Africa: Land of Plenty & Promise

1. Africa’s History and Geography Africa: Land of Plenty& Promise

2. Africa – Part 2 Early African History

3. Earliest Civilizations—Egyptians • Researchers believe the first African civilizations developed about 7,000 years ago along the Nile.

4. Earliest Civilizations—Egyptians • Their rulers were know as pharaohs. • Many achievements: • Pyramids • Form of writing—hieroglyphics • 365 day calendar • Even did minor surgery

5. Earliest Civilizations—Egyptians

6. Kingdom of Kush and Axum • Kush • Kingdom developed just south of the ancient Egyptians • Trade and contact with Egypt helped to make it into a thriving kingdom. • Became a vital trade location for not only Middle East but South Asia as well.

7. Kingdom of Kush and Axum • Axum • Centered around modern-day Ethiopia. • Also became vital trade post. • Carries significance because the area became Christianized and is one of the oldest locations where Christianity began its ascent as a world religion.

8. Trade in the African Empires • West Africa—south of Sahara—developed trade based on the Gold and Salt.

9. Other Empires cont. • Traveling south, there were only a few major states to develop. • The interior of Africa was too harsh and undeveloped to effectively set up a large city.

11. Religion in Africa • 3 of the major world religions—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—are found in great numbers in Africa. • There are also still many traditional beliefs and practices in which nature and all of its creatures play a large role. • Example—every living object has a spirit so some native hunters explain his intentions and ask forgiveness of the animal that he is about to kill.

12. Religion cont. • Christianity took root in East Africa. • It was spread further by European missionaries during the age of Imperialism. • Christianity is the dominant religion south of the Sahara • Islam started to appear in Africa around 800 AD. • Islam is most commonly found in North Africa, north of the Sahara. • In many parts of Africa, the clash between Islam and Christianity has lead to wars and violence.

13. The Pillaging of a Continent The Africa Slave Trade and the era of Imperialism

14. The Beginning • The Portuguese began setting up trade stations on Africa’s Atlantic coast in the 1400s. • European countries began to colonize the Americasand needed cheap labor to work on the plantations and mines. • Thus, in the early 1500s, the 1st Africans slaves began to cross the Atlantic.

15. Prince Henry The Navigator

16. The Atlantic Slave Trade—who was involved • Europeans: • At its height, nearly 60,000 Africans a year were sent to the Americas. • The slaves were nothing more than cargo; many died on the voyage to the Americas. • Racism quickly took hold as the reason for slavery as Africans became “inferior” humans.

17. The Atlantic Slave Trade—who was involved • Africans: • European slave traders would trade guns and other goods for slaves. • Using the guns, the coastal tribes would attack an inland village and sold them into slavery

19. How much and where they went

20. The Abolition Movement • People who fought against the slave trade were Abolitionist. • The problem was that slavery had become too profitable for those involved. • Britain outlawed slavery in all of its territories in 1833, the first real dent in the trade. America abolished slavery in 1865. • There are an estimated 1 to 2 million slaves in Africa today, mostly a result of the wars that have torn apart the continent.

21. Effects of the Slave Trade • 400 years of slavery had obvious impacts on Africa: • 1. Distrust and anger between Africans and Europeans. • 2. Distrust and anger between the African states that captured the slaves and those who were taken as slaves. • 3. An unknown number of small African communities disappeared. • 4. African culture—its ideas, beliefs, and customs—were spread to the Americas.

22. Do Now

23. Africa Today

25. Facts About Modern Africa • Africa is the 2nd largest of the earth’s continents and makes up 22% of the earth’s land. • Africa has nearly 1 billion people, half are under 25. • Over 800 languages are spoken in Africa. • Africa has the most natural resources in the world. • An impoverished person makes .70 cents a day.

27. Challenges Africa Faces • Extreme poverty: (Starvation, low infrastructure, debt) • Lack of Education: (few in school, brain drain) • Health Issues: (AIDS, Cholera, Malaria, limited water) • Political Issues: (Wars, Apartheid, Genocide, Corruption)

29. South Africa (SA) • May 31st 1961, SA became a republic. • Apartheid separated whites and non-whites in SA. • Nelson Mandela was sent to jail for terrorism in 1962. • Nelson Mandela was released in 1990 and became president in 1994. • SA still has a high poverty rate for non-whites.

30. Nelson Mandela • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqoYmx_L-Xs

31. Blood Diamonds: Greed and Death • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaqQjIzIbiY