Religion x slavery
some biblical verses were said to have alluded to slavery
Morality x slavery
slavery is altruistic because the masters provided slaves with food and shelter
Race x slavery
the white man is superior to the black man
Pseudo-science x slavery
blacks are physiognomically able to work longer hours in rigid conditions
Slave codes
enacted legally and formally declaring slaves as properties of their masters and not as individuals
1793
US schools of histography
mainstream
traditionalist
exceptionalist
Exceptionalist school
believes in americas moral supremacy
John Winford
Revisionist school
outcome of the 1960s revolutions (question everything)
opposite of mainstream school
“cynical, too negative”
William Appleman Williams, Howard Zimm
The post revisionist school
focuses on exploitations formed in the US
combine both sides of the story (opposed to mainstream school)
non-perfect america, not trying to destroy
Eric Forme, Ernest May
Mainstream school
US was always in the right and only focuses on the US side of the story
American creed
the values on which a nation is built
built during the colonial times
all men are built equal, egalitarian, economic freedom, hard work, heroism, patriotism
Cold war
communism vs. capitalism
Describe the moral paradoxes of colonial america
gap between theory and practice
How was slavery justified in the new world?
economy - slavery was profitable
history - Greek and Roman societies thrived on slavery
religion - some biblical verses were said to have alluded to slavery
morality - slavery is altruistic because the masters provided slaves with food and shelter
race - the white man is superior to the black man
pseudo-science - blacks are physiognomically able to work longer hours in rigid conditions
How did Africans influence the development of American culture?
By the middle of the 18th century, new beginnings had developed of a distinctive American culture; a culture shaped by the influence of Africans and Natives and by the limitations, the possibilities, and the challenges of the “New World”
Which developments led to decreasing freedoms for both enslaved and free Black people over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?
In the wake of the development of the Atlantic slave trade, wealthy colonists of the new world bought masses of slaves to work in their cotton, tobacco, indigo, rice, and sugar cane fields