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Pre colonial african societies history
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The beginning of time has always played a major role in history. The beginning of time explains the reasons for each and every creature, plant, and unexplainable phenomena that have occurred on this earth. Chapter one of World History: A Topical Approach primarily explains to the reader the different arguments that people believe are true. There are many claims that scientist have found to be very true, but then there are others who believe in a phenomenon quite different. Some scientists date the beginning of existence as far as twenty billion years ago, but there are others who believe that the world is really not that old. Human existence has taken its toll upon many great researchers who have searched to understand human ancestry. It is only right to include the Book of Genesis when one speaks of human existence, seeing that God created man and woman (Adam and Eve). The idea of human evolution only evokes the scientific mind of Charles Darwin and the theme of his work, biological evolution. Many scientists have challenged his theory, but some have learned to accept it. From the Homo habilis to the rise of the Homo sapiens, and even the Australopithecus, scientists have learned a great deal about human existence. But yet, there is still a gap, a “missing link”, which bridges that gap between ape and man that so many researchers have yet to find.
The trellis theory argues that Homo sapiens came from the means of Homo erectus that took place i...
Over the last few hundred years, more and more has been added to the world’s fossil collection, fossils from all over the world. New theories have been created and old theories have almost been proven about the evolution of man. For example, we have proof that different species of man existed with certain types of DNA sequences and instincts, some we may not have anymore, or some that other species did not have back then. Even though it is subjected to much debate, one of the most widely accepted theories however, is that Homo sapiens interbred with the slightly more primitive species of man, the Neanderthal.
Africa is filled with several hundred distinct tribes that all bear themselves in a different fashion, depending on each other, or even fighting each to get what they want. This exchange between the many tribes has resulted in a rich history of conflict, economic development, and culture. One small example of the possible hundreds of tribes is the Mossi tribe, who reside right at the border of sub- Saharan Africa, in Burkina Faso and also the second largest ethnic group in Cote D'ivoire . While a relatively small tribe compared to the likes of the Zulus or the Dinka, their tribe is made up of roughly 3.5 million people, which is still quite a large number.The Mossi are neighboring the people of the Dogon, Kurumba, Gourmantche,Gurunsi, Bisa,Dagomba, and Sisala tribes. The Mossi have an official language called More, pronounced Moray, that is spoken by the them and most of the population of Burkina Faso, as well as about 60,000 people in Togo and Mali. Like many African languages, More uses pitch to distinguish the meaning of words and phrases. Their political was very closely connected with their religion, so as the Muslim religion began to spread throughout Africa, they resisted conversion to the religion even as most of the tribes around them accepted the religion. This may be why there are some Muslim influences within Mossi society. As Africa was being colonized by Europeans, the Mossi were one of the last tribes to be colonized, and when French colonists conquered them in 1896-97, taxes were imposed that impelled many of the Mossi to move to Cote D'ivoire to earn money. While they did not leave their families behind, many Mossi men went south to Cote D'ivoire in between crop-growing seasons and would return with the money th...
One of the most commonly asked questions in Anthropology is: "Where did humans come from?" There are many answers to this question such as: "Aliens"; "The Primordial Soup"; "An Intelligent Designer"; or a mixture of the ones listed. However, the two predominate theories are Literal Creationism and Theistic Evolution. Literal Creationism is the literal twenty four-hour, six-day view of Creation. Theistic Evolution is the theory that states God created the fundamental framework for humans and creatures to live, and then the evolutionary process took over to form life. **Tell about how paper defends Literal Creationism**
One of ancient Africa’s wealthiest kingdoms, Mali, traded with other kingdoms which introduced new ideas and ways of life advancing their civilization. This is an example of how African empires, kingdoms, and cities were advanced civilizations bringing in new ideas and ways of life before the arrival of Europeans. Ancient Africa was able to advance their cultures by their government, trade, and education without the introduction of ideas from the Europeans.
West African Kingdoms It is generally accepted by scholars and scientists today that Africa is the original home of man. One of the most tragic misconceptions of historical thought has been the belief that Black Africa had no history before European colonization. Whites foster the image of Africa as a barbarous and savage continent torn by tribal warfare for centuries. It was a common assumption of nineteenth-century European and American Whites - promoted by the deliberate cultivation of pseudoscientific racism - that Africans were inferior to Whites and were devoid of any trace of civilization or culture.
