Transcript Africa and the Atlantic World Chapter 25 . African States, 1500-1650 The States of West Africa and East Africa   Developed over the eighth to.

Africa and the Atlantic World
Chapter 25
.
1
African States, 1500-1650
2
The States of West Africa and
East Africa


Developed over the eighth to the sixteenth centuries
Kingdom of Ghana (9th century to 13th century)




Not related to modern state of Ghana (further north and in the interior,
not on the coast)
Kingdom of Ghana
Tran-Saharan gold and salt trading
nation was source of wealth; used camels
Accounts of Arabic-speaking traders
describe the kingdom
Becomes fully Muslim by 1100s;
declines and become incorporated into
the Mali Empire
3
The States of West Africa and East Africa

Mali Empire (13th-16th century)





Grew along the Niger River Valley
Traded gold, salt, copper, and slaves
Military power was based on
semi-professional army; relied on
archers, some with poisoned arrows
Muslim religion mixed with traditional ancestor worship
Songhay Empire (1464-1591)




Expands in the early 1500s as Mali Empire declines; trading city of Gao is
its capital
Sunni Ali (r. 1464-1493) created effective army and navy that patrolled the
Niger River; brought other cities like Timbuktu under control
All emperors are Muslim and even create an Islamic university at Timbuktu
Musket-bearing Moroccan army destroys Songhay forces in 1591; a series
of regional city-states exert local control in the void left by Songhay decline
4
Swahili Decline in East Africa



Portuguese Vasco da Gama
skirmishes with Africans on
eastern coast, 1497-1498, on his
way to India.
Portuguese fleet returns in 1502,
and forces Swahili city-state of
Kilwa to pay tribute
Portuguese image of Kilwa made
By 1505, Portuguese gunships
some time before 1572
dominate the black Muslim,
Swahili-speaking ports of the East African coast.
5
Swahili Decline in East Africa
East African Cities of the 1500s
6
The Kingdom of Kongo


Relations with Portuguese beginning 1483
King Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso I, r. 1506-1542)
converts to Roman Catholicism




Useful connection with Portuguese interests
Viewed Christianity as supporting royal rule
Christian saints align with many traditional Kongolese
spirits
A zealous convert, Afonso attempted to convert
population at large
7
The King of Kongo and European
Ambassadors
8
Slave Raiding in Kongo


Initial Portuguese attempts at slave raiding
Soon discovered it is easier to trade weapons for
slaves provided by African traders




Dealt with several authorities besides Kongo
Kongo kings appeal without success to slow, but
not eliminate, slave trade (especially in regard to
the enslavement of nobles of his family)
Relations deteriorate, Portuguese attack Kongo
and decapitate king in 1665
Improved slave market develops in the south
9
The Kingdom of Ndongo (Angola)


Ndongo gains wealth and independence from Kongo by
means of Portuguese slave trade
But Portuguese influence resisted by Queen Nzinga (r.
1623-1663)


Posed as male king, with male concubines in female dress
attending her
Nzinga establishes temporary alliance with Dutch in
unsuccessful attempt to expel Portuguese


Decline of Ndongo power after her death
Ndongo becomes the Portuguese colony of Angola (they do not
withdraw until 1975)
10
The Kingdom of Ndongo (Angola)
Queen Nzinga Meeting with Europeans in 1657
11
Regional Kingdoms in South Africa




Chieftains in South develop trade with Swahili city-states of
the east coast
Great Zimbabwe: Great walled city-state that dominated goldproducing area of the modern-day state Zimbabwe from
roughly 1100 to 1400.
Dutch build Cape Town in 1652, and become increasingly
involvement with southern African politics
 Encounter Khoikhoi people (often called “Hottentots” by
Europeans)
British colonies also develop and eventually compete with
Dutch settlments
12
Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa





Pre-Islamic paganism involved animism and
ancestor worship
Islam develops in commercial centers
Timbuktu becomes major center of Islamic
scholarship by sixteenth century
African traditions and beliefs blended into Islam
Islam often changed gender relations and
standards of female modesty
13
The Fulani




Began as a nomadic pastoral people of West
Africa who had moved into cities by the 1600s
Started a movement to impose strict adherence to
Islamic norms
Around 1680, the Fulani begin military
campaigns to enforce sharia in West Africa
Their influence extended to south as well
14
Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa




