Africa
Early African
• General Geography
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Plateau: Africa shaped like an upside down bowl
Rivers: Nile, Congo, Niger all blocked by rapids and
hard to travel upstream (isolation and lack of trade)
Deserts
– Sahara Desert: Covers one-fourth of Africa (North)
– Kalahari and Namib Deserts (South)
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Savannas: Dry grasslands south of the Sahara desert
and north of Kalahari and Namib Deserts
Tropical Rainforest: Center of Africa (equator)
Mountains: Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya
Early Africa
 Language
 Bantu: Early African Language….appeared to have spread
over a lot of Sub Saharan Africa
 Trade
 Early peoples appear to have had some interactions with Asia
 Society
 Matrilineal: Ancestors and property traced back through
their mothers instead of fathers
 Religion
 Similar to other areas…gods and spirits based on nature
Ancient Egypt
 Egyptian Geography
 Nile River: Where the first Civilizations
began..predictable flooding was a positive
for development of Egypt
 Sahara Desert: Made invasion impossible
 Egyptian Development
 Hieroglyphics: Writing
 Papyrus: Plant that was made into early
paper
Ancient Egypt
 Leaders/Rulers
 Pharaoh: Absolute power…both religious and political
 Kingdoms
 Old (2680 BC-2180 BC): Built Pyramids/Sphinx
 Middle (2050-1780 BC): Invaded by foreigners
 New (1570 BC-1080 BC): Strongest Empire
 Famous Pharaohs
 Hatshepsut: 1st Female Pharaoh
 Thutmose III: King Tut…one of few tombs found intact
 Ramses II: Last great Pharaoh..eventually Egyptians lost their freedoms
when invaded by Persians in 300 BC
Ancient Egypt
• Religion
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Gods based of nature
Mummification: Process to prepare the body for life
after death. Tomb of Pharaohs would be filled with
valuables to take with them to afterlife
• Trade
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Caravans: groups of people traveling together and
trading together (safety)
East Africa Trade
• Trade
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There were no real large kingdoms in the lands located along the
Indian Ocean.
More small villages that were centered on trade.
Traded gold, ivory, hides and fellow African slaves.
A lot of interactions with Muslims from Arabia and Persia
• Swahili
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African culture that developed in Eastern Africa
Language that combine Bantu with Persian and Arabic
Became popular up and down the east coast of Africa
Big on trade. Tippu Tip-famous trader and lead Europeans into
Africa
West Africa
• Trade
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Salt for gold trade was important along South Sahara
Empires began to grow around this area
• Ghana
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Earliest empire of West Africa (300 AD)
Tunka Manin: Ghanaian ruler at the peak of power (1067 AD).
Huge Army: 200,000 warriors, bows/arrows/spears
Destroyed when the Berbers invaded across the area in 1100
AD.
Berbers carried Islam across North Africa
West Africa
 Mali
 Neighbors of Ghana; gained control of area in 1235 AD
 Mansa Musa: Leader of Mali during its peak of power
 Timbuktu: Became the leading city of Mali; educational and trade
center.
 Songhai
 Sonni Ali captured Timbuktu after Musa’s death, created a new
empire called the Songhai.
 Gao and Timbuktu became main trading centers for people from
Europe, India, and China.
 Eventually defeated by an army from Morocco that had a new
weapon…guns.
European Involvement
 Slave Trade
 Portugal began with a positive relationship with African tribes…then
they became greedy and wanted gold and slaves.
 Dutch, English and French would all get involved by the 1600s.
 Middle Passage: Trip the slaves made from Africa to
America’s…awful. Part of Triangular Trade. Slaves would be sold in
return for “New World” goods headed to Europe and Africa.
 Over 10 million slaves survived the journey to the Americas.
 West Africa Slave Trade
 Strong states began to emerge in West Africa as partners in the slave
trade.
 Slavery of other people was a popular practice in Africa (although
freedom was often times granted and not considered property)
 Problem: Over time, the loss of so many people had awful effects
on the development of the area.
1880-1914 New
Imperialism
 New Imperialism: competition among European nations to grow
their empire around the world as much as possible.
 This led to conflict among the European nations as well as
conflict with the natives.
 The Scramble for Africa
 Colonization of nearly all of Africa by the European nations
 Before 1880 only 10% of Africa was controlled by European
powers. Mainly along the coast of W. Africa for the slave
trade.
 By 1900 only Ethiopia and Liberia remained free from
European control
How and why did it
happen?
1) Attraction of Imperialism: Glory of the
Conquest
2) “White Man’s Burden” to “rescue” the rest of
the world from themselves and “civilize” the
native people of Africa and Asia.
Leopold and Belgians
 Leopold II becomes King of Belgium and
begins Imperialist rant, pushing for glories and
exploration.
 He sent H.M. Stanley up the Congo River to
establish trading posts and began colonization
and competition for Africa
1884-1885 Berlin
Conference
 The Berlin Conference (1885) was a series of
meetings between the major powers of Europe.
They laid down the rules for dividing up Africa.
