Thursday, February 14, 2019

Nineteenth Century & Regional Diversity

This coming week we will look at different regions of Africa in the period just before full scale European colonization in Africans, chapter 8 on Tuesday. On Thursday we will discuss the important classic, Things Fall Apart.  Lucky for us, we have a nice long rainy weekend to put our feet up with a good book!

Check out this map (it is particularly pertinent for this chapter).


Reading Questions for Africans, Chapter 8:
  • Northern Africa: What was the chief reason for demographic stagnation? 
  • How did Muhammed Ali change Egypt? What did the British do about it? 
  • What did a strong Egypt mean for the Sudan?
  • What was notable about Ethiopia in this period?
  • Why did the French invade Algeria? What were the initial effects of the conquest?
  • How did attempts to modernize effect Tunisia and Morocco?
  • The West African Savanna: This was a period of political fragmentation but huge growth in what?
  • What was the most important event in nineteenth-century West Africa?
  • Why was the Sokoto Caliphate able to endure?
  • What made Hausaland the most prosperous region in tropical Africa?
  • How did slavery there contrast with South African estate slavery?
  • Southern Africa: Who created a large Zulu kingdom, and how did he do it? 
  • In contrast, how did the Sotho-Tswana people overcome segmentation? How did they resist white aggression?
  • How was the Lesotho kingdom created?
  • Why did the Britain introduce 5000 British settlers into the Eastern Cape in 1820?
  • What was the "Great Trek"? 
  • What is "Cape liberalism"?
  • How did the Africans view missionaries? What about the Zulu king?
  • What may have aided growth in South Africa?
  • How did the discovery of diamonds change the political situation?
  • Eastern Africa: What role did the Oman play in East Africa and what effect did it have on Swahili culture? 
  • What were the main imports and exports, and how were they transported?
  • Why did Livingstone say that eastern Africa was the open sore of the world?
  • What beneficial effects did long-distance trade have?
  • What was most responsible for population decline?
  • What was the context for the ensuing colonial rule of Africa?

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