Sub-Saharan Africa: Notable Concepts and Notable Groups

Kin-Based Networks (All Facts)

• Form of community throughout Sub-Saharan Africa where families governed themselves

• These types of connections allowed people to identify first as members of a clan or family

• It took the place of centralization under one leader or central government as was the case with most European and Asian societies

• They became more difficult to govern as their populations grew due to competition among neighbors and the increased fighting among districts and villages as a result

• By 1000, larger kingdoms had grown in prominence, although many of the namesake survived well into the 1800s

Age (All Facts)

• Significant social marker in Sub-Saharan Africa

• An 18-year old could do more hard labor than a 60-year old, yet younger people often relied on the advice of their elders

• Communities divided work according to the namesake, created “grades” or “sets”

Sub-Saharan African Men (All Facts)

• Dominated activities that required a specialized skill

• For example, they often comprised leather tanners and blacksmiths

Sub-Saharan African Women (All Facts)

• Generally engaged in agriculture and food gathering

• Took the primary responsibilities for carrying out domestic chores and raising their family’s children

Chief (All Facts)

• Male head of any given kin-based network, which mediated conflicts and dealt with neighboring groups

• A group of them decided amongst themselves how to solve the district’s problems, the district being a group of villages that each of them presided over

Sub-Saharan African Slavery (All Facts)

• Comprised POWs, debtors, and criminals

• Most men and some women did agricultural work

• Most women and some men served in households

• Most people in Sub-Saharan African societies could not own land but could own other people

  • The more people one owned, the higher their oscial status