Africa during the Colonial Expansion
I.
West African forest kingdoms
a. 1000 – 1500 C.E.
i. Villages consolidated into larger units, formed powerful and centralized states
ii. Villages of Ibo, Asante, Yoruba fused into small city-states. Brought new forms
of government, including hereditary monarchy.
b. 1500 – 1800 C.E.
i. Kingdoms incorporated into European mercantile, capitalist activities. Began
wars to capture slaves for export to Portuguese
ii. Began wars to capture slaves for export to Portuguese. Began wars to capture
slaves for export to Portuguese
iii. The cultures involved derived immense wealth from the trade which allowed
them to consolidate political power and finance major developments in the
developments of arts and crafts guilds.
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II.
States of the Sahel and Sudan
a. Songhai Empire
i. Weakened by internal strife and finally invaded by more traditionalist Muslims
from Morocco in 1591.
ii. Region fragmented into competing kingdoms. Islam became more radicalized
and anti-animist.
b. Sokolor Caliphate
i. Reformist Islam under this Caliphate attempts to destroy animism. Many
prisoners are taken in the military conflicts that ensue, most are exported to the
coast and sold as slaves. Others are kept as slaves in the region.
ii. Rise of slave villages (plantations) producing agricultural crops such as peanuts
and cotton.
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III.
Kingdoms of Southern Africa
a. Kongo: Powerful kingdom of central Africa after fourteenth century
i. Established diplomatic and commercial relations with Portugal by 1482. Kings of
Kongo converted to Christianity sixteenth century.
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IV.
ii. Slave trading in the Kongo: Portuguese traded textiles, weapons, and advisors.
Kongolese exported gold, silver, ivory, and slaves. Slave trade undermined
authority of kings of Kongo.
iii. Deteriorated relations led to war 1665.
b. Kingdom of Ndongo (modern Angola)
i. Attracted Portuguese slave traders, missionaries
ii. Queen Nzinga led spirited resistance to Portuguese, 1623-1663. She was able to
block the Portuguese advance into Ndongo but could not expel them entirely.
iii. By the end of 17th century, Ndongo was Portuguese colony of Angola. They ruled
Angola until 1972.
iv. Later coffee plantations were created and slaves were moved from the region
to Brazil until the mid-1850’s.
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East Africa
a. 1502: Vasco da Gama forced the ruler of Kilwa to pay tribute
i. 1505: Portuguese naval fleet subdued all the Swahili cities
ii. Portuguese built forts and controlled trade out of Africa
iii. Europeans establish some sugar colonies on Seychelles, Mauritius
b. Swahili reaction to European and Turkish (Ottoman) control
i. Trade disrupted by both Turks, Portuguese
ii. Most slaves went to Middle East but some for Brazil
iii. An influx of Arab colonist flowed into the east coast and created European
style plantations on Zanzibar and Pemba Islands. These plantations created
cash crops such as cloves and bananas.
Interior East Africa
a. These were people of mixed Bantu and Cushite (Kingdom of Kush) descent
i. Farmed bananas, herded cattle, and transported ivory from the interior to the coast.
ii. Many kingdoms and dynasties rose up around the Great Rift Valley but none had any
contact with the Europeans
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V.
VI.
South Africa
a. Area least affected by the Atlantic slave trade.
b. Region was dominated by regional kingdoms such as Great Zimbabwe which traded gold
and copper directly to the coast until the trade was disrupted by the Portuguese.
c. After 1500 the Portuguese used South Africa as a stop-over on their way to the Indian
Ocean.
d. The Dutch landed at Cape of Good Hope
i. Dutch mariners built a trading post at Cape Town, 1652
ii. Increasing Dutch colonists by 1700, drove away native Khoikhoi
iii. South Africa became a prosperous European colony
iv. Boers (Dutch farmer) developed language, Afrikaans
v. Boer competed with Zulu, Ngoni
e. 1795: The British took control of the colony. The Dutch reaction was to move north. This
mass migration is known as the Great Trek.
f. 18th - 19th century Mfecane move into the region. This is the rise of the Zulu kingdom.
Shaka Zulu was a military, organizational genius and further scattered Ngoni but led to
rise of strong Bantu kingdoms to oppose Zulu.
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Social Changes in Africa
a. Social Groups and Changes
i. Kinship and clans remained unchanged and traditions tended to remain
unchanged
ii. Art, crafts groups in West African begin to form proto-classes
iii. Rise of hereditary monarchies in West Africa
iv. New outside contacts entering
1. European (Portuguese) influence along coast
2. Moroccan, North African influence pushing south
b. Radicalization of Islam
i. Rise of radical African Muslim Sahel states
ii. Rulers, religious leaders called for purified Islam
iii. Began to launch Jihad wars to purify belief
c. Radicalization of Islam
i. Rise of radical African Muslim Sahel states
ii. Rulers, religious leaders called for purified Islam
iii. Began to launch Jihad wars to purify belief
d. Population growth in sub-Sahara
i. From 35 million in 1500
ii. To 60 million in 1800
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VIII.