Like African Islam, Christian practice was syncretic with African
beliefs
The Antonian movement flourished in the early eighteenth century
Founded by Dona Beatriz, a charismatic Kongolese noblewoman,
who claimed she was possessed by the spirit of St. Anthony of
Padua (13th-century Franciscan monk and patron saint of Portugal)
She promotes distinctly African Christianity




Jesus was a black man
Kongo was the holy land
Heaven was for Africans
Christian missionaries persuade King Pedro IV of Kongo to burn
Dona Beatriz at the stake
15
Social Change in Early Modern
Africa


Trade with Europeans brings new goods to Africa
New crops from Americas



South American manioc (cassava) becomes the staple bread flour
(must be boiled; raw cassava has considerable amount of
cyanide)
New World crops peanuts and maize become important
supplements to Sub-Saharan crops of bananas, yams, rice, and
millet
Increased food supply boosts overall population
growth despite heavy losses via the slave trade
16
Population Growth in Africa
60
50
40
30
Millions
20
10
0
1500
1600
1700
1800
17
Foundations of the Slave Trade

Slavery in Sub-Saharan Africa dates to antiquity,
well before Europeans arrive


War captives, criminals, debtors, and people expelled
from clans were made into slaves
Distinct from Asian and European slavery


No private property, therefore wealth defined by
human labor potential, not land: status in kinship
network
Slaves often assimilated into owner’s clan, especially a
woman who gave birth to a child for the family
18
The Islamic Slave Trade




After eighth century, Muslim traders created a much
bigger demand for slaves, bringing them back to the
Middle East and Mediterranean for sale
African peoples acquired slaves by raiding villages, and
then selling them to Arab traders on Swahili coast or at
trans-Saharan trading depots
Arab traders depend on African infrastructure to maintain
supply
European demand on west coast caused demand to rise to
even greater heights
19
The Early Slave Trade




Portuguese raid west African coast in 1441, take
twelve men and meet with stiff resistance.
Discover it is less risky to buy slaves from
African dealers rather than take them by force.
1460: By this time Portuguese traders bought 500
slaves per year and sold them to work as miners,
porters, domestic servants in Spain and Portugal
1520: 2,000 per year to work in sugarcane
plantations in the Americas
20
Slaves at Work in a New World Mine
21
The Triangular Trade
1) European manufactured goods (especially
firearms) sent to Africa
2) African slaves purchased and sent to Americas
3) Cash crops purchased in Americas and returned
to Europe
Each leg of this voyage was not usually carried out by the same ship.
For example, by the late 1700s, slave ships were specialized to
carry only human cargo.
22
The Atlantic Slave Trade, 1500-1800
23
The Middle Passage
(Africa to Americas)

African captors force-marched slaves from the interior to
holding pens at coast
Nineteenth-century drawing of enslaved African war captives being marched
24
The Middle Passage
(Africa to Americas)



Spanish first bring slaves directly from Africa to Caribbean in
1518 (some may have arrived via Portuguese as early as 1501)
Portuguese brought slaves directly from Kongo and Angola to
Brazil by the 1530s
Middle passage under horrific conditions:
 4-6 weeks (shortest passage was to Brazil)
 Cramped quarters; high rates of disease; extreme
temperatures and dampness in ships’ holds; adult males
were put in chains; horrible smell
 Mortality initially high, often over 50% in the 1500s and
1600s, eventually declined to 5% by late 1700s
25
The Middle Passage
(Africa to Americas)



Total slave traffic, 1500s to 1800s: twelve million
Approximately four million die before arrival
Competition between European slave-trading nations:

1500s: Trade dominated by Portuguese

1600s: Competition between Portugal, Spain, England France,
Netherlands
1650: Netherlands briefly becomes dominant slave trading nation
1700s: Trade dominated by the British (Liverpool, Bristol, and
London merchants)


26
Average Yearly Volume of African
Slave Exports by Century
27
Impact on African Regions



Rwanda and Bugunda of the Great Lakes region
and the Masai and Turkana herding peoples of the
eastern plains escape the effects of the slave trade
being far from the west coast slave ports
Some societies benefited economically from slave
trade: Asante, Dahomey, and Oyo peoples
These slave trading states became despised by
neighboring peoples
28
Social Effects of Slave Trade



Total African population expands due to
importation of American crops
Yet millions of captured Africans removed from
society, deplete regional populations
Distorted sex ratios result


