A Brief History of Africa

Africa is home to some of the world’s oldest civilizations

• It is believed that the earliest forms of humans originated from Africa then spread throughout the world

• Some of the earliest agriculture techniques, writing and urban society developed along the Nile in Egypt

Slavery brought Africa into contact with the rest of the

world

The Arab Slave TradeThe Arabs began a trade for Slaves, Gold and Ivory along the East coast of Africa as early the 7th century AD•About 1000 AD it expanded to trading across the Sahara • As many as 9 million or more were taken out of

Africa by this trade over 11 centuries•Though never as intense as the European-American Slave Trade it lasted much longer ans continues to this day!

European Slave Trade

• Slaves were a prized commodity in the triangular trade, linking West Africa with Europe and the Americas.

• The European-controlled slave trade was the moreintense, and larger overall than the Arab trade– More than 20 million (some say 100 million)

were traded a little over 3 centuries!But Europeans only traded for slaves with tribes

along the coast and rarely venture inlandUNTIL

Europeans began to explore and Colonize Africa in 1850

• In 1885 the Berlin Conference was held in which European powers carved up the continent with no African presence

• The Europeans drew arbitrary borders not paying attention to local rulers or tribal borders

• BY 1900 only Liberia and Ethiopia remained independent

• For the most part European colonization of Africa only made underdevelopment worse

• However there were some positive results such as better agriculture and transportation systems along with modern industries.

IndependenceAfter WW2 African States began to gain

independence.Some peacefully, some by war.Unfortunately since there was little or no tradition

of democracy most became dictatorships.They also suffered from:• Tribal and/or religious conflict due to the illogical

borders• Poverty due to export based economies• Lack of good schools and thus literacy• Lack of medical care and hospitals