Under this definition, we are in some ways the last of our kind, though without doubt the most prolific. Yet it does beg the question of what was it exactly that changed us from “upright-walking primates” and turned us into the “wise man” of today. Some Anthropologists argue it is the formation and use of complex tools – except further research has shown all primates and even some other species grasp the concept of making and using tools. Others say it is our capacity for higher, rational thought – except current research into other non-primate species is showing again and again a grasp of abstraction and other cognitive capacities we formerly believed were the domain of humanity alone. So, now, the researchers’ theories have reached further into the abstract. Perhaps it is our capacity, our need, to believe in something; to possess a mythology, a history beyond history, to explain our existence and the existence of the world around us. Our concepts of symbolism, a belief in a spirit world and those people who have the ability to ...
The African empires, kingdoms, and cities had many achievements before the arrival of the Europeans. Some of these achievements had influences many other places in the world. Three major achievements were the trading systems, their military forces and strengths of its people, and the wealth and success.
Prior to the arrival of European traders, the continent of Africa had developed sophisticated society as it demonstrated its ability to maintain advanced civilizations, withhold three major empires, and gain wealth through trade. Although European traders did advance organized society in Africa, it would be false to say that prior to their arrival Africa was underdeveloped.
One way of examining the values and traditions of a people is to look at their explanations for how the world came to be. These stories make such wonderful tools for analysis because all cultures have some sort of ‘creation’ story. Thus to compare groups of people we may start by looking at their creation mythology. It is important to note that the downfall of comparing mythologies is that in a way it is like comparing apples to oranges. This is because not every myth portrays and explains the same elements.
Brief History From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern: the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art of the cuisine so treasured and carefully transmitted to their daughters has become part of the great culinary classics of these lands. But seldom are the African blacks given that recognition.
The human archaeological record is a long and undefined story that may be the most complex question researched today. One of the big questions in human history is the disappearance of the Neanderthal people from the archaeological record around 30,000 BP. While for thousands of years Neanderthals and Anatomically modern humans crossed paths and perhaps lived in close relations, we have yet to really understand the degree to which they lived together. My hypothesis is that these two hominids, Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans, interbred exchanging genes after Modern Humans dispersed from Africa and creating like cultures and material remains. The differences between Neanderthal and Modern humans are not only physical but also genetically evolved and this research will determine an estimated amount of admixture between the two groups.
In Africa, there were achievements in the empires or kingdoms and their cities before the Europeans arrived and took control. In the Kingdom (Empire) of Axum they developed a trade route. In the Kingdom of Ghana they had characteristics of powerful nations today. In the city of Timbuktu they had great morals and developed the center of Islamic Art. There are many other things that Africa achieved in.
When it comes to the African continent we could say that we've heard a lot and nothing at the same time, this is because the history of Africa is barely starting to be written and we are somehow ignorant to the great wonders of this huge and vast continent. Its large and magnificent empires, kings and queens that ruled for generations, centuries at times and also is host of spectacular ruins scattered widely throughout the continent, but even with all these wonderful things that this continent offers to this day there are those who say, and think that Africa is a continent without history, culture and has offered nothing to the world in any form or manner. Africa has always been seen and perceived as the dark continent, this because Europeans claimed and saw the Africans as people without culture, progress and because they were different Europeans concluded that the continent was plunged into a dark age and this is where the term "dark continent" comes from. Africa has always been a source of debate in terms of culture, technology, economy, and in every way you can imagine, it has been labeled as the dark continent from centuries ago just for not being at the forefront as the other continents and although it not called in this way anymore there are still people who think of Africa in the same way. Oyebade argues:
The evidence for human evolution begins with the australopithecines. All the australopithecines were bipedal and therefore possible hominines. In details of their teeth, jaws, and brain size, however, they modify enough among themselves to be divided into five species: Australopithecus anamensis, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A. robustus, and A. boisei. Genus Homo are also divided in five different spices: Homo erectus, H. habilis, H. sapiens, and H. sapiens sapiens.
The Scramble for Africa was a period of time where major European countries fought over and colonized land in Africa, stretching from South Africa to Egypt. The scramble for Africa began shortly after the slave trade, and ended at WW1, and is a strong representation of the ‘New Imperialism’. The first country to act was Belgium, who colonized Congo at 1885, but soon, other countries such as Portugal and Great Britain joined in in order to not miss out. Firstly, the European could not colonize Africa easily, due to Africa’s giant land mass and the diseases that spread throughout the land. But then, came the Steam train, Maxim guns and new cures for diseases that paved the way for the Europeans to control Africa. Since one of the reasons Europeans wanted to colonize Africa was that they wanted to ‘civilize’ the people, the leader of Germany, Otto Von Bismarck, decide that they have a conference to split the land and not fight each other. Soon, in 1914, nearly all African countries were colonized by Europeans except for Ethiopia and Liberia. Different countries had different styles of colonization. For example, France was less eager to let the African chiefs take control of their colonies than Britain, who set up a African Government to their colonies. Basically, the scramble for Africa was a period of time when European countries colonized Africa.