Download Syllabus: Africa to 1800

Africa and the World: Prehistory to 1800
I. Course Description
Popular wisdom often depicts Africa and Africans as victims of European aggression and
domination. Recent scholarship, however, reveals a much more cosmopolitan and international
Africa, one composed of complex political entities and engaged with the rest of the world across
the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean. While some historians separate
Africa into components, treating North Africa as a separate entity, this course considers Africa in
its entirety, from the Mediterranean Sea in the North to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean in the east
(including Madagascar), and the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The course will halt at 1800 as
European expansion ushers in the colonial era, the subject of the next course in this sequence.
II. Course Objectives
1. Examine the history of Africa in breadth, depth, and context
2. Develop and apply analytical and critical thinking skills to historical topics
3. Understand the historical relationship of Africa with the rest of the world, beginning in the
pre-historical period
4. Develop an understanding of the historiographic landscape dealing with early African history
5. Comprehend and analyze the potential utility of anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, oral
tradition, and oral history in developing an understanding of early African history
6. Demonstrate the ability to communicate opinions and analyses effectively, both verbally and
in writing
III. Textbooks and Materials.
Ehret, Christopher. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Charlottesville, VA:
University of Virginia Press, 2002.
Lovejoy, Paul. Transformations in Slavery, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2000.
Thornton, John. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800, 2nd ed.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
7th Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Vansina, Jan. Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in
Equatorial Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990.
Articles/book excerpts posted on course blackboard site
IV. Graded Work
Graded events include:
Event
Critical Book Review
Mid-term Examination
Research Paper
Participation
Final Exam
COURSE TOTAL
Lesson Due
12
14
29
All
TBD
Points
100 (17%)
100 (17%)
150 (25%)
100 (17%)
150 (25%)
600
A. Critical Book Review (Due Lesson 12)
1. This assignment requires that you select a book (see the list below) and prepare a critical
review of between 1200 and 1800 words. You will sign up for your review the first week of
class. If you would like to review a book not listed below, please talk to me first to ensure it is
appropriate. The paper must be completed in Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style method; double
spaced; Times New Roman; 12-pitch font; and have one inch margins all around. I will look at
rough drafts up to one full lesson prior to the due date if you have questions about format,
sources, approaches and style.
A critical book review is not a book report or a summary. It is basically an analysis paper
in which you point out strengths and weaknesses of the material, and how it helps in
understanding the content of your course. Below is a general outline to assist in your paper:
Introduction: Bibliographical information, selection’s topic, author and author’s background.
Questions to ask:
 Who is this author? Is he or she considered an expert in this topic?
 Does the author’s background, time, or place affect the conclusions reached? Do you find
an obvious bias?
 What is the author’s point of view or frame of reference (usually found in the
introduction or opening paragraphs)?
Selection’s thesis and specific examples from the text.
Questions to ask:
 What is the author’s major hypothesis; what’s the purpose for writing this book – what’s
the hook?
 What are the most important pieces of evidence to support it?
Your (and/or other reviewers’) objections/contrary views. Cite two other reviews of the book in
your paper (if available, depending on age of the work).
Consider reviews published in any peer-reviewed historical, sociological, anthropological, or
geographic journal. See me or a reference librarian for more specific guidance.
Questions to ask:
 What types of sources does the author use? Primary or secondary? Are the sources
reliable?
 Does the author’s conclusions and interpretations logically follow from the evidence?
 Are there other works on the same or a similar topic?
 Does any of the author’s information (or conclusion) conflict with other books you’ve
read, courses you’ve taken or just previous assumptions you had of the subject?
 How does this book fit into a larger conversation or historiography?
Conclusion: Selection’s impact on you and other potential readers.
Questions to ask:
 Evaluate the book overall. What, if anything, did the book contribute to general
knowledge and understanding of the subject matter?
 What were the book’s main highpoints and shortcomings? Why?
Potential Books for Review
Bay, Edna G. Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of
Dahomey. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998.
