Final IDs Flashcards
Liberia
A specific country that was created to be the “dumping area” for freed slaves to be returned to after the abolition of slavery. This was significant because it was a highly contested political move by Black Americans who viewed themselves as Americans due to building the U.S. with their labor as enslaved peoples.
1807
The British parliament declares the oceanic slave trade illegal for all British citizens. However, Britain still provided banking services to slave traders. 1807 was significant because it marked a turning point in the slave trade where it began to decline, however it still took a very long time for it to eradicate completely.
Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade
1820
The United States abolished Atlantic Slave Trade in 1820 by classifying participation as piracy, punishable by death. The American Colonization Society also founded Liberia as a Freed slaves’ colony. The American Abolition of the slave trade in 1820 was significant because it was the end of the brutal transport of slaves to the Americas and began the transition of labor in the Americas.
Golden stool
Part of the Ashanti state, the Golden Stool was a physical object, supposedly descended from heaven to Osei Tutu (chief of the Oyoko clan). The stool represented the basic socio-political charter of the state and was used in the Odwira ceremony of purification. It was significant because it served as the symbol
and soul of the Ashanti nation.
Atlantic slave trade
Originated from high labor demand from the Americas and Caribbean and ramped up most in 1505 by the export of slaves to Americas by Spain and Portugal. English, Dutch, and French joined in the 1630s, having slaves work on sugar, coffee, tobacco, and cotton plantations. Most slaves ended up in the Caribbean and lower Americas rather than the US with over 800,000 Africans brought to Jamaica over 200 years. Slaves were sourced via war, stateless societies, indebtedness, manipulation of the legal system. Slaves were transported via the Middle Passage with almost 1⁄4 dying during the journey and eventually being sold for 2-4x the purchase price. The slave trade was significant because it marked the darkest period in human history and its economic, social, racial, and cultural ramifications are still being felt.
1515
1515 was the first direct shipment of Africans to the Caribbean – and of Caribbean sugar to Europe. It marked the beginning of a trade crossroads that would consume hundreds of thousands of slaves.
Transformation thesis
Theory that explains how slavery in Africa changed over time due to internal and external influences. Internally, slavery in Africa changed because no longer needed a system of dependency based on kinship. Externally, slavery in Africa changed because of the export of human bodies. Significant because it shows that Africa was not a passive party in slavery but also had an active role in shaping it, from the beginnings of the sub-Saharan trade to the AST to the 19th century when it was ‘declining.’
Eric Williams
Williams wrote Capitalism and Slavery (1943), a book on how economic motives drove slavery. Found that the accumulated capital from slave trade and plantations drove the Industrial Revolution with a return on investment 6% than other profitable ventures. The trade continued as long as it was profitable which is why it eventually ended when industrial capitalism turned slavery into an economic liability. Significant because it provides evidence for the economic rationale behind slavery and explains why
it eventually ended.
Ashanti
The Ashanti were one of the oldest (1670) and most enduring African pre-colonial states, strategically located at a crossroads of trade and production in modern-day Ghana. They had early contact with Europeans. Emerged via competition between three powerful Akan chiefdoms: Denkyira, Akwamu and Akyem, with Denkyira hegemony prevailing. Highly centralized, efficient, with highly organized finance establishments. Demise (1902) due to internal conflicts and British pressures. Significant because they were a symbol of a strong pre-colonial state that was ruined by European colonialism.
Miers-Kopytoff theory
A theory that saw African slavery as an “institution of marginality” that incorporated outsiders into society via “fictive kinship”. The degree of integration a slave had with their host family was indicative of their status. This theory postulated a moral economy where different categories of slaves were entitled to different rights. This theory was significant because it attempted to distinguish aspects of American and African slavery, important to understanding why the consequences of American slavery were much more severe.
African slavery
The status of African slavery prior to the Atlantic slave trade has been debated–Europeans believed slavery was ubiquitous anyway and a benign form of dependency. Scholars disagree over the nature, meaning, and universality of slavery. Some say it was not primarily economic in Africa and could be for kinship groups, to build armies, or for prestige. Understanding African slavery is significant to distinguishing the slave trade and what was already occurring in the continent.
Sundiata
The Epic of Sundiata tells the story of Sundiata, the founder of the Mali empire in the 13th century. Though initially weak and exiled, he returns to unite the 12 kingdoms. He is significant because his story serves as the origin for the Mali empire and subsequent national identity.
Bala Fasseke
In the Epic of Sundiata, Bala Fasseke is the first griot (storyteller) and advised Sundiata at the direction of his father. He is significant because he began the lasting traditions of griots which have played an important role in oral tradition, history and identity.
Zulu
The Zulu kingdom was created and united by Shaka in 1816. Its strategically placed regimental towns helped forge a common
Zulu identity to overcome ethnic conflict. The reign was marked by state-building, destruction, famine, and transformation of political and martial traditions. Zulu was significant because a unique Zulu identity emerged, which is now claimed by over 8 million South Africans.
Affonso I
Affonso I of the Kongo kingdom (1506-1543) was a devout Catholic and in favor of acculturation to European culture. He enforced assimilation and Christianization. He was significant for his role in developing the Kongo kingdom and spreading Christianity.
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson was a Yoruba historian in the 19th century who documented the history of the Yoruba people, solidified the Yoruba identity, and served as a missionary. He’s significant for the lasting understanding he’s provided of Yoruba culture.
Kola nut
A type of caffeinated nut that is eaten at festivals, social gatherings, and used to socialize others. It is a stimulant that keeps people awake. The kola nut is also given as an invitation to other people to special events, such as weddings. Imported from West Africa as early as the 13th Century. Known as a “social good.” There is an entire trade surrounding kola nuts.
Oduduwa
Oduduwa (11th or 12th century) was the first Oni (king) of Ife and ancestor of all Yoruba kings and son of God. His descendents dispersed to form the Yoruba kingdoms (Oyo, Ketu, Benin). He is significant for starting the Yoruba empire through his lineage.
Kongo
The Kongo (1390) was a highly centralized and strong state that made a conscious attempt at Western cultural assimilation. They were heavily impacted by the Portuguese and devastated by Atlantic Slave Trade. Kingdom fell in 1568 to the Jaga and was gradually conquested by the Portuguese. Kongo was significant because it foreshadowed the impact of Europe on Africa and Europe’s drive for economic exploitation.
Alafin
The king of Oyo (northern Yorubaland). The kingship had supreme judicial authority, sacred personage (appeared in person 3 times a year), approved chief nominations, decided major national policies, and theoretically had absolute power. The Alafin was significant because the concentration of power in the position was a contributing factor to the decline of the Oyo empire.
Oyo Empire
A West African empire that started from being at the intersection of long-distance trade roads. Dependent on horses. Had a king, the Alafin, and was dependent later upon the slave trade for its economy by selling out prisoners of war. The British abolition of the slave trade in 1807 cut off Oyo’s most important trade, and the Alafin became overly powerful.
Dhow
A type of ship along Swahili coast that facilitated trade across the Indian Ocean. When the Portuguese circumvented the African coast, they learned from Swahili models of the dhow for the maritime revolution. Meant that trade went Eastward, not Westward. The culture of the area was mixed with Arab, Persian, and African peoples.
Swahili
City-states along East Africa’s coast, thriving from Indian Ocean trade. The Swahili people played a central role in regional and global commerce.
Orishas
Spirits in West African/Yoruba voodoo. Significant because this religion was transferred over to the Caribbean during the AST, as seen in voodoo and branches of other W. African religions.
