King of the Zulu Tribe, Shaka: Great Leader or Bloodthirsty Tyrant?

King Kamehameha was a successful leader because he was smart. King was smart because he saw what the foreigners and then he did it to be on the same page and all

Haour, A. (2005). Power and permanence in precolonial Africa: A case study from the Central Sahel. World Archaeology, 37(4), 552-565. Retrieved from the JSTOR

Through direct rule, the foreign rulers helped the country assimilate into a stronger, more sophisticated government. The former monarchs were replaced with foreign leaders trained to lead the nation into a more successful system. The process of modernization began as well as the development of a true democracy (Spielvogel and McTighe 236). A document describing a war between Rhodesia and South Africa demonstrates how this system was being used. The document was written by the Umkhonto we Sizwe or the military wing of the African National Congress describing that they were at war (Document 10). It can then be inferred that the Congress was making decisions for the country, in the way a democracy does. This also demonstrates the influence that Western culture had on the African people because a Congress was established and used to help run the country, instead of the traditional monarchy. Another example is how African people were eligible to run for office in the French National Assembly. This gave the people the opportunity to serve their country as some high powered positions became filled by people of African descent (Spielvogel and McTighe 235). Through this introduction, the population had adopted to their new lifestyles and began to thrive, no longer feeling as though foreign leaders were needed to help run the

Imagine you have just completed a trip through the early kingdoms and city-states of East, Central, and South Africa. Your family and friends ask you about the trip. Your task is to give them an oral history of your experience. You may choose to write your account, record it, or make a video. Remember, your family and friends will share your story and pass it on to future generations, like oral historians in Africa. Make it fascinating! No one wants to hear a boring story.

The world is changing, and with that, the Maasai must change. The governments of Kenya and Tanzania do not support the Maasai lifestyle and have come close to causing the traditions to completely dwindle away. The Maasai used to have free reign in their area of the East Africa, but land allocation has interfered with this freedom (“Maasai”). There is still so much that can be learned from the Maasai, and as we continue to study their culture, we can begin to truly understand the warriors of the

Regardless on Lee’s expressed neutrality in The Great Kalahari Debate his book has been prompted to the front lines of the clash between traditionalists and revisionists. Being used as the poster book for the traditionalist side Lee obviously demonstrates the holistic approach by stating that no one “had bothered to systematically ask the Ju people themselves for their views of their own history.”(Lee 2003: 213) This attitude combined with the extensive amount of time spent doing fieldwork

Africa, a majestic country, with abundance of natural resources and have one of the most advanced civilization that took place along the Nile river from 3,000BCE, was a peaceful continent. Thousands of tribes in Africa developed their own rich and distinctive languages, cultures, and religions from one another. Among all the tribes, “Zulu” was the most well-known tribe consisting 22% of the 45 million South Africans, formally established in the early 19th century in KwaZulu-Natal province, which is along the Indian Ocean; northeastern part of current Africa. Just like all the tribes, Zulu always thanked the mother nature and treated their environment with mindful care and dignity. The subtropical climate and fertile plains of KwaZulu-Natal province enabled Zulu members to cultivate bountiful crops and fruits. Every year, they celebrated numerous traditional festivals, but far most interesting one

The Zulu king, King Cetshwayo, refused to accept the British rule. The Zulu fought hard against their oppressors, and almost succeed in their goal to get their land back from the British, despite their lack of modern weaponry. In 1879, the Zulu lost the Battle of Ulundi, and important battle against the British. In 1887, the British finally gained complete control of the Zulu nation. In the northern parts of South Africa, the Boers blamed their problems on the British.

The African empires developed societal and political structures that improved its functionality. Songhai was under the rule of Sunni Ali until his death where Askia Muhammed Toure became king after leading a revolt against Ali’s son. He expanded the empire greatly until it extended northward, westward, and eastward to trading cities. Notably, Toure improved the political and societal structure of his empire. He opted for a centralized administration, and organized a bureaucracy. A centralized administration created power and organization to the Songhai empire, allowing it to function efficiently. Additionally, a bureaucracy assisted in regulating trade. The regulation of trade allows for the empire the flourish and increase in wealth. Also, Africans organized their societies around the family unit much like how Askia Muhammed Toure replaced the chiefs with members of his family (Khan Academy). Similarly, the kingdom of Ghana showed characteristics of political and societal structure as recorded in Through African Eyes. The excerpt states that, “It possessed… social organization that ensured justice and efficient political control, a strong army equipped with advanced weapons, and a foreign policy that led to peace and cooperation with other people.” (Document 3). Through Arab sources, Ghana is mentioned having a king and officials who surrounded the throne (Time Maps). Many of these characteristics are evident of advanced civilization and modern political and

During their take over, the Zulu nation fought against them because the only thing the Europeans wanted was their ivory and their men for slavery. They fought and won the first battle, but with the British weaponry, they were defeated and taken over by the British in the second battle.

too much power could lead to abuses. So they kept government under control by dividing the

The Bantu stopped migrating during the first century CE and started to form complex government for the settled villages they already had. Stateless societies are forms of government that are not run by a hierarchy, but rather through family or kinship groups. The start of these family based government systems influenced the development of villages, districts, city-states, and small and large kingdoms. The Swahili tribe originating off of the eastern cost of Sub-Saharan Africa was a prime example of Bantu government. Being Bantu themselves, the Swahili show how the Bantu spread not only government, but also societies as a whole. Just as the Bantus' influence on developing Africa, kinship groups, or family based governing systems, started out small and eventually grew into massive kingdoms ruling and influencing entire regions. As in many other places throughout the world, kingdoms brought a need for protection from neighboring regions. The Bantu seeded the beginnings of African societies, along with starting military development and growth throughout southern Africa.

The rise and ultimate expansion of the Mutapa State owed in part to the decline of Great Zimbabwe. According to oral traditions, Nyatsimba Mutota migrated from the declining Great Zimbabwe and began his conquests of the Korekore and Tavara of the Dande and Chidema areas It has been claimed t...hat his victims were so impressed by his military exploits that they nicknamed him Mwene Mutapa, ‘owner of conquered lands’ or ‘master pillager’, hence the birth of the Mutapa dynasty. He then embarked on an expansionist policy that resulted in the creation of a vast Mutapa empire which stretched from the Zambezi valley into the Mozambique

Whatever the exact nature of the various African ethnogenesis processes, the states gaining independence were populated by groups which had differing loyalties. This scenario would fall foul of many theories of the state, in which the absence of the coherent link between the population and the power structure of the state calls it into question. Ethnic cleavages has been a factor in many of the numerous coups d'etat and armed conflicts throughout Africa, as rival groups see the power of state apparatus as a prize worth fighting for(Warner 2001, p89).

I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.