African Politics and Society in Early
Modern Times
 The States of West Africa
 Chapter 19 – Ghana and its successor Mali were large empires
in West Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries.
 When Mali weakened, the small kingdom of Songhay took
over and began to dominate West Africa.
 Dominated the Upper Niger River valley and eventually
expanded to Lake Chad.
 Prosperity from trans-Sahara trade made the Songhay
extraordinarily wealthy until 1591 when they were defeated by
Moroccans
 Small kingdoms and city states again prospered in West
Africa, but never united into a kingdom again.
African Politics and Society in Early
Modern Times
 The States of East Africa
 Chapter 19 – Swahili states dominated Indian Ocean
trade on the East African coast
 After Vasco da Gama’s exploration of the Indian Ocean,
the Portuguese sent naval forces to conquer the city
states of the Swahili and set up governmental buildings
and forts to secure trade routes for themselves.

Although ultimately unsuccessful, the Swahili states suffered a
mortal blow and never recovered their dominance in Indian
Ocean trade.
African Politics and Society in Early
Modern Times
 The Kingdoms of Central Africa and South Africa
 Central Africa

Kingdom of Kongo
 Emerged in the fourteenth century as a strongly centralized
state with a large bureaucracy.
 So successful by the late fifteenth century that it encompassed
what is present day Republic of Congo, as well Angola.
 Traded closely with Portugal and rulers often adopted
Christianity from the Portuguese.
 Disputes over slave trade (the biggest trading commodity in
the Kongo) led to Portuguese to ally with others to defeat the
kingdom of Kongo in 1665.
African Politics and Society in Early
Modern Times
 The Kingdoms of Central Africa and South Africa
 South Africa

Angola
 Grew in power by trading directly with the Portuguese
 Attractive in the slave trade because of their large number of war
captives.
 Queen Nzinga
 Warrior Queen of Angola who helped hold off the Portuguese
attempts to overtake Angola.
 After Queen Nzinga’s death her successors were not able to lead
as she had and as a result Angola became the first European
Colony in Africa.
 By 1652, the Dutch had built a trading post in Capetown (South
Africa) and Europeans were flooding in to South Africa and
destroying indigenous populations.
African Politics and Society in Early
Modern Times
 Islam and Christianity in Early Modern Africa
 Animism – Traditional African Religious belief in the
spirits of nature and ancestors.
 Many African societies adopted teachings from
Christianity and Islam and blended them with their
traditional beliefs to form a syncretic faith.
African Politics and Society in Early
Modern Times
 Social Change in Early Modern Africa
 Although there was considerable nation-building in
Africa, kinship groups (discussed in previous chapters)
still remained important for political and social
organization.
 Europeans influenced African life and culture as trade
between Europeans and Africans became more frequent.


Food introduced by Europeans led to huge population growth.
Forced migration of millions of Africans to the Americas
The Atlantic Slave Trade
 The key link in the Atlantic trade world of the fifteenth
to nineteenth centuries was the African slave trade
which provided millions of workers for large
plantations in the Americas.
 The Africans received manufactured products,
primarily firearms, in return for their slaves, and the
weapons were often used to dominate other societies
while seeking more slaves.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
 Foundations of the Slave Trade
 Slavery appeared in African society following the Bantu
Migrations of pre-history.
 Africans enslaving Africans




Most slaves were obtained through warfare but criminals and
peoples rejected by their clans could also make up the ranks of
slaves.
Lost all legal rights and could be sold or punished at will.
After the eight century the Islamic slave trade began as Muslim
merchants purchased African slaves for distribution in the
Meditterranean and Middle East.
Therefore, a system of slavery was already in place by the time the
first Europeans ventured into Africa.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
 Human Cargoes
 By the 1520s the Portuguese were importing about two
thousand slaves per year into the fields, mines, parlors and
islands controlled by the Iberian nations.
 Columbian Exchange


As the Columbian exchange grew and indigenous populations in the
Americas died off b/c of disease, African slavery was introduced into
the Americas.
1518 – First shipment to Americas, 1619 – First shipment to the
American colonies
 Triangular Trade
 First leg – Manufactured goods from Europe to Africa
 Second leg – Slaves to the Americas
 Third leg – American Commodities taken back to Europe
 Middle Passage – Africa to Americas… Horrific conditions with death
rates as high as 50%.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
 The Impact of the Slave Trade in Africa
 At the height of the slave trade, 55,000 slaves per year
made the middle passage
 Around 12 million total made voyage, 4 million died.
 Impact of the slave trade varied according to society




Central Africa – largely protected
Asante, Oyo, Dahomey – Built Powerful kingdoms with the
firearms they obtained from the slave trade.
West Africa significant impact
Large imbalance in gender ratios
The African Diaspora
 Diaspora – Dispersal of Africans across the western
hemisphere.
 Plantation Societies
 South America
 Required constant importation of slaves from Africa because so
many slaves died due to disease and harsh working conditions.
 Very few women
 North America
 Not as many slaves imported because more women were imported
allowing slaves to reproduce
 Life
 Cash crop production dependent upon slaves – tobacco, cotton,
coffee, rice, indigo, sugar, etc.
 Maroons – Runaway slaves
 Haitian Revolution and Other slave revolts led to harsh treatment.
The African Diaspora
 The Making of African-American Cultural Traditions
 Creole Languages – Combination of African and
European languages.
 Haitian Vodou- Religious practices based on magic,
sorcery, and spiritual possession.
 African food and music infused into American culture.
The African Diaspora
 The End of the Slave Trade and the Abolition of
Slavery
 American and French revolutions, slave revolts, and
slave narratives (Olaudah Equiano) eventually led to
strong abolition movements
 Slave trade was first abolished, and slavery itself
followed.


Slave trade abolished in Denmark (1803), Great Britain (1807),
United States (1808), France (1814), Spain (1845).
Abolition of slavery followed (U.S. 1865)
 Largely due to expenses associated with slavery.
 Slavery trade persists in Africa to this day.