Boubacar, Barry. Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1998.
Cassanelli, Lee. The Shaping of Somali Society. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1982.
Connah, Graham. African Civilization: Precolonial Cities and States in Tropical Africa, an
Archaeological Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
_____________. African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perspective. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Cook, F. Weston. The Hundred Years War for Morocco: Gunpowder and the Military
Revolution in the Early Modern Muslim World. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.
Constable, Olivia R. Trade and Traders in Muslim Spain: The Commercial Realignment of the
Iberian Peninsula, 900-1500. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Curtin, Philip. Economic Change in Precolonial Africa: Senegambia in the Era of the Slave
Trade. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1975.
de Corse, Christopher. An Archaeology of Elmina: Africans and Europeans on the Gold Coast,
1400-1900. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.
Ehret, Christopher. An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History,
1000 B.C. to A.D. 400. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998.
Fage, J.D. A History of Africa, 4th ed. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Fields-Black, Edda. Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008.
Herbert, Eugenia. Red Gold of Africa: Copper in Precolonial History and Culture. Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1984.
Hilton, Anne. The Kingdom of Kongo. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.
Mann, Kristin. Slavery and the Birth of an African City: Lagos, 1760-1900. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2007.
Manning, Patrick. Slavery and African Life. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1990.
McIntosh, Roderick J. The Peoples of the Middle Niger. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
Meillassoux, Claude. The Anthropology of Slavery: The Womb of Iron and Gold, trans. Alide
Dasnois. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Pouwells, Randall. Horn and Crescent: Cultural Change and Traditional Islam on the
East African Coast, 800-1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Schiedel, Walter. Death on the Nile: Disease and the Demography of Roman Egypt. Boston:
Brill, 2001.
Schoenbrun, David. A Green Place, A Good Place. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998.
Shinnie, P.L. Ancient Nubia. New York: Kegan Paul International, 1996.
Spaulding, Jay. The Heroic Age of Sinnar. East Lansing: African Studies Center,
Michigan State University, 1985.
Spencer, William. Algiers in the Age of the Corsairs. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma
Press, 1976.
Vansina, Jan. How Societies are Born: Governance in West Central Africa before 1600.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2004.
Welsby, Derek. The Kingdom of Kush. London: British Museum Press, 1996.
Wright, Donald R. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa. New York: Sharpe, 1997.
B. Mid-term examination
As with most exams, this will consist of a combination of multiple choice, matching and
identification, short answer, and essay questions. It is designed to gauge your conceptual grasp
of the material; you must be able to identify specific persons, places, and ideas in order to fully
understand and/or analyze an historical period.
C. Research Paper
This paper is intended to provide a research outlet for individual student interests. The
completed paper should run between 3500 and 5000 words. It should be analytical, not
descriptive, containing a solid thesis and a strong evidentiary base. This paper should reference
at least ten sources, at least two of which should be primary sources. You may use no more than
four legitimate historiographical sites, such as JSTOR, EBSCO Host, official government
agencies, or sites ending that in “.mil”, or “.gov.” The paper must be double spaced; Times New
Roman; 12-pitch font; and have one inch margins all around. I will look at rough drafts up until
seven days prior to the paper’s due date. Please see the list below for topic suggestions, but note
this list is not intended to be all-inclusive—you should exercise your mind in developing a topic
that is both realistic and of interest to you.
