1. Africa: A History Dr. Akanmu G. Adebayo
Department of History & Philosophy
Kennesaw State University

2. Opening remarks

3. I. Myth and Reality

4. Africa: A continent Africa is a continent
the second largest continent in the world

5. How many countries?
The continent plus the island countries, Africa has 56 independent countries
55 if not counting Western Sahara, which is a member of the AU but not of the UN
The countries vary in size

6. The Geographical Zones
A symmetrical arrangement of climatic and vegetation zones
Formula: the farther from the equator, the drier it is
Its main geographical zones are:
tropical rain forest
savanna grassland
deserts
Mediterranean
“Mediterranean-desert-savannah-rain forest- savannah-desert-Mediterranean” (Gilbert & Reynolds, p.8)

7. The people more than 2000 ethnic groups
each group occupies a distinct area
each group has different customs, languages, political systems, etc.

8. II. Human Origins

9. Early history: human origins and stone age cultures
Recent archaeological sites [see here]
Hunter-gatherer societies

10. III. Early African Civilizations

11. Ancient civilizations to 1500 CE
Egyptian civilization
Kush, Carthage, Axum, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe
growth of segmentary, non-centralized societies
Empires and city states, such as: Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem-Bornu, Oyo, Zanzibar, Pemba, Kilwa, Congo
Economic systems—agriculture, pastoralism, trade, manufacturing
Arab contact

12. Major kingdoms and empires

13. Medieval West Africa Ghana Empire Mali Empire Sundiata Mansa Musa
Pilgrimage
Songhay Empire
Sonni Ali
Askia Muhammad Toure

14. IV. Traditional Religion, Christianity, and Islam

15. Traditional religious beliefs
belief in creation/created universe
belief in the Supreme Being
belief in supernatural beings, forces, spirits, or gods (orisas)
belief in spirit possession
belief that natural and physical phenomena have powers and could be harnessed
belief in the efficacy of prayers
belief in the efficacy of rituals and sacrifices
Supreme Being
Divinities, orisa, gods, goddesses, ancestors
Ordinary people, leaders, priests and priestesses

16. Traditional religious beliefs (contd.)
belief in life after death
belief in ancestors
belief in the magical power of the spoken word--sacred songs, chants, evocations, incantations, etc.
belief in witches, sorcerers and witchcraft
belief the existence of creatures with supernatural powers
Egungun (masquerade), the embodiment of the ancestral spirit

17. Ancestors: masks, and masquerades
African religion has often been called “ancestor worship”
ancestors belong to the world of spirits
ancestors are deified, revered
ancestors constitute the link between the past and the present
Tchokwe mask, Congo
Hip pendant of the Oba of Benin

18. Early Christian Churches in Africa
Christianity came to Africa as soon as it was established in Palestine under Roman Empire
The three major centers of Christianity were in North Africa: Carthage, Egypt, and Ethiopia
Christianity did not penetrate outside of North Africa until 15th century
Early church centers in Africa—Carthage, Egypt, Ethiopia (Axum)

19. European Missions
Church Missionary Society, CMS (Anglican), founded in England in 1799
Wesleyan Missionary Society founded in England and Canada in 1786
Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Catholic) founded in France in 1703
Society of African Missions (Catholic) founded in France in 1856
Mission house in Badagry where Bishop Crowder lived and worked; it is believed that he translated the Bible to Yoruba language in this building

20. European Missions (contd.)
Rev. Joseph Rhodes Dunwell started the Methodist mission in Ghana in January 1835
Active missionary work progressed under Thomas Birch Freeman, a black missionary who arrived at the Gold Coast in 1838
British Methodists were also very successful. The reason for the success of both the CMS and the Methodists was because they entered the mission field in partnership with African missionaries—Samuel Ajayi Crowther and Thomas Birch Freeman. The Southern Baptist mission from the United States was not as successful until they began to ordain and empower African pastors.
Methodist Church, Cape Coast, Ghana

21. African Responses to Christianization
Initial opposition gave way to cautious acceptance
Early converts were ostracized, creation of “Christian villages” for early converts
Christian education and literacy empowered early converts; this had bandwagon effect
Issues early converts had to deal with
Social issues: loss of contacts with relations and friends
Polygamy
Worship in a foreign language
Requirement to abandon African culture

22. Spread of Islam in Africa
Conquests of
Egypt (639)
Tunisia ( )
Morocco (682)
Iberia (711)
Invasion of North Africa by a nomad group known as the Banu Hilal (11thC)
Creation and spread of North African Muslim empires:
Fatimid empire ( )
Almoravid empire ( )
Almohad empire ( )

23. How Islam spread in Africa
Geographical contiguity: nearness to Arabia
Trade and missionary work of Arab Muslims
Arab invasion (jihad) and settlement (Arabization of North Africa)
Activities of converted African leaders, traders, and scholars
Conversion for social or political expediency
Early spread of Islam