 They established the principle of “effective
occupation” to claim territory.
 They agree to recognized any areas that are already
developed by other European nations. Then the
powers rushed to establish the areas unoccupied by
other European powers.
 Which European
countries were
fighting for a
position in Africa?
 Is the cartoon
accurate? Does it
really show what
was going on?
 How did the
Berlin Conference
lead to the
situation shown?
After the Berlin Conference
 France conquers much of Western Africa (some of Central)
 British greatly expand their holding by pushing into the
south interior and continued interest in Egypt.
 Germany enters the fray with colonies in West Africa, SW
Africa, and German E. Africa
 Italy gets into the act in Libya and Somalia
 Spain establishes colonies in coastal W. Africa
• United States Involvement
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Defended Liberia; a county for freed American slaves to
return to.
Only independent country in the area.
1800s: Effects of European
Imperialism
 Bad Effects
 Europeans controlled all aspects of government
 They did not create borders that aligned with the tribes of the area.
Often put rival tribes within the same borders which led to conflict.
 Paternalism: Belief that African’s were not able to effectively rule
themselves.
 Alliances: Some Africans tried to form alliances with European
countries…usually this worked out bad for the African countries
(Ethiopia and Italy)
 Most Africans never accepted European rule and culture. Europeans
wanted them to assimilate. Did not happen.
 Good Effects
 New things: crops, ways of farming, roads, and railroads all helped
improve communications.
Independence Time
 Post WWI
 After WWI a lot of British colonies began demanding self-rule.
 Issues
 Africans had helped GB/France during WWI…now they wanted
freedom.
 Soldiers returning from war had new ideas on nationalism,
independence, racism, etc
More Calls for Independence
 African Organizations
 By the 1930’s most Africans were calling for
independence rather than reform.
 This made European countries and tribal chiefs upset
 Leaders
 Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya) and
Leopold Senghor (Senegal).
 This leaders followed the non-violent teachings of Gandhi to
gain support for independence
African during WWII
 Italy/Ethiopia
 Ethiopia: one of the few independent countries in Africa during
the 1930s.
 Mussolini: Leader of Italy, invaded a defeated Ethiopia in 1935.
 Ethiopia had asked for help, no one helped them. Fought them
off and remained independent.
 Fighting in Africa
 Germany, led by commander Erwin Rommel had taken control of
Libya. Tank warfare
 Eventually Axis forces were defeated by Americans/British forces
in 1942…forced to retreat back to Tunisia.
 Eventually Dwight Eisenhower (SA) and Bernard Montgomery
(GB) were able to trap Rommel’s troops in Tunisia.
 Allies gained complete control of Northern Africa and Suez Canal
Back to more independence
 Independence Movement
 Grew tremendously after WWII. Most Africans no longer
accepted being under the control of European Countries
 Pan Africanism: Cultural unity of people of African heritage in
their struggle for freedom.
 Europe’s Response
 Not all European countries were so eager to give up their
lands in Africa
British Colonies in Africa
 Ghana
 Kwame Nkrumah (en-KROO-muh) was the leader and began to organize
political change.
 Boycotts turned into riots…eventually stopped by GB
 Convention Peoples Party (CPP): Founded by Nkrumah and was determined
to get immediate self-government
 In 1957, the Gold Coast was given its freedom from Great Britain….renamed
Ghana to celebrate African heritage
 Kenya
 Countries with more white settlers (like Kenya) were more against giving
African’s any sort of self rule.
 Arguments over who would control the wealthy land that coffee was grown
on (whites had control of it).
 This led to a bloody conflict between the Kikuyu (Kenya’s largest ethnic
group) and the whites/Africans that were loyal to GB.
 Jomo Kenyatta: Leader of the Mau Mau (secret Kikuyu group) was
imprisoned..eventually freed in 1961.
 Kenyatta easily won election in 1964…Kenya was free
Post Independence Africa
 Ghana and Political Violence
 Kwame Nkrumah: Leader of Ghana…took control of cocoa (very
profitable, made a ton of money and power)
 Turned Ghana into a one-party state and had absolute power.
 Cocoa prices fell, Ghana lost money and Nkrumah turned violent
towards his own people.
 Military Coup (takeover) forced Nkrumah out of power
 Jerry Rawlings: brought back civilian rule to Ghana
 Transition was not an easy thing for people of Ghana but today Ghana
is a stable democracy in West Africa
British Colonies in Africa
 Central Africa
 South Rhodesia: Large white population; granted self
government during the 1920’s.
 North Rhodesia and Nyasaland: Mostly black, governed by GB
 GB attempted to unite all 3 of them…did not work.
 Change
 North Rhodesia became Zambia
 Nyasaland became Malawi
 South Rhodesia
 South Rhodesia (mostly white) would not give up its
control…led to civil unrest and fighting.
 In 1980 Robert Mugabe won an election and made turned
South Rhodesia into Zimbabwe
French Colonies
 Post WWII
 French Union: All the French colonies were united. They were
also able to send representatives to French National Assembly in
Paris.
