Current ethnic groups of Africa
Roger M McCoy
Prior to the migration of Europeans in to Africa in the eighteenth century, Africa had many different societies with well-developed cultures and powerful kingdoms, e.g. Mali, Benin, and Songhai in Western Africa during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, plus many sites along the lower parts of the Nile River, e.g Egypt, beginning around 3400 BCE. All these societies were connected by trade networks. These early cultures ranged from complex empires to tribal villages and nomadic groups.
The earliest and best known was the Egyptian Kingdom along the lower Nile River. This civilization began around 3400 BCE and is famous for the construction of pyramids. Following the decline of Egypt the Kingdom of Kush arose about 1070 BCE along the Nile River south of Egypt, approximately where Sudan is today. This kingdom became wealthy by trading its resources of iron and gold.
The Nile River was essential to this region because it supported agriculture with its annual flooding that irrigated the land and revitalized the soil. As with any river, some years the flood was too large and cause great damage and other years it might be too small. These unregulated flooding cycles were eventually brought under control when Egypt built the Aswan Dam in 1960.
Farther south in the Horn of Africa, the Kingdom of Axum subdued Kush around 350 AD and became the major trading center. The Kingdom of Kush lasted about 1400 years.
On the Mediterranean coast the Phoenicians were a major power in the area which is now called Lebanon and Syria. Sailing over the Mediterranean Sea, they established the city-state of Carthage, which dominated a large area on the north coast of Africa, and also some small regions of Southern Spain.
Other major kingdoms in Africa included the Bantu Kingdom between 3000 BCE and 500 CE. The Bantu people migrated across Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa bringing a lasting presence of their language and culture.
In West Africa the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai emerged around 1400 CE. All these groups thrived for many years based on their networks of trade. East Africa developed powerful city-states such as Mogadishu and Mombasa based on trade with markets in Arabia. These early empires gradually faded.
Many hunter-gatherer tribes lived in the interior regions such as the Congo River basin. These groups were a primary target for capture as slaves by other empires. The enslavement of the Congo Basin people was managed by the Arab populations in North Africa. Estimates show that the total number of black slaves moved from central Africa to the Arab regions of north Africa ranged from six to ten million. Other estimates show that at least seven million crossed the Sahara Desert until the nineteenth century when the slave trade was finally ended.
Slave trade to the western hemisphere brought about eleven million slaves from Africa to the Americas. The majority went to South America and the Caribbean, while about 470,000 were brought to the United States until 1808 when the legal importation of slaves ended. Keep in mind this change did not end slavery in the U.S.A., just the importation. The Emancipation Proclamation, signed on Jan 1, 1863, was the official end of legal slavery in the United States but some states were slow to comply. The last state to comply with the end of slavery was Texas on June 19th, 1865, when Federal troops went to Galveston and forced the release of 250,000 people still held as slaves. June 19th became known as Juneteenth, and in 2021 it was declared a national holiday.
Sources
Derived from Britannica: Transatlantic slave trade
Derived from Wikipedia: Africa
Derived from Wikipedia: Early Egyptian agriculture
Prior to the migration of Europeans in to Africa in the eighteenth century, Africa had many different societies with well-developed cultures and powerful kingdoms, e.g. Mali, Benin, and Songhai in Western Africa during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, plus many sites along the lower parts of the Nile River, e.g Egypt, beginning around 3400 BCE. All these societies were connected by trade networks. These early cultures ranged from complex empires to tribal villages and nomadic groups.
The earliest and best known was the Egyptian Kingdom along the lower Nile River. This civilization began around 3400 BCE and is famous for the construction of pyramids. Following the decline of Egypt the Kingdom of Kush arose about 1070 BCE along the Nile River south of Egypt, approximately where Sudan is today. This kingdom became wealthy by trading its resources of iron and gold.
The Nile River was essential to this region because it supported agriculture with its annual flooding that irrigated the land and revitalized the soil. As with any river, some years the flood was too large and cause great damage and other years it might be too small. These unregulated flooding cycles were eventually brought under control when Egypt built the Aswan Dam in 1960.
Farther south in the Horn of Africa, the Kingdom of Axum subdued Kush around 350 AD and became the major trading center. The Kingdom of Kush lasted about 1400 years.
On the Mediterranean coast the Phoenicians were a major power in the area which is now called Lebanon and Syria. Sailing over the Mediterranean Sea, they established the city-state of Carthage, which dominated a large area on the north coast of Africa, and also some small regions of Southern Spain.
Other major kingdoms in Africa included the Bantu Kingdom between 3000 BCE and 500 CE. The Bantu people migrated across Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa bringing a lasting presence of their language and culture.
In West Africa the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai emerged around 1400 CE. All these groups thrived for many years based on their networks of trade. East Africa developed powerful city-states such as Mogadishu and Mombasa based on trade with markets in Arabia. These early empires gradually faded.
Many hunter-gatherer tribes lived in the interior regions such as the Congo River basin. These groups were a primary target for capture as slaves by other empires. The enslavement of the Congo Basin people was managed by the Arab populations in North Africa. Estimates show that the total number of black slaves moved from central Africa to the Arab regions of north Africa ranged from six to ten million. Other estimates show that at least seven million crossed the Sahara Desert until the nineteenth century when the slave trade was finally ended.
Slave trade to the western hemisphere brought about eleven million slaves from Africa to the Americas. The majority went to South America and the Caribbean, while about 470,000 were brought to the United States until 1808 when the legal importation of slaves ended. Keep in mind this change did not end slavery in the U.S.A., just the importation. The Emancipation Proclamation, signed on Jan 1, 1863, was the official end of legal slavery in the United States but some states were slow to comply. The last state to comply with the end of slavery was Texas on June 19th, 1865, when Federal troops went to Galveston and forced the release of 250,000 people still held as slaves. June 19th became known as Juneteenth, and in 2021 it was declared a national holiday.
Sources
Derived from Britannica: Transatlantic slave trade
Derived from Wikipedia: Africa
Derived from Wikipedia: Early Egyptian agriculture
