Moral Social Studies Colonial Africa The languages spoken in Africa today were used as a colonial tool back when Europeans were colonising Africa. They introduced their culture and language to the people as well as forcing them to learn their language; they would forbid anyone from speaking their native language and that’s why many African countries do not often speak their native language but rather speak the language of their coloniser. Before colonisation, African countries were powerful and prosperous. However, after the European colonists entered Africa, these civilizations declined and disappeared. Europeans had a separating system; they would separate people with similar tribes, cultures, language and many more to an area and restrict their movement, leading to oppression. People with different tribes, cultures, languages were all included in the same area. This created conflict and eventually led to wars. Eventually, the European colonial powers left the African colonies which allowed the African countries to gain independence. It was either too expensive to deal with colonies or the countries wanted to have their own independence. Europeans had control over West Africa until 1960, meaning they gained independence after 1960. Only 2 countries in Africa weren’t colonised: Liberia and Ethiopia. Were the “new” countries created in Africa after colonisation really “new” countries? Explain your answer. The “new” countries created in Africa were still in existence before European colonisation. Many of them, even after their independence from the Europeans, adapted the culture and language of their colonisers. There has been a huge aftermath for Africa as a continent as tribes still want to follow after their native roots while most people are heavily influenced by the western world that they cannot go back to their cultures. What do you think some of the challenges would be for countries which had been colonised? List at least three challenges and explain. - Some of the cultures in countries have been forgotten; many of the people don’t recall their old habits before they’ve been colonised and they adapted to the new cultures that were introduced to them by their coloniser. - Native languages are forgotten and only remembered by the tribes or by elders; because of the colonisation, and them introducing and forcing the people to learn their language, people got influenced and eventually only speak the language of their coloniser – example: 56% of the Cameroonians only speak French and introduced it to the people as their main language in the country and they rarely speak their native language. - During colonisation, all Africans were forced into slavery and received lower to no wages. These habits are still seen even today; the people work hard labour yet receive such low wages. Land and Geography of North America Canadian Shield: The canadian shield is an exposed part of the North American craton (which is what holds continents together), and its a piece of the Earth's crust that contains most of Mexico, USA, and Canada. It covers most of Canada and touches only 3 states of the USA. It derived its name from its shape as it looks like a shield. Rocky Mountains: The Rocky Mountains are massive mountain ranges that stretch from Canada up to central New Mexico. Great Lakes: The Great lakes are a series of freshwater lakes found in eastcentral North America and connect to the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence river. They consist of Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior, Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Summer solstice: Summer solstice is when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted directly towards the Sun, making the summer day the longest and night the shortest. It is celebrated on June 21st. Polar Darkness: Due to the rotation of the Earth that is in relation to the position of the Sun, the polar circles i.e Arctic Circle and Antarctic circle, don't receive the sun's light for 6 consecutive months. Isthmus: A narrow strip of land that connects two large landmasses while separating two bodies of water. Central America countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, The Bahamas, Dominican Republic. Some countries are called Latin America because they were under Spanish rule before getting independence and as Spain being a coloniser, they had to speak Spanish, one of the Latin languages apart from French and Italian. Tropical area countries: Mexico and all of Central America. There are 10 countries on the continent of North America and 13 nations in the Caribbean Sea. Panama is the isthmus that connects North and South America together. The Panama Canal was built back in 1914 to allow ships to pass from the Caribbean Sea on the Atlantic Ocean side of the continent and to cross the isthmus (Panama) into the Pacific Ocean. There are island nations found in the Caribbean Sea and these include: Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and Dominican Republic. Another smaller group of island territories include: Puerto Rico, The U.S Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. Some parts of Canada lie within the Arctic circle at 66 degrees 34' North latitude. This area is where polar night and polar day happens for 6 months each. Twilight is the period between day and night when there is light outside but the sun is below the horizon. There are 3 types of twilights: - Civil twilight : When the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. Happens during sunrise and ends during sunset. Nautical twilight : When the Sun is 6-12 degrees below the horizon. We usually require artificial light as it is less bright than civil twilight. Astronomical twilight : When the Sun is 12-18 degrees below the horizon and it usually looks like its night but it isn't. Much darker than both nautical and civil twilight therefore requires artificial light. The land below the Arctic Circle is usually where most of the population of Eastern Canada live in such as Southern Ontario and Quebec along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Rivers. In this region, winter is shorter, weather is warmer and the topsoil is deeper making it a very fertile land for farming. Western Canada and Alaska have high mountain ranges and coastal forests. Indigenous People of North America Europeans weren’t the first people to step foot on the Americas. Scientists have shown that people migrated from Asia through Russia and the Bering Strait up to North America around 20,000 years ago, just after the last Ice Age. Other studies show settlements in the Orogrande Cave in New Mexico USA 35,000 BCE, just before the last Ice Age. It is unclear when the indigenous people arrived but what is clear is that they were the first people to arrive in the Americas. They are referred to as First People in Canada and Native Americans in the US. Some people refer to the indigenous people as Indians because first European explorers thought they were from the East Indies. However, they should not be referred to as ‘Indians.’ The regions where they settled in are: - Arctic - Subarctic - Great Plains - Great Basin - Plateau - North and South East - North and South West - California These regions all had different climates and different ways of adaptation. (Read from the notebook before continuing with the notes) The Aztecs The Aztecs were the first people to arrive in the North of Mexico around the 13th century and into the Valley of Mexico in the early 14th century. The Aztecs had settled in Tenochtitlan with a population of over 200,000 citizens. Reason as to why the Aztecs settled in Mexico was due to a request from their God, telling them to migrate to Mexico as well as there being sufficient land and abundant resources to build a successful civilization. The Aztecs welcomed the conquistadores Hernan Cortes with great honour only for him to imprison their ruler Moctezuma. The Spanish people were strong in weaponry, and in June of 1520, a 75 day war was declared against the Spanish so they could get their control of Tenochtitlan back. However, Hernan’s people were strong and were able to easily defeat the Aztecs. Diseases such as smallpox and measles also resulted in the lack of immunity in some soldiers. This war, which ended in 1521, was the reason for the downfall of the Aztec Empire.
