West African Inventions

The years between the 1870’s and 1910’s brought a tremendous amount of change to Africa. This time period, known as the Scramble for Africa, was when Europeans invaded and colonized the African continent. Europeans at the time were much more technologically advanced than the natives because of the many revolutions that took place in Europe. Thus, they were for the most part very successful in their colonization; they were able to take over the entire continent, save Ethiopia. During and after this period of colonization, Europeans were as present and powerful as they’d ever been, thus inflicting their unfamiliar practices and ideas on societies in Africa. Even though Europe brought over their foreign knowledge and technology (like guns), they

Africans knew how to grow rice, tend to cattle, harvest the naval stores (tar, pitch and turpentine) and lumber from the forests.This all led to great trading with Barbados and England. This cash crop system and increasing plantation land increased and continued to need for more

Africa, like many other continents, was a very tremendous and a very diverse civilization that is very complicated to introduce due to all its wonderful but also diverse features and beliefs. From the differences between its society and language to its religion and politics, Africa always had the reputation that its empires, cities, and kingdoms never progressed in the developments and achievements for their civilization. Many people believed that the Europeans were actually the cause of Africa’s achievements and advanced developments for their civilizations. However, this is further than the whole truth. Before the arrival of the Europeans between the 15th and 16th century, African kingdoms, empires, and cities had many achievements and accomplishments

The Chinese had what is called the Chinese Four Great Inventions to offer the West. These are paper making, printing, gunpowder and the compass. It is easy to see how significant these were in history and the world’s development. Many of these items were first discovered in China but revolutionized in the West. Let’s first discuss paper. Paper was originally made from fishnet, bark and cloth. A paper factory was setup by the Arabs who captured some paper makers in a war between the Tang

However, for the sake of this essay, I am going to focus on Islam, its introduction, its practice, and its role in the lives of West Africans in the 8th through 15th centuries. With that being said, historians date the arrival of Islam in West Africa to roughly the 8th century C.E. Islamic scholars who had come from Arabia, through the Savannah, began to write about the history of West Africa and the role their religion played [1]. With the spread of Islam came the expansion of trade routes spanning across the continent. Along these commercial highways, Islamic culture fostered intellectual development and innovation never before known in West Africa. With this philosophical and theological expansion came increased literacy among native peoples and thirst for knowledge that resonated among West Africans for centuries. In short, Islam and its practice had just as much of an effect on the material world of West Africans as it did their intellectual

Have you ever wondered where some of the things we use every day come from? Well, everything around us from the roads, the calendars, to the columns on the White House are ancient inventions that we use everyday. Ancient civilizations from the Eastern Hemisphere have invented these items. Some of the inventions that they made change our daily lives. Three inventions that impact our lives today are architecture, the calendar, and the roads invented by Romans.

Trade was an important achievement to Africa, especially Aksum. Aksum, one of Africa’s major trading cities, is a justification for Africa’s achievements. Its site is near important trade routes such as the Red Sea, the Nile River, and the Gulf of Aden made it a key international trading center (Doc 1). Another important city of trade was Kilwa. Kilwa controlled the trade overseas between Africa because of location near the coast. (Doc 8)

Technological advancements were one of the main driving forces that encouraged and enabled European imperialism in Africa. Most countries in Europe had just finished or were in the midst of industrial revolutions. Industrial revolutions brought many new factory techniques and supplies to Europe that were an advantage to countries that wanted to colonize others. Document C provides a list

Africa accomplished great feats, but some of the most historical ones are from the trade throughout Africa, Political Status, and culture in Africa. Trade in Africa thrived in the Kingdom of Aksum, known as Ethiopia today, as African traders used their nautical skills to reach nearby lands to trade goods and ideas. The Kingdom of Aksum was located in a unique location where it thrived in multiple trade routes. This unique location of, “Aksum reached its height between 325 and 360 A.D.” (Doc 1).

In Africa, there were achievements in the empires and their cities before the Europeans arrived and maintained control. In the Kingdom of Ghana they had characteristics of powerful nations today and made fortunes due to the gold and salt trade. In the city of Timbuktu they had great stories, and developed the center of Art. There are also many other things that Africa achieved in.

Europeans had many technological advancements. Although the development of the steam engine was their most powerful force for imperialism. The “steam engines powered ships and railroads” creating a more efficient way of trading resources (Doc C). All European industries benefited from the African resources. The industries benefited the most from was “French West Africa” because they exported everything from oils to cotton (Doc D).

They sometimes even used the Nile for trade. “The Nile river flows south to north against a prevailing northerly wind” (The DBQ Project pg. 63). Since the Nile flows south to north against the northerly winds, they normally used sails and rowers to get a boost from the wind while traveling upriver. During flood season, the current is about 4 knots, but during the rest of the year, it was a sluggish 1 knot. If they were traveling downriver, they usually just floated along with the help of steering oars.

The changes in African life during the slave trade era form an important element in the economic and technological development of Africa. Although the Atlantic slave trade had a negative effect on both the economy and technology, it is important to understand that slavery was not a new concept to Africa. In fact, internal slavery existed in Africa for many years. Slaves included war captives, the kidnapped, adulterers, and other criminals and outcasts. However, the number of persons held in slavery in Africa, was very small, since no economic or social system had developed for exploiting them (Manning 97). The new system-Atlantic slave trade-became quite different from the early African slavery. The

After the Europeans began to colonize Africa, they saw great results rather quickly. European influence had caused the opening of many lumber, mining,and planting corporations, as well as

To begin with, the rise in oceanic trading during this time period had a direct and profound impact on Africa. Though this was not the first time in history that the world’s oceans were used to trade with Africa, there was seen a tremendous rise in both the trade’s significance and volume. Note that this increase in trade was not as prevalent on Africa’s interior as it was on coastal Africa, which includes the coastlines of the continent that touch the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. (Getz, 25) The use of the Mediterranean Sea was the main catalyst for the “cosmopolitanization” of Mediterranean Africa for many