ap african american unit 1 test

what is african american studies

it combines an interdisciplinary approach with scholarly inquiry to analyze the history, culture, and contributions of people in the united states and throughout the african diaspora

carter g woodson

founded association for study of negro life and history, wrote journal of negro history and negro history bulletin to combat negative portrayals in history and media

african american studies’ relationship to africa

• frames africa as central to the story of african americans, since other histories begin with europe and have AA in background

• examines africa’s ongoing relationship with aa communities

• impact of africa doesnt end after transatlantic slave trade

what happened in the 1969s and 70s

toward the end of the civil rights movement and during the black power movement, black college students entered predominantly white institutions in large numbers

civil rights and black power movements

• civil rights: aim to take down segretory system of jim crow

• black power: promoted black pride

laws that lead to black students in pwis

black students entered predominantly white institutions

• sweatg v painter in 1950 desegregated graduate programs in universities

• brown v board of education in 1954 desegregated all public education of topeka kansas

what happened in 1965-1972 (schools)

• hundreds of thousands of black students and their supporters led protests at over 1000 colleges

• demanded more opportunities to study history of black people and greater support for black faculty and students

• first bsu formed at st francisco state university in 1965

why is african american history so rich

• africa is the birthplace of humanity, with paleontologists tracing the evolution of a hominid group to africa

• skull of earliest human ancestor lucy was found in ethiopia in 74

ancient societies

egypt, nubia, nok, aksum, bantu, kush

medieval empires

ghana, mali, songhai, great zimbabwe, kongo

why is aa studies important and significant

• it dispels misconceptions of early africa as a place with unknown history, since 19th century historians dismissed it

• it was a diverse continent with complex societies that made big contributions to humanity

how is africa’s landscape geographically diverse

6 primary climactic zones and bordered by many seas and oceans and rivers

climactic zones:desert (sahara, kalahari) semiarid(sahel) savannah grasslands (serengeti),tropical (congo river valley), mediterranean (northern africa)

seas and oceans: red sea, mediterranean sea, atlantic ocean, Indian ocean

• nile river

what early societies were supported by bodies of water

red sea and indian ocean:

• (aksum), rose 100 ce in modern eritrea and ethiopia

• port of adulis attracted egyptian, arabian, persian, and indian traders

mediterranean sea:

• egypt, along the nike, adapted grain and legume 6000 bce, conquered by alexander the great

why did population centers emerge in the sahel and savannah grasslands

major water routes facilitated the movement of people and goods rhrough trade, fertile land allowed for agriculture and domestication of animals, grasslands connected trade between sahara and savannah

• centers: ghana, mali, songhai

• sahel “shore of the desert” in arabic

• trade between tropical south (gold) ans sahara communities (salt) and spread of islam

how did climate impact trade in early early

in desert areas the herders were nomadic looking for food and water and traded salt (berber), in the sahel they traded livestock or camels, in the savannah (bantu) they cultivated grain crops, in the tropical rainforest people traded kola nuts and yams and gold

what was going on when the bantus came

• population pressures triggered bantu migrations from 1500 ce to 500 ce

• linguistic group extends language, crops, agriculture, and tech across sub-suharan africa

• intermarried and mixed with each other, movement traced through pottery and linguistic differences

• - created 500 languages

nok people and bantu people

known for ironworking technology and agricultural innovations

• bantu people used slash and burn agriculture to grow cassava and yams and iron tools that made farming easier

earliest complex societies

egypt and nubia emerged around the nile river around 3000 bce, nubia was the source of egypt’s luxury items, which created conflict, and nubia defeated them one day

egypt

• emerged along the nile - 3150 bce

• religious, wrote in hieroglyphics, had dynastic rulers called pharaohs

• it was known as memetic meaning “black land” after the soil of the nile’s flood

• 30 dynasties, 1st pharaoh menes unified upper and lower egypt

egypt kingdoms

old kingdom - period in which egypt had great power, built pyramids

middle kingdom - period of decentralized power of city-states

new kingdom - period of expansion started by ahmose I 1570-1544 bce

religion in egypt

• pharaohs believed to be intermediaries between God and people

• temples built to please God and deities

nubia

located at south end of nile, source of egypt’s gold and luxury trade items

• agricultural region with copper deposits with access to goods that egyptian attacks stole and enslaved nubians after

• in 750 bce nubia established the 25th dynasty of the black pharaohs, got took over by assyrians, came back and got took over by aksum

aksum

aksumite empire emerged in eastern africa 100 bce, red sea connected it to major trade networks from the meditteranean and roman empire to india, and its location contributed to its rise as well as its own currency and script

aksumite empire details

near present day ethiopia and eritrea, roman empire conquered egypt, aksum is an intermediary between the mediterranean and india

• trade controlled through red sea

• wealth led to expansion

• port city adulis, central of trade

• strong navy to protect trade

nok people

one of the earliest ironworking societies in west africa, 500 bce, best known for pottery, sculptures,

• lived in lots of settlements, not cities, naturalistic terracotta sculptures that give division of labor’

why is aksum significant

aksum is significant because it became the first african society to adopt christianity on their own terms. without the influence of colonialism or the save trade

aksum info

• adopted christianity under king ezana

• adopted on own terms through strong trade relationship with roman empire

• ge’ez, it’s script is still used as the main liturgical language of the ethiopian orthodox church

how did study of african history counter racist stereotypes

after the late 18th century, writers emphasized significance of african ancient societies, countering racist stereotypes that characterized african societies as without government or culture

• such as samuel morton in the 19th century saying that egyptians were white based on skull size

• research in the mid 20th century argued Africa’s rich culture before the slave trade

Sudanic/Sahelian empires (Ghana, Mali, Songhai):