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Intro to Africa

Intro to Africa. Tuesday: September 13 th , 2013. Overview. Review-Important questions or concepts covered in Ancient Studies Brief intro to Africa and its physiographic features

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Intro to Africa

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  1. Intro to Africa Tuesday: September 13th, 2013

  2. Overview • Review-Important questions or concepts covered in Ancient Studies • Brief intro to Africa and its physiographic features • Goal: get students acquainted with Africa’s key geographic features to make sense of its past such as the three great trading empires of West Africa: Ghana, Mali and Songhai. • Homework

  3. AFRICA • The history of Africa can be divided into several major periods • 1. prehistory (12,000 BCE) • 2. consolidation and development of centralized states • 3. The start of colonialism and imperialism • 4. colonial period • 5. Post-colonialism

  4. The continent of Africa • considered the earliest human inhabited place • Earliest Homo sapiens fossils were found • Discovery of evidence of human behaviors before elsewhere • Second largest continent, one-quarter of the world’s total land area • Home to about a billion people • 55 recognized sovereign nations and some partially sovereign • Africa is a diverse continent with 3,000 ethnic groups and 2,000 languages • Main focus: West Africa

  5. West Africa • For millions of years, the people of West Africa were hunter-gatherers who subsisted by catching animals, birds, fish, insects and by gathering plants, roots, and berries • Some inhabitants herded cattle, goats, and sheep • Weapons and tools were crucial throughout the region • Until 500 BC, instruments such as spears were made of bone and stone fixed to sticks (iron replaced stone) • Nok mastered iron making • Iron revolution-increased iron axes and hoes and farming began to take place on a large scale (farmers) • Spears and arrows with iron tips allowed hunters to kill more animals • Increased in production and improved supply spurred population growth • As a result, villages developed into cities and there was an increase of trade between communities

  6. Source: http://buckley6thgradehistory.pbworks.com/w/page/9303578/AnamWiki

  7. Emergence of West African Empires • Jenne-Jeno • Ancient city, founded in 250 BCE • Strategic location • -The site is located on a floodplain of the inland Niger Delta • -fished in the Niger River • -natural high way for trade • By 800 CE, the inhabitants of Jenne-Jeno connected and traded with North Africa to import salt, copper, and stone • Trade brought great wealth to those West African rulers who controlled cities like Jenne Jeno • Collected taxes through trade • Monarchs were able to build powerful armies which in turn were used to invade neighboring states and gain greater monopoly over the trade • In this way, three large empires—Ghana, Mali and Songhai were able to developed in West Africa between 700-1600 DISCOVERY OF IRON

  8. Iron melting process • Iron workers identified sources of iron ore by looking for rocks with dark streaks. They obtained the ore by digging it out of the ground or simply collecting pieces lying on the surface of the ground • To extract the iron from these rocks, the Nok crushed them into smaller pieces and then threw the same pieces into a furnace made of clay. Charcoal was burned in the furnace, and bellows were used to keep he fire hot enough to melt the iron so that it would run to the bottom of the furnace. • As the iron cooled, the iron workers, or blacksmiths, used hammers to beat the metal into axes, hoes, and spearheads.

  9. Iron-melting Actvity: Role Playing • Rock crusher • Chief blacksmith • Smelter • Iron shaper

  10. THE EMPIRE OF GHANA Source: BBC NEWS http://www.bbc.co.uk/ worldservice/africa/features/ storyofafrica/4chapter1.shtml

  11. HOMEWORK • Review your notes and this PowerPoint • Familiarize yourself with the physiographic feature of Africa

  12. Why do physiographic features matter? • Physiographic features or the physical geography of things play a crucial role in determining the fate of a country or a continent • Depending on the climate zones, location, geopolitical position, countries use different tactics to protect themselves, people adapt to different lifestyles for survival (i.e people who live near the sea tend to depend on sea food) • Development of Agriculture/farming • Development of trading • Expansion of economy • Advancement of civilization

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