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Foundations of the Slave Trade
a. Slavery common in Iberian society
i. Iberians never had serfdom because slaves were plentiful
ii. Iberians tended to enslave Muslims during their wars
iii. Iberians knew of Africans, African slaves: they had invaded Iberia
b. Slavery common in traditional Africa
i. Typically war captives, criminals, outcasts
ii. Most slaves worked as cultivators
iii. Some used as administrators, soldiers
iv. Slaves were a measure of power, wealth and could be assimilated into masters'
kinship groups and could earn freedom
v. Children of slaves were free
c. Islamic slave trade well established throughout Africa
i. North African to S. W. Asia Route
ii. Indian Ocean Route to S. W. Asia, Persian Gulf
d. Europeans used these existing networks but redirected the slaves to the coast (Atlantic
Route)
i. Expanded slave trade through increased demand, high prices
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Portuguese Patterns for the Slave Trade
a. Established factories, trading stations
i. Portuguese not powerful enough to control trade
ii. Diseases kept Europeans from penetrating interior
iii. Had to work cooperatively with local rulers
iv. Mulattos penetrated interior for Portugal
b. Exchanges
i. Portuguese obtained ivory, pepper, skins, gold
ii. Africans obtained manufactured goods
iii. Portuguese successful because their goods sold
iv. Many cultural ideas exchange, images in art
v. Portuguese dominated shipment, demand out of Africa
c. How Portugal dealt with Africans
i. Missionary efforts, Catholicism spread; Ambassadors exchanged
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ii. Portugal begins to see Africans as savages, heathens, pagans
iii. Began with Portuguese attitude towards African Muslims
iv. Slavery introduced as Africans seen only as a commodity
v. As slaves became a primary trade commodity, Portugal became greedy
vi. Many Africans limited, attempted to limit Portuguese influence
d. Early slave trade on the Atlantic : Started by Portuguese in 1441
i. By 1460 about five hundred slaves/year shipped to Portugal, Spain
ii. By 15TH century slaves shipped to sugar plantations on Atlantic islands
e. American planters needed labor
i. Indians not suited to slavery, most had died out
ii. Portuguese planters imported slaves to Brazil, 1530s
iii. Slaves to Caribbean, Mexico, Peru, Central America, 1510 - 1520s
iv. English colonists brought slaves to North America early 17TH century
f. Triangular trade
i. All three legs of voyage profitable
ii. In Africa, finished goods traded for slaves
iii. In Americas, slaves traded for sugar, molasses
iv. In Europe, American produce traded
g. At every stage slave trade was brutal
i. Individuals captured in violent raids
ii. Force marched to the coast for transport
iii. Middle Passage and First Year
1. Between 25-50 percent died on passage
2. Another 25 percent died first year
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Impact of slave trade on Africa
a. Volume of the Atlantic slave trade
i. Increased dramatically after 1600
ii. Around 1800: 100,000 shipped per year
iii. About 12 million brought to Americas
iv. Another 4 million died en route
b. Volume of Muslim trade
i. Ten million slaves may have been shipped out of Africa
ii. By Islamic slave trade between 8th and 18th centuries
c. Social Impact
i. Profound on African societies
ii. Impact uneven: some societies spared, some profited
iii. Some areas had no population growth, stagnation
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iv. For generations, many leaders, intellectuals missing
d. Distorted African sex ratios
i. Two-thirds of exported slaves were males
ii. Polygamy encouraged, often common
iii. Forced women to take on men's duties
e. Gender involved in trades
i. Atlantic Route: men and women
ii. Trans-Saharan Route: men only
iii. Indian Ocean Route: women and young boys (eunuchs)
f. Politically and economic disruption
i. Firearms traded for slaves
ii. Led to war and new state formation
iii. Dahomey grew powerful as a slave-raiding state
iv. Fostered conflict and violence between peoples
v. Failed to develop economics, industry, trade beyond slave trade
vi. Beginning of a process which impoverished Africa until today
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American Plantation Society
a. Cash crops
i. Introduced to fertile lands of Caribbean: early fifteenth century
ii. Important cash crops
1. Caribbean Coast: Sugar, cocoa, coffee
2. Southern States of US: Tobacco, rice, indigo, cotton
iii. Plantations dependent on slave labor
b. Plantations racially divided
i. 100 or more slaves with a few white supervisors
1. Whites on top of social pyramid
2. Free people of color
3. Creole blacks
ii. Born in Americas of mixed parentage
1. House slaves
iii. Saltwater slaves (Directly from Africa)
1. Field slaves, mines
c. High death rates in the Caribbean and Brazil
i. Led to continued importation of slaves
ii. Led to an expansion of the slave trade to Africa
iii. Led to an internal slave trade in some states
d. Most slaves to Caribbean (Haiti) and Brazil
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XII.
e. Only about 5 percent of slaves to North America
1. Less than 1% to the US
2. Slave families more common
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End of the Slave Trade and Abolition
a. Resistance to slavery widespread, though dangerous
i. Slow work, sabotage, and escape
ii. Slave revolts were rare, brutally suppressed by plantation owners
iii. 17th century: Palmares Slave Republic in Brazil
iv. Marones runaway slaves often hid in jungles
b. 1793 Slave Rebellion in French colony of Saint-Dominque
i. French Revolution abolished slavery
ii. Black Jacobins stage revolution, end slavocracy
iii. Resisted repeated French attempts to reconquer
iv. Established the free state of Haiti
c. New voices and ideas against slavery
i. Enlightenment began discussion
ii. American, French revolutions: ideals of freedom and equality
iii. Slave Journals and Narratives greatly influenced debate
iv. Olaudah Equiano: freed slave, autobiography became best-seller
v. Frederick Douglass: bought his own freedom, became abolitionist
d. Slavery became increasingly costly
i. Slave revolts made slavery expensive and dangerous
ii. Decline of sugar price, rising costs of slaves in late 18th century
e. British abolished slavery, slave trade
i. British navy patrolled Africa and arrested, hung slave traders
f. Manufacturing industries rivaled slave industries
i. Paid labor was cheaper and often more reliable
ii. Industry was more profitable; Africa became a market
g. End of the Atlantic slave trade
i. Most European states abolished slave trade in early 19th century
ii. The abolition of slavery followed slowly
iii. Many European states abolished slavery between 1790 and 1810
iv. 1833 in British colonies, 1848 in French colonies
v. 1865 in the United States, 1888 in Brazil
vi. Trans-Saharan and East African Slave trades existed until 1880s, 1900s
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