24. West African Jihads Jihad movements began in 18th century
Sokoto jihad (1804)
Usman dan Fodio
Nana Asmau
Masina jihad

25. V. The Atlantic Slave Trade

27. Slavery in Africa
Slavery was an old and widespread institution in Africa
Slavery could be found in the following societies:
societies under Islamic influence (e.g., Ghana, Mali, Bornu, Hausa states)
non-Islamic societies with complex political structures (e.g., Oyo, Asante, Dahomey, Benin)
societies with strong, complex economic systems, and with complex system of social stratification (e.g., Igbo)

28. Slavery (contd.)
Indigenous terms for “servant” or “service” tended to be confused with slaves
peonage system (where debtors were held in bondage by creditor until the debt was paid) was often confused for slavery
public servants (empire’s officials) were often mistaken for “slaves”
in many palaces, public officials were called king’s slaves or king’s servants (more like civil servants)
slaves were typically war captives
enslavement was a process for social integration

29. Status of slaves in West Africa
slave status was inferior to the free commoners
slaves had limited freedoms
slaves were integrated into their master’s household and lineage, especially slave women who bore children for their masters
slave work was no different from that of the free and was determined by the master’s occupation
when on errands for the king, “king’s slaves” were like envoys, had the king’s powers and privileges

30. Organization of the Atlantic Slave Trade
The Atlantic slave trade was a triangular trade

31. Organization (contd.) Ghezo, King of Dahomey, 1818-1858
Cowry shells, currency of the slave trade
Cape Coast Castle, one of several castles and forts where Europeans conducted business

32. The Middle Passage
Items Clarkson collected in the process of researching the diagram

33. Atlantic slave trade by the numbers
Source: Philip Curtin, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census, 1969

34. Africans from where?
Senegambia and off-shore Atlantic
Sierra Leone
Windward Coast
Gold Coast
Bight of Benin
Bight of Biafra
West Central Africa and St. Helena
South-east Africa and Indian ocean islands
Totals
40,040
1,463
3,405
44,909
63,080
989
1,737
4,549
84,021
154,376
40,664
1,118
2,088
7,439
28,059
448,095
241
527,705
65,981
4,717
1,172
84,957
210,701
108,224
495,083
24,136
994,971
117,738
19,478
38,895
387,162
620,767
197,750
775,837
11,261
2,168,888
188,111
154,626
207,068
479,973
485,787
547,148
1,339,132
39,136
3,440,981
95,405
153,642
38,494
76,738
370,327
430,580
1,677,073
339,310
3,181,568
4,214
29,813 2
132,783
22,445
189,257
611,019
338,785
287,366
1,030,918
1,724,834
1,317,775
4,955,430
436,528
10,702,656
Source: Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database. Online at

35. Reasons for Antislavery
1. Humanitarian principles and ideas
The Enlightenment
American Revolution
French Revolution
Religious revival movements
2. Economic Reasons
Industrial revolution
Free trade, open door, laissez faire

36. British Abolitionists
William Wilberforce
Elizabeth Heyrick
Granville Sharp
Mary Lloyd
Thomas Clarkson
Elizabeth Pease
John Wesley
Josiah Wedgewood
Thomas Fowell Buxton
Anne Knight

37. VI. European Imperialism

38. History (contd.)
4. Era of European colonization, 1850s-1960s [West Africa focus]
Systematic conquest of Africa, 1850s through 1900
Exploration and Christian missions
Expeditions, signing of treaties
Berlin Conference

39. Berlin Conference, 1884-85 Convened by Bismarck
Focus was to be West Africa; it partitioned Africa
Countries and boundaries were arbitrarily created
The colonial powers were France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain

40. European colonization of West Africa
Character of colonial rule
French and British direct and indirect rule
French assimilation
European social and economic impact
Introduction of Western education, culture, technology
Extraction of African resources, exploitation of African labor
Involvement of Africans in European wars

41. Nationalist challenges [All Africa]
Anti-colonial movement (British colonies)
Pan-Africanism and Atlantic Charter
Mau Mau War in Kenya
Constitutional conferences
Anti-colonial movement (French colonies)
Algerian War
Referendum and after
Anti-colonial movement (Portuguese colonies)
Leaders of Anti-colonial Movement
Kwame Nkrumah
Jomo Kenyatta
Nnamdi Azikiwe
Leopold Sedar Senghor
Felix Houphouet Boigny
Ahmed Sekou Toure
Patrice Lumumba
Amilcar Cabral

42. VII. Africa since Independence

43. History (contd.)
5. Postcolonial era (1960s to the present) [West Africa focus]
Transition from colonialism to neocolonialism
Military rule
Civil wars and genocide
Economic globalization
Urbanization
Democratization