Strength of anthropology as a mode of inquiry for pre-historical Africa
The power and limitations of orality as a means of interrogating the history of Africa
Trade routes – movements of people, goods, ideas, and their effects on culture and society
The place of kinship in African political entities
The arrival of Islam
Interregional connections – economic links, political alliances, intermarriage
Islands and their ties to the main continent – economic, political, cultural, social
The Mediterranean and European links
Pre-colonial economic relationships across the Indian Ocean
Ecology and the impact of environment – deserts, forests, savannahs
Slavery, personal relations, and political stability
Slaves as political actors
The Maghreb and mysticism
Religion and African empires
Marabouts, mystics, and qaids: African Islamic governance
Military service in African or European kingdoms
Pre-colonial racism
The intra-African slave trade
Conflict and accord: agrarian and nomadic/pastoral societies
Christianity in pre-colonial Africa
Women and matrilineal or patrilineal societies
Commercial production and exchange in Africa
D. Participation
This course is conducted as a seminar. Consequently, it depends on the participation of each
enrolled student. Each person has a vital contribution to make to discussion; it is not the
place of the instructor or of a select group of students to lead or dominate the room. I will
evaluate each student on the quality of participation, as opposed to pure quantity. While a
seminar is a forum for discussion and the sounding-out of ideas, it is also a place of learning.
Class time is not the moment to engage in random ramblings of social happenings or illformed thoughts. As with your writing, you should carefully choose your words for their
ability to convey, with great precision and economy, your critical analysis of the topic at
hand. While I will provide a topic baseline for discussion, I expect students to govern the
flow and speed of conversation.
E. Final Examination
While longer, this examination will rely on the same format as the mid-term examination. It will
focus on the second-half of the course. However, that does not mean students should dump all
knowledge and insight gained prior to the mid-point. Rather, your success on the final
examination will hinge on your ability to offer thematic ties across time periods, geographic
regions, and people in much the same way the French Empire as historical topic operates.
V. Course Structure
This course generally moves along in a chronological fashion, although the scope of the empire
at times makes moves across geography (while remaining in roughly the same place in the
chronology) necessary. Block I focuses on the pre-history of Africa, calling on archaeological,
linguistic, and oral sources. Block II centers on North Africa as a place of contact across the
Sahara, Mediterranean, and Nile in the medieval and early modern periods. Block III includes
discussion of the contact of Africa with Europe on the continent and at sea. Finally, Block IV
specifically examines African slavery and its place in understanding kinship, social structure, and
economic forms.
Week
Lesson
Subject
1
1
Introduction
1
2
2
3
3
2
3
4
5
6
4
4
7
8
5
5
9
10
Assignment
Sarah A. Tishkoff, et al, “The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and
African-Americans,” Science 324, 1035 (2009): 1035-43
Block I: Africa Before the Common Era
Before Agriculture
Christopher Ehret, The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800, 26-58
The Emergence of Agrarian Society
Ehret, 59-106
Distinction in the Sweep of African Development
Ehret, 107-158
Commerce and the Place of Africa in the World
Ehret, 159-237
Interlude: Central Africa as Case Study
Jan Vansina, Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in
Equatorial Africa, 35-101
Central Africa: Social and Political Forms
Vansina, 101-166
Central Africa: The Arrival of Europeans
Vansina, 197-266
Block II: North Africa on the Pre-Modern World Stage
Migration and Contact, North and West Africa
Ehret, 238-289
Interconnection and Trade across the Sahara
James A. Miller, “Trading Through Islam: The Interconnections of Sijilmasa,
6
11
6
12
7
13
7
14
8
8
15
16
9
17
9
18
10
10
11
11
19
20
21
22
12
23
12
13
13
14
24
25
26
27
14
15
15
28
29
30
Ghana and the Almoravid Movement,” in North Africa, Islam and the
Mediterranean World: From the Almoravids to the Algerian War, ed. Julia ClancySmith, 29-58
The Expansion of Islam
Ronald A. Messier, “Re-thinking the Almoravids, Re-thinking Ibn Khaldun,” in
Julia Clancy-Smith, ed., op cit, 59-80
Connections to the Middle East
Mohamed El Mansour, “Maghribis in the Mashriq during the Modern Period:
Representations of the Other within the World of Islam,” in Julia Clancy-Smith,
ed., op cit, 81-104
The Place of Morocco
Amira K. Bennison, “Liminal States: Morocco and the Iberian Frontier between the
Twelfth and Nineteenth Centuries,” in Julia Clancy-Smith, ed., op cit, 11-28
None – Review Notes
Mid-Term Examination
Block III: Distinction and Contact with Europe
Overview: Africa in the World
Ehret, 349-406
First Contact: de Gama and the African Role
David Northrup, “Vasco de Gama and Africa: An Era of Mutual Discovery, 14981800,” Journal of World History 9, 2 (1998): 189-211
Imagining Africa: Europeans and the Experience of
Jeremy Prestholdt, “Portugese Conceptual Categories and the ‘Other’ Encounter on
Contact
the Swahili Coast,” Journal of Asian and African Studies 36, 4 (2001): 383-406
Africans in the Atlantic
John K. Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 14001800, 13-71
Atlantic Colonies: The Place of Africans
Thornton, 129-82
Cultural Formation across the Atlantic
Thornton, 183-234
Cultural Conflict and Resistance
Thornton, 235-303
A Land Apart: Political and Linguistic Development N. Thomas Hakansson, “Rulers and Rainmakers in Precolonial South Pare,
in the Eighteenth Century
Tanzania: Exchange and Ritual Experts in Political Centralization,” Ethnology 37,
3 (1998): 263-83; Pier M. Larson, “Malagasy at the Mascarenes: Publishing in a
Servile Vernacular before the French Revolution,” Comparative Studies in Society
and History 49, 3 (2007): 582-610
Block IV: The African System of Slavery
An Old Institution
Paul E. Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa, 1-23;
Chapurukha M. Kusimba, “Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa,” The African
Archaeological Review 21, 2 (2004): 59-88
Growth of Slavery, 1400-1600
Lovejoy, 24-45
Exporting Slaves
Lovejoy, 46-67
Political Conflict and Enslavement
Lovejoy, 68-90
Case Study: Slavery in Morocco
Chouki el Hamel, “’Race,’ Slavery, and Islam in Maghribi Mediterranean Thought:
The Question of the Haratin in Morocco,” The Journal of North African Studies 7,
3 (2002): 29-52
Trading in Slaves
Lovejoy, 91-111
Slavery and Economic Transformation
Lovejoy, 112-139
Course Conclusion and Review
None – Review Notes
VI. Course Administration
1. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is a serious academic and professional issue. Broadly defined,
plagiarism is the failure to give credit in your paper for the original ideas advanced by other
writers. Be certain to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing by carefully consulting your
instructor and course materials in order to ensure proper documentation. Bear in mind that
instructors have the right to award no credit for an assignment that they believe to be
intellectually dishonest.
2. Textbook Policy: This course requires reading in a number of books viewed as important to
the field. I highly recommend you own each of these books, all of which are on sale at the
bookstore. You are expected to complete the reading, regardless of ownership, and to have the
text available for discussion during course meetings.
3. Paper Policy: Students are not allowed to pass in the same paper for two different courses.
Students may write papers on the same topic for different courses, but there should be no
more than 25% commonality between papers. Each paper should include substantially
different bibliographies and footnotes that reflect significant additional research.
4. Instructor Conferences: I will be available Monday through Friday for consultation; an
appointment is highly recommended. If you make an appointment and cannot keep it, notify
your instructor as early as possible but always prior to the appointed time.
5. Absences from Class: If you miss a class, you must check with a classmate or your instructor
to see what was discussed or assigned. Your instructor is NOT responsible for notifying you that
you missed important notices or significant course material. You should arrange to take any
required make-up exams within 24 hours of your return. If hospitalized, contact me so that we
can arrange a plan for you to complete work.
6. Cell Phone Usage: All phones should be off during the class meeting. You should not answer,
speak on, or receive/send texts with your cell phone while we are meeting. I will deal with
violations of this rule on a case-by-case basis.
7. Laptop Usage: You are permitted to use a laptop during class SOLELY for the purpose of
taking notes. You should not use the time in class for facebook, twitter, e-mail, or any other nonacademic purpose. Any violations will result in the immediate cessation of computer use.