History of Africa 1450-1900

The Great Zimbabwe (Late 15th Century)

Mar 11, 1490

This was a site of stone infrastructures that housed up to 18,000 people. The kingdom of Zimbabwe stretched from the Swahili domain to southern Africa. Zimbabwe kings controlled trade and organized resources like gold and ivory.

Social & Political Effects of the Slave Trade (1500-1800)

Mar 11, 1500

In Africa, the shipping of enslaved people left a damaging effect. Millions of individuals were removed from African society by Atlantic and Islamic slave trades. This changed gender ratios because men were often sold into slavery. This often influenced polygamy because of higher ratios of women in Africa. African states like Dahomey took oppurtunity of the slave trade to acquire firearms and expand.

Triangular Trade & The Middle Passage (1500-1800)

Mar 11, 1500

In the triangular trade, Europeans exchanged their guns and manufactured goods for African slaves, These guns in Africa propelled more enslavement of Africans. Africans sold into slavery were often shipped to the Americas. During this middle passage, slaves were crammed together and 1/4 did not survive the abusive journey.

Decline of Swahili Empire

Mar 8, 1505

The decline of the Swahili entity was influenced by portuquese disruption of trade patterns. Vasco de Gama's expeditions disruped Swahili society. In an attempt to control trade centers like Mozambique and Malindi, the Portuguese distorted Swahili trade patterns and Swahili society could never recover. This reflects imperialist motives for economic expansion by European powers on Africa.

Kongo Conversion to Christianity (1506-1542)

Mar 8, 1506

Christianity was embraced by the Kongo as a a result of Portuguese interaction. Powerful motives of this relgious zeal were that it solidified friendly diplomacy and trade wih Portugal, justified monarchical authority, and the saint veneration paralleled traditional African spirit worship. Christianity also rooted a myriad of churches in the capital Mbanza or "Kongo of the Bell."

Fall of Songhay Empire

Mar 8, 1591

The Songhay empire was the last of the great west African sovereigns to dominate the grasslands. Sunni Ali expanded his empire and trade routes like Gao were important. Deeply rooted in Islamic values, Songhay society traded with Musilm merchants. The Songhay collapse was influenced by foreiign military technology (muskets weilded by Morrocans) and internal destruction (people rebelled against Songhay administration.) This engendered small regional kingdoms who later traded with Europeans.

Reign of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo (1623-1663)

Mar 8, 1626

Queen Nzinga adamantly led the resistance to Portuguese imperialism in the Congo. She planned to expel the Portuguese and then the Dutch of her empire and then expand it to the lower Congo basin. She slowed down Portugese influnce but her death allowed them to colonize Angola. Queen Nzinga's efforts reflect the rare occuence of a woman figure to lead a powerful movement for an empire.

Dutch East Indian Trading Company

Apr 6, 1652

Establishment by the Dutch East India Company of the first European settlement at the Cape under Jan van Riebeeck. It functioned as a supply town ships on their journey to Asia. It also reflected the start of European makets and imperialism in Africa.

Antonian Movement

Mar 8, 1704

This was a syncretic religious cult conceived by Dona Beatriz who rooted Christianity in favor of Africans and argued the Kongo was the holy land. St. Anthony was the popular Portuguese saint that she claimed to have possesed her. This movement disrupted Christian missionaries in the Kongo, and King Pedro IV rejected the movement. This was met with resistance by the Antonians. It reflects their need to craft the Christain religion to meet their needs.

Haitian Revolution 1793-1804

Mar 8, 1793

Letter from Thomas JeffersonFrom 1793-1804 was slave rebellion, This rebellion was the only successful rebellion. It terrified slave owners and gave other slaves hope. In the French sugar colony of Saint- Domingue. They declared independence from France and renamed the land Haiti.

Abolition of Slavery in South Africa

Mar 8, 1833

When the British eliminated South African slavery, white farmers lost their dependency to slave labor. Also, Afrikaners migrated from Cape Colony farms to other parts of Africa. The defeated African peoples like the Zulus. They formed independent republics like the Republic of Natal or the Orange Free State.

Henry Morton Stanely establishes the Congo Free State (1865-1909)

Mar 8, 1865

Belgium's King Leopold II employed Henry Morton to to develop a colony in the Congo. Because Belgium was not as powerful as other European sovereigns, the area was proclaimed to be open for free European trade. However, it became a Belgian colony with rubber plantations and abusive slave labor that often inhumanely tortured Africans. This incited humanitarian reactions. It also positioned a European prescence near Egypt.

Berlin West African Conference 1884-1885

Mar 8, 1884

This conference set the ground rules of the European colonization in Africa. European sovereigns and the U.S. had equal oppurtunities to control parts of Africa. This implies the imperialist fervor to dominate Africa. Because no Africans were represented in the conference, it conveys the unfair deal that engendered the scramble for Africa. By 1900, most of Africa was under European control except Ethiopia and Liberia.

South African Boer War 1899-1902

Mar 8, 1899

Primary SourceThe war lasted from 1899 to 1902. The Boer war was a dispute between the Boer Republic and the British Empire who were trying to impose their imperial rule. The British changed their indirect policy when they discovered diamond and gold deposits. The war pitted British against Afrikaners with Africans on both sides. In the end, the British gained the dominion and settled disputes by giving white colonists higher priveleges.

Maji Maji Rebellion 1905-1906

Mar 8, 1905

When German imperialism threatened Tanganyika, a rebellion was organized that utilized magic water to liquify fired bullets on the African society. This strategy proved ineffective as the Germans suffered no casualties, but they slaughtered the entire Tanganyikan army, This reflects the unfair advantage that European imperialists had militarilly over African mobilization.