Two-thirds of slaves were male, 14-35 years of age
Less males encouraged polygamy and women acting in
traditionally male roles
29
Political Effects of Slave Trade



Introduction of firearms increases violence in
pre-existing conflicts
More weapons, more slaves; more slaves, more
weapons
Dahomey people create an entire army dedicated
to slave trade
30
African Slaves in Plantation
Societies






Most slaves brought to tropical and subtropical regions
First plantation established in Hispaniola (Haiti and
Dominican Republic) in 1516
Later Mexico, Brazil, Caribbean, and Americas
Sugar was the first major cash crop
 Later: tobacco, rice, indigo, cotton, coffee
Plantations heavily dependent on slave labor
Racial division of labor
31
Destinations of African Slaves
from the 1500s to the 1800s
32
Regional Differences

Caribbean, South America: African population
unable to maintain numbers through natural
means





Malaria, yellow fever
Brutal working conditions, sanitation, nutrition
Gender imbalance; tiny number of female slaves
Constant importation of slaves
North America: less disease, more balanced sex
ratio

Slave families encouraged as prices for slaves rise in
eighteenth century
33
Resistance to Slavery




Working slowly for masters
Sabotaging plantation equipment (plows or sugar refining
equipment)
Flight to maroon settlements in mountains, swamps, or jungles
outside of the reach of colonial authority
New World Slave Revolts (not a complete list!)









Danish West Indies in 1733
Stono Rebellion in South Carolina in 1739
Tacky’s War in Jamaica in 1760
Dutch Guyana in 1763
St. Domingue in 1791 (Haiti founded in 1804)
Gabriel Prosser’s Revolt in Virginia in 1800
Denmark Vesey’s Revolt in South Carolina in 1822
Nat Turner’s Revolt in Virginia in 1831
Multiple revolts in Cuba across the 1800s
34
Slave Revolts

Only one successful revolt




French-controlled Saint-Domingue (1791-1804)
Renamed Haiti
Elsewhere, revolts outgunned by Euro-American
firepower
Vicious suppression of revolts, especially in
places like the Caribbean where slaves greatly
outnumbered whites
35
African-American Culture


Diversity of African cultures concentrated in slave population; slaves in the
same ship often could not even speak to each other. No sense of “African”
identity before arrival in the Americas.
African American culture blends many different African cultures




Creole Languages: Gullah (coastal South Carolina) and Geechee (coastal
Georgia). African-based languages survived to a greater degree in places that
had high slave concentrations and minimal contact with Europeans; otherwise
slaves adapted European language adapted with African influences.
Religion: Christianity adapted to incorporate African traditions; religions like
Voudou in Haiti, Santeria in Cuba, and Candomblé in Brazil blend Christianity
and African beliefs
Music: Much of American popular music blends African rhythms with AngloIrish melodies: spirituals, blues, jazz, soul, hip hop, rock, etc.
Foodways: Southern cooking and New Orleans cuisine especially blends
African traditions and ingredients with European ones, as in gumbo.
36
The Abolition of Slavery


Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), former
slave author’s best-selling autobiography
 Humanized the trauma caused by slavery
 Some evidence he was born in South
Carolina rather than Benin
Economic costs of slavery increase
 Military expenses to prevent rebellions
 Late Eighteenth Century: Price of sugar
falls while the price of slaves rise.
 Wage labor becomes perceived as
more efficient
 Wage-earners can spend income on
manufactured goods, while slaves
cannot
37
End of the Slave Trade

Abolition of Atlantic Slave Trade








1803 – Denmark
1807 – Great Britain
1808 – United States (20 year period mandated by Constitution expires;
internal domestic trade between states still allowed)
1814 – France
1817 – Netherlands
1845 - Spain
Possession of slaves remains legal
Clandestine trade continues to 1867 (some New York
City merchants were involved with the trade, even during the Civil War)
38
Toward Emancipation

Abolition of Slavery








1833 – British Colonies (owners are compensated by the government)
1848 – French and Danish Colonies (compensated)
1863 – Netherlands (compensated)
1865 – United States (with a bloody civil war; no compensation)
1886 – Cuba (a law in 1880 made slaves indentured servants)
1888 - Brazil (by royal decree; institution was in decline)
Saudi Arabia and Angola continue slavery as a legal
institution until the 1960s
Many experts consider the varieties of human trafficking
that still exist modern forms of slavery
39