Western Africa Before European Colonization
The History of West Africa before mass influence of Europe was dominated by large kingdoms that went through many leaders. While it seems to be common knowledge that Africa has always been very underdeveloped, many of these early kingdoms were very powerful and one even had what is thought to be the earliest university in the world. Early history of west Africa won't be covered much more on this page so please take advantage of the video below which is a wealth of knowledge of some of the early african tribes of west Africa.
It is a fairly lengthy video so below are some highlights in case you want to jump around the video.
It is a fairly lengthy video so below are some highlights in case you want to jump around the video.
- A quick overview: 0:00-1:29
- The Mali and Songhai Empires: 1:30-2:30
- Ghana Kingdom: 2:30
- Mali Empire: 3:20-18:50
- An Emperor tried to get to America: 8:10-13:00
- Songhay Empire: 19:00-27:00
As the interactions with Europeans continued to grow, the taste for african goods grew. Unfortunately this included more than just gold, it included humans as well. The slave trade in Africa is probably one of the most well known periods of African history. A lot of the trading and transportation out of Africa happened in the western region as it was near by and had useable sea ports. The trading of slaves began around 1470 and continued well into the 1800's. For a more in depth look at the slave trade, a good place to start would be this link. (History Slave Trade)
The Scramble for Africa
The nationalist movement in Europe led to a very rapid colonization of Africa. This colonization period became known as the Scramble for Africa. The video below gives a very brief introduction into the time period.
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Because the rate of colonization was so fast there were many boarders that overlapped on one another. But the superpowers of the time did not want to engage in a physical war. They decided instead to have a meeting called the Berlin Conference in which they decided where the boarders would be. Those devisions can be seen on the map below. (for more information on the Berlin Conference visit this link) It is really quite amazing that within about 30 years, the major super powers of Europe came in and completely changed what Africa. The impact of this is still being felt today. Borders were put where they should not have been, causing tension and lasting conflicts within tribal groups throughout Africa. It is quite evident that European influence upon Africa had a fairly negative effect. While early tribes may have not been on a fast track to being modern societies, the invasion of the Europeans seemed to have slowed things down quite a bit. Many tribes were wiped out or used for slaves under the guise of making their lives better.
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As you can see, the north west part of Africa was predominantly colonized by the French.
Exploration of Western Africa
Exploration of Africa by Europeans actually began in the 1400's by the Portuguese in search of a faster route to South Asia. (Hall) As a result, much of Western Africa was well explored and and much more was known about this coast and area than most of Africa when the rest of Europe decided it was time to take over during the scramble. The one region that was definitely not explored by Europeans was Liberia. The only reason this was untouched was because the Europeans did not quite understand what it was. The United States had chunked out a plot of Africa where freed slaves could return if they so desired, so it was not an American colony per say but that is what the Europeans interpreted it as and therefore kept their distance from Liberia.
A Few Cities of Western Africa
This section is to give you a look into what has been produced by the mixing of European influence and native cultures and the reintroduction of freed slaves.
Dakar, Senegal
Bamako, Mali
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Abidijan, Ivory Coast
Ibadan, Nigeria
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Bibliography
Ross, E. (2002, October 1). Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved April 15, 2015, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/agex/hd_agex.htm
Key Facts on Mali & Bamako. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/A4A705D1-1AB7-47C2-9772-8B7EA7D339FC/0/KeyFactsonMali.pdf
Berlin Cenference 1885. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2015, from http://www.africafederation.net/Berlin_1885.htm
Embassy of the United States Freetown, Sierra Leone. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://freetown.usembassy.gov/history.html
Embassy of the United States Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://abidjan.usembassy.gov/history_of_cote_divoire.html
History of Ibadan. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015, from http://infocontent.pgschool.ui.edu.ng/Ibadan_history.aspx
History Slave Trade. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015, from http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/history/slave-trade.php
Key Facts on Mali & Bamako. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/A4A705D1-1AB7-47C2-9772-8B7EA7D339FC/0/KeyFactsonMali.pdf
Berlin Cenference 1885. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2015, from http://www.africafederation.net/Berlin_1885.htm
Embassy of the United States Freetown, Sierra Leone. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://freetown.usembassy.gov/history.html
Embassy of the United States Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://abidjan.usembassy.gov/history_of_cote_divoire.html
History of Ibadan. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015, from http://infocontent.pgschool.ui.edu.ng/Ibadan_history.aspx
History Slave Trade. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015, from http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/history/slave-trade.php