African History - birdvilleschools.net · Nationalism Missionary Activity & Naval Bases European...
Transcript of African History - birdvilleschools.net · Nationalism Missionary Activity & Naval Bases European...
Early Civilizations
Early Man
Early hominids: 2,000,000 years ago
10,000 civilizations began to develop
Economy
• Farming
• Trade: Romans, Arabia, & India
• Prospered because of iron & gold supplies
Society
• Village community: center of life
• Women subordinate to men, different roles
• Slavery practiced
Religion
• Christianity became official religion in 324 A.D.
• Faced conflict with Muslims starting in 12th c.
Culture
• Early African arts served religious purposes
• African music & dance had significant & lasting influence
• Oral tradition
“Scramble for Africa” 1881-1914
Source For Raw Materials
Markets for Finished Goods
European Nationalism
Missionary Activity
Military & Naval Bases
European
Motives
For Colonization
Places to
Dump Unwanted/ Excess Population
Social & Economic Opportunities
Humanitarian Reasons “White
Man’s Burden”
Social Darwinism
European Racism
Industrial Revolution
Berlin Conference 1884
New European drawn boundaries took little stock of tribes & laid the framework for more than a century of fighting.
European drawn boundaries combined peoples of differing ethnic groups, religions, culture
Issues of Conflict as a Result: Grazing rights
water rights
land rights
access to political power, education, & jobs
1948-1994: Apartheid (legal segregation) enforced by the white/British (Afrikaner) gov’t in South Africa
Apartheid in South Africa
And become president of South Africa…
South African President Nelson Mandela, center, flanked by his
two deputy presidents, Thabo Mbeki, left and F.W. de Klerk, right,
celebrate the new constitution, May 8, 1996.
South Africa post-Apartheid
Apartheid has ended but inequalities remain.
Whites enjoy a standard of living similar to that of the most
developed countries.
Unemployment, AIDS, lack of housing, poverty and crime are the
major problems today.
Nigeria’s Oil Industry
Oil found here in 1950’s
Government corruption, civil war
Oil $$ goes to the gov’t, not the
infrastructure or the people of the
country.
Nigerian regulations are weak –
foreign-owned oil companies self-
regulate.
Criticized for not protecting the
various ethnic groups/tribes & the
wildlife.
Oil spills common
Republic of South Sudan
http://video.nytimes.com/video
/2011/01/15/world/africa/1
248069566895/southern-
sudan-s-referendum.html
Sudan in civil war since 1965.
South became independent:
July 9, 2011 (last summer!)
Conflicts still exist
Contested boundary lines
(Abyei – see video link)
S. Sudan gained billions of
dollars worth of oil
Rwanda Hutu-Tutsi Genocide
Belgian colonists favored Tutsi tribe. Divided into tribes based on looks.
Tutsi believed to be of European descent (lighter skin, taller, larger skulls)
Tutsi hold key jobs, Hutu treated poorly
Belgians left Rwanda in 1961; Hutu fought back for the years of Belgian/Tutsi repression.
April 1994 - July 1994 Hutu killed Tutsi
Goal: Eliminate all of the Tutsi (genocide) – Seen as a Civil War by the world, nothing was done to stop the Hutu
100 days – Over 1 million people dead/ 20% of the country’s population (men, women, children)