AMSCO 1.5 Developments in Africa

📍Topic 1.5 Developments in Africa

📖 AMSCO p.43 - p.49

Main Idea

Key Timeline

Image Courtesy of Riya Patel

Things to Know

Political Structures in Inland Africa

• Bantu migrations led to widespread agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1000.
• Decentralized political power: kin-based networks and chiefs mediated conflicts.
• Growing populations increased competition among communities, fostering the rise of larger kingdoms.

Political Structures of West and East Africa

• West and East African kingdoms thrived through trade, bringing wealth and cultural diversity.
• Mali, emerging after Ghana's decline, became a dominant trading society under leaders like Sundiata and Mansa Musa.
• Zimbabwe showcased wealth through stone architecture, trade, and the Great Zimbabwe, a stone-walled city.
• Ethiopia, an island of Christianity, developed independently with unique rock-hewn churches.

Social Structures of Sub-Saharan Africa

• Small communities organized around kinship, age, and gender structures.
• Gender roles: Men dominated specialized activities; women engaged in agriculture and domestic chores.
• Slavery existed in various forms, involving prisoners of war, debtors, and criminals.

Cultural Life in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Music and visual arts played crucial roles, serving religious purposes and marking rituals.
• Griots and griottes, storytellers, preserved history through oral traditions and were revered for their knowledge.
• Literature in Sub-Saharan Africa was primarily oral, passed down through generations via griots.

Terms to Remember