 Not really true independence….leaders like Leopold Senghor
(Senegal), Felix Houphouet-Boigny (Ivory Coast) and Sekou Toure
(Guinea) began to demand more change.
 French Response (1958)
 Charles de Gaulle (French President) gave colonies a choice: be
apart of French Community (receive aid from France) or be
independent (cut off all ties with France/aid)…
 Guinea was the only one to cut ties…they became isolated and
turned to the USSR for aid.
 This freaked out France…let all the other countries have their
independence in 1960.
 Today
 France is intervening in the Central African Republic
Belgian and Portuguese
Colonies
 Differences in Opinion
 Both Belgium and Portugal did not want to give any self-rule to their
African colonies….different than GB and France.
 This led to more violence
 Belgian Congo
 Belgium did not want to give up great wealth in timber and mineral
resources of Congo.
 Congo was made up of many different regions/tribes
 Began to unite during and after WWII.
 Violent uprisings began in 1959…granted independence in 1960. Problem
was that the Congo was made up of so many different groups of people.
 Patrice Lumumba: Won the first election…all non African’s feared him
and immediately left the country…caused Congo to go into Civil War.
 Joseph Mobutu: Military leader who overthrew Lumumba and ran the
country into the 1990s. Renamed to Zaire.
 Today it is called the Democratic Republic of Congo
Belgian and Portuguese
Colonies
 Portugal
 Would not give any sort of self government to its colonies
 Response
 African leaders in Portuguese Guinea, Portuguese West African and
Portuguese East Africa all began to form liberation armies to fight
against the Portuguese.
 Wars ended when leaders of Portugal were overthrown in 1974…new
leaders took Portugal out of Africa.
 Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Mozambique all were created and all had
problems.
Post Independence Ethnic
Violence
 Why Ethnic Violence
 Europeans had group people together that had no common
heritage..would lead to internal fighting
 Nigeria
 By 1963, Nigeria was essentially divided into 4 separate areas
(different groups lived in those areas)
 Eastern portion of Nigeria tried to leave the country to form its own
country called (Biafra).
 Civil War followed, millions of Biafra’s died
 Nigeria remained a whole country.
 Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and has one of the fastest
growing/largest economies in Africa.
Post Independence Ethnic
Violence
 Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire
 Rwanda and Burundi: Tensions began to grown between two
groups (Tutsi’s and Hutu’s)
 Tutsi’s had long been favored by the Europeans b/c they
believed they had come from white decent.
 Generally, there is very little difference between to the two
groups.
 A genocide in Rwanda resulted in the Hutu’s killing and raping
between 800,000-1,000,000 Tutsi’s (20% of population). This
was a result of Rwanda’s Hutu President’s plane being shot
down.
 Eventually the Tutsi’s turned the tide and were able to force
out the Hutu’s (and kill) hundreds of thousands of them. Most
of the refugees went to neighboring Zaire.
Post Independence Ethnic
Violence
 Continued Violence
 The Rwandan Hutu refugee’s did not get along with
the Tutsi’s that were native to Zaire.
 Tutsi’s and other groups fought back against the Hutu
refugees and the government of Zaire (led by Mobutu
Sese Seko).
 Eventually the Tutsi and anti-Mobutu forces won
 Laurent Kabila was the new ruler and Zaire became the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
 The Democratic Republic of Congo has had tremendous
violence towards women and others. Awful place
today!
 UN is now trying to keep the peace against the Hutu’s
that live along the border between DRC and Rwanda
Problems
 Economic Problems
 Limited Economies: Many African countries were dependent
on 1 crop or industry.
 Ghana (Cocoa), Nigeria (Oil), Zambia (Copper), Sudan (Cotton),
DRC (Cobalt)
 This has caused most African countries to really struggle
financially….led to extreme poverty throughout a good majority
of the continent.
 Nigeria and South Africa are two of the economic success
stories from Africa.
 Population and Environmental Problems
 Desertification: spread of the desert….aided by cutting down of
trees.
 Droughts have brought starvation to millions of people
 AIDS and Ebola virus have killed millions as well
US and Soviet Involvement
• Angola
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Civil War that was aided on both sides by the United States and the USSR
• Namibia
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Became independent when Cuban forces withdrew from the country
• Ethiopia
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Overthrew emperor in 1974, turned to a Marxist form of government with
the help of USSR. (liked them better than Somalia)
• Somalia
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Socialist government also supported by the USSR.
• General Help
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Both Somalia and Ethiopia called on foreign aid from both the USA and
USSR during awful droughts during the 1980s
US and Soviet Involvement
 Collapse of Soviet Union (1991)
 Led to a collapse in governments in both Ethiopia and
Somalia.
 Somalia: Fell into an awful civil war. Foreign aid to the
people of Somalia was denied…led to US involvement in
1992-1993.
 Other Current Issues
 Arab Spring (Egypt, Libya) in 2011-2013
 Benghazi Attacks
 Genocide in the Sudan (Darfur)