Module 5 African Kingdoms and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - MWHH

When was Queen Nzinga alive?

1558 - 1663

Which kingdoms did Queen Nzinga rule over?

Ndongo and Mtamba (present day Angola)

When did Queen Nzinga's dad die and who took over as king of Ndongo?

1617
her brother

What did Queen Nzinga's brother tell her to do?

envoy/diplomat to Portuguese colony on the coast

What happened to Queen Nzinga in 1622

met with the Portuguese governor in Luanda

What did Queen Nzinga do to please the Portuguese?

Converted to Christianity

When did Queen Nzinga's brother die?

1624

Where did Queen Nzinga move her power base to?

Mtamba
gathered soldiers from various sources (run-away slaves, militant neighbors, Ndongo rebels, even disgruntled Europeans)

What made Queen Nzinga special?

led battles and raids herself
cleverly formed alliance with Dutch to fight Portuguese
focused on prosperity and stability of country until death in her 80s

What did Queen Nzinga do in 1657?

negotiated truce with Portuguese to secure commercial strength and independence for her joint kingdoms (Ndongo and Mtamba)

What was Queen Nzinga's legacy?

a strong warrior queen, good at negotiating as well as fighting
inspiration to anti-colonial forces in Angola (won independence from Portugal in 1975)
Model for strong women in numerous fields in modern Angola (business, armed forces, government)
Inspiration to many African-Americans, since many can trace families back to Angola

What were the main ideas of Zeinab Badawi's TED Talk?

quality education is the thing that's important

people in African communities don't really know much about their history

Africans in the 1960s decolonized their history
Africa has a very long history
African history told by Africans themselves (African Historians)

students want to decolonize their curriculum

Africa's history faculty is neglected

African history is about unity it doesn't matter where you live in the world

calling themselves "African American" is important

unity

history is important for all levels of identity

What two foreign powers visited Africa during 1453 CE?

Chinese and Portuguese

What were the main differences between the Chinese and Portuguese when visiting Africa?

The Chinese ships were far larger than the Portuguese ships and came in larger fleets. The Chinese ships, however, did not return once leaving Africa while the Portuguese ships did. The Portuguese began trading in the area, trading gold and slaves.

What was happening elsewhere during 1453?

Aztecs building empire in Central America
In East Central Europe, the union of Poles and Lithuanians under one crown creates a huge duel kingdom

What time was the kingdom of Mali around?
(also called Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa)

1230 CE to 1600 CE

Who were the famous rulers of Mali?

Mansa Musa I (extremely wealthy)
Sundiata Keita (founder)

What were the four main sources of wealth for the Mali kingdom?

gold, copper, salt, and slaves

Describe the army of the Mali kingdom

Semi-professional and full-time army to defend its border. The whole nation was mobilized and each clan was required to provide a certain number of men of fighting age who were free and had their own weapons. Used the rivers to get around and had about 100,000 people in the army.

What was the cause of weakness of the Mali kingdom?

Mahmud IV died around 1600 CE and no one took his place afterward, leading to the decline of the Mali empire.

What was the main religion of the Songhai kingdom?

Islam

What was the major city of the kingdom of Sonhai?

The City of Timbuktu (center of learning for Africa)

What was Timbuktu known for?

More than 150 schools were established, over 20,000 children were taught at those schools, hub for knowledge, book trading, and scholarships.

What four modern day countries occupy what was once the place of the Swahili trading states?

Somalia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania

When was the kingdom of Songhai around?

1375 - 1591

Where was the Songhai kingdom located?

West Africa (same area as Mali)

Where was the Mali kingdom located?

West Africa (same area as Songhai)

When was the Swahili kingdom around?

700 - 1400

Where was the Swahili kingdom located?

East Africa

What was the main religion of the Swahili kingdoms?

Islam

What are three trading partners of the Swahili kingdoms?

Zimbabwe, Arab and Asian nations, China, and India

What products passed through the Swahili kingdoms' ports?

gold, ivory, iron, animal skins, frankincense, grain, salt, and crystal

What was a major city of the Swahili Kingdoms?

Kilwa Kisiwani

What was Kilwa Kisiwani known for?

Became a hub for trade where Swahili merchants traded gold, silver, perfume, pearls, persian goods, and chinese porcelain.

At its peak it was thought to have over 12,000 citizens.

In the city, stone buildings were built for the housing of residents in the region and it had many ports to house the merchant ships.

People from the city constructed the Great Mosque of Kilwa in 900 AD, which included prayer halls, a domed ceiling, ablution area, and stairways.

How does the Portuguese presence in Africa differ from the Spanish colonization of the New World?

While the Spanish set up settlements in the New World once landing their ships, the Portuguese only set up forts and didn't colonize the area. They just wanted to trade with the people in the region. Additionally, the Portuguese didn't venture far from the coast of Africa, while the Spanish settlers traveled far inland in order to conquer as much land as possible. Lastly, when the empire of the Portuguese declined, since they hadn't done much inland in Africa, their influence on the region also declined. The Spanish still have great influence over the New World to this day.

When was King Afonso of Congo alive?

1456 - 1542

What religion was King Afonso raised as?

Catholic

What happened in King Afonso's life in 1506?

dad died
Afonso fought non-Christian brother for the throne

What did King Afonso claim?

a Christian saint performed a miracle to help him win against traditionalists

What were the main events of King Afonso's reign?

replaced/combined traditional religious practices with Catholic ones

adopted Portuguese-style government institutions (i.e. courts, education, fashion, names, scientific innovations) but did NOT sell them land or allow them to dictate laws

sent upper class boys (including his own) to school in Europe

Respected Portuguese (devout, scholarly, "Western")

Communicated through regular letter with King of Portugal

Added gold, iron, copper, and slaves to trade with Portuguese

Not opposed to slaver under pre-existing cultural conditions (i.e. prisoners of war, convicted criminals)

What tensions did King Afonso face with the Portuguese?

Portuguese demanded more and more slaves

Some Kongolese professionals (i.e. doctors, architects) were giving up their important jobs to engage in the lucrative slave trade

economy became more dependent on slavery, which led to corruption and violence

Afonso had to engage in wars with neighbors to get more and more slaves. This destabilized the region (making it more vulnerable to European interference)

He set up a commission to study the situation, which displeased the Portuguese

Dates and key countries involved in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade

16th - 19th century
Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, US colonies and Africa

Triangle Trade

a multi-layered system of trading in which a country pays for its imports from one country by its exports to another

How did the Trans-Atlantic slave trade compare to slavery in other cultures/time-periods/locations?

other locations didn't base it on race
other times didn't base it on race
other locations and time periods and cultures took slaves in different ways (only if the person had done something wrong or was captured in war or a tribute)

What were the long term impacts of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade on African kingdoms and cultures?

Messed up the economy
Took a lot of their population (still recovering from that to this day)

What were the long term impacts on American society from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade?

racial divide
discrimination
white supremacy
racism
things like jim crow laws