Chapter 8 Africa & The Americas



Chapter 8 Africa & The Americas

I. Africa

• The history of early Africa has been shaped by its geography and its isolation from other continents.

• Culture was less technologically advanced than the Mesopotamian Cultures

• Africa did have wealthy empires that conducted extensive trade during Europe's Medieval period.

A) Topography and Climate

• The climate and the topography of Africa have helped shape its history

• Almost all of Africa is a series of plateaus with elevations gradually increasing from west to east across the continent

• The Sahara Desert and the smooth coastline of Africa limited cultural contact and trade between Africa and the continents to its north.

• Climate and topography also contributed to the diversity of cultures and languages.

• The Great Rift Valley was a major pathway for the movement of people from north to south in the ancient history of Africa

• Bantu-speaking people migrated from Central Africa to the south and east between 500 A.D. and 1500 A.D., spreading their languages and cultures, often displacing more primitive societies

B) Culture

• The extended family was the basic unit of producing, distributing, and consuming food and other goods in subsistence economies

• The people followed traditional religions that were unique to each ethnic group

• A common feature of the animist religions was a belief that spirits inhabit nature and natural objects.

• By the late 1400s the religion of Islam had spread across North Africa

C) African Kingdoms

• knowledge of most sub-Saharan civilizations is limited by their lack of a written language

• Historians must rely upon archaeological findings, oral traditions, and the observations made by people of other cultures

• Observations by people of other cultures may be distorted by prejudices and stereotypes because they reflect the values of the observers.

1. Kush

• Established by the Nubians

• located in what is now the nation of Sudan

• established an independent kingdom by 1000 B.C.

• The capital of the kingdom shifted south to Meroe which became a major iron smelting and trade center around 200 B.C

2. Axum

• Conquered Kush in 350 AD

• Carried on extensive trade with the Middle East and northwest Africa

• Converted to Christianity in the 4th century, but went into a decline when the spread of Islam cut off its trade through the Red Sea.

3. Ghana 600 A.D

• grew wealthy by taxing the trans-Saharan trade.

• powerful army By., Ghana's rulers

• conducted diplomatic relations with the kingdoms of Europe Ghana was succeeded by

4. Mali

• 13th century

• Mali's ruler brought scholars and architects from Islamic nations to establish a major university at Timbuktu that became widely recognized as a major center of learning

• the wealth of Mali became known throughout the Muslim world when Mansa Musa made a pilgrimage to Mecca with a large entourage that dispensed gold lavishly along the way

5. Songhai

• Askiya Muhammad ruled the Songhai Empire from 1493 to 1528

6. Zimbabwe

• Wealth was based on copper and gold brought from its mines to the merchant cities of the coast of East Africa

• It was one of the most important of the interior kingdoms of Southern Africa from the 12th to the 15th century

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