Tag Archives: history

British colonization of the US and Uganda

The terms, colonization, is originally derived from the latin ‘colere’ signifying to ‘ to inhabit, cultivate, protect’ another group of humans, thus to colonize would naturally signify to guard another people.

As a matter of fact, only a few countries in early and modern history such as Japan, Thailand, Iran, Liberia and Korea amongst a dozen have never been fully colonized at any point in their history.

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The Great United States, “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave” was once under the rule of other nations. Having begun in 1492 with a Spanish expedition, directed by Christopher Columbus, the colonization of the Americas lasted until late 1700’s. During that time frame, European, more specifically British settlers made several attempts to colonize the Eastern coast of the “New World” we now know as the US.

 As the United States gained their freedom from the hands of the Europeans, many countries across the globe were experiencing the same fate post Slave Trade. In 1884-1886, the “scramble for Africa”, or the ‘”conquest of Africa” emerged as the timeframe where European settlers truly established themselves as strict colonists within the African continent. Within the space of 20 years, 90 percent of Africa became occupied.

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At the time, the Kingdom of Buganda was one of the major political structures in the area we now know as Uganda. Although the presence of Arab traders seeking ivory and slaves had been in the region prior to the Europeans, notably the British invasion, it was not until 1888 that the English reluctantly considered East Africa and more specifically thus the Bugandan region as a colonial interest.

In 1894 The Brtish government declared a protectorate over Bugandan, separating numerous ethnic groups, especially the Bantu in the south from the Acholi and Langi in the North. In 1895, it associates Kenya forming the East Africa Protectorate.

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WWII became a turning point for the invisibility of the European colonists. As Britain dwelled in bankruptcy, African nationalism emerged and the Ugandan population straightened in political power. Having exposed many civilians through military travels abroad, young educated Ugandans and the Bugandan kingdom hunted for the freedom of their people.

In 1962, Uganda was granted autonomy. Ugandan politician Milton Obote, founder of the Uganda’s People Congress, becomes prime Minister and negotiates the official terms of the Constitution when the nation becomes fully independent in October 1962.

Both The United States and Uganda have experienced England take control of their land, labour and livelihood.

However past evidence shows that the level of severity and inhumane actions against Ugandans were absolutely dispicable.

In a recent article from the Guardian, it was shown that “thousands of documents detailing some of the most shameful acts and crimes committed during the final years of the British empire were systematically destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of post-independence governments.”

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 The notes included multiple genocides, purges and other abominable acts against the colonized societies, including Uganda. It was believed the genocide of Bunyoro reduced a 2.5 million population to a mere 150,000 Ugandan.

Even though colonization is no longer, England unquestionably left an indelible mark on it’s colonies.

The United States became the single most ruthless nation to participate in the human slave trade, leading to decades and generations of imported black slaves. It was only in the middle of the 20th century, with the Civil Rights Movement, that racial equality emerged.

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As for Uganda, Britain turned into its’ “motherland”. From the English language and customs to their clothing and culture, Ugandans were brainwashed with the idea of a utopian British lifestyle. Moreover, It’s swift euphoric moment of independence only marked the beginning of a long chain of civil wars. British powered warlords such as Idi Amin, led the country into a full decade of absolute terror and a significant economic downfall.

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Hatred between the North and the South ethnic groups instilled during the British Protectorate’s “divide and rule” technique, promoted conflict amongst ethnic violence. Forceful religious association, singularly Christianity had to be practiced during colonization, resulted into a major spiritual belief.

Although obvious mass exploitations for Uganda’s resources has ceased, it is not unfathomable that an underground “New Scramble for Africa” can be detected through fake foundations, tax havens, money laundering from foreign banks, multi national companies, food systems and more. From 1970 an estimated 845 billion dollars has been “lost”. In the words of George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

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Sources:

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/European_colonization_of_the_Americas.html

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ad22

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?gtrack=pthc&ParagraphID=oqm#oqm

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/britain-destroyed-records-colonial-crimes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/7139493/Ugandans-sue-Britain-over-colonial-era-crimes.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-22362831

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw12KGSj53k

Colonization and Slavery

AFR110- Blog Post #4- History or Colonization

In the 1600s, Great Britain began in Jamestown, Virginia with their colonization of America.  The British colonization of the Americas caused disturbance through military force, cultural manipulation and the introduction of diseases. The indigenous civilizations, even with their fast and furious warrior class, was no match for the colonial-style warfare of the British. However, trade remained an important part of the relationship between the natives and the British. The Americas remained colonized by the British until the American Revolutionary War, which ended in 1783.

Similarly to the Americas, the Europeans interest in Africa began in the late 18th century. Christian missionaries helped to spread Christianity and formal colonial conquest. Great Britain abolished the slave trade, but the transition from slave trade to commerce trade was not smooth for Africans. The Europeans thrived and their influence increased. By the 1900s, only Liberia and Ethiopia were not colonized. France and Britain colonized most of Africa. But Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, and Italy also participated in the colonization.

In the 19th century, the Europeans developed a great interest in Cameroon. The coastal region of feared that the more interior regions would start direct trading with the Europeans, which would weaken the coast’s power intermediary status. The chiefs of the coastal regions wanted to strike a deal with the British. But Britain’s delay to send a representative to compromise with Cameroon forced the chiefs to turn to Germany instead. Despite the diversity of the ethnic groups with distinct cultures, histories, and governments, and traditions, Germany colonized present-day Cameroon as Kamerun. Germany’s intent was to build the colony’s infrastructure and combine its rule by expanding into the interior and taking control of tribal strongholds. Germany’s plan was falling into place, until their defeat in World War 1 stopped any plans Germany may have had for the colony. Germany had to surrender its oversea colonies. France assumed control of 80% of the colony, while Britain gained the remainder. French and British rule of Cameroon lasted until after World War 2.

By definition is a system under which people are treated as property. Slaves can be bought, sold, and traded. Slaves can be held from the time of their capture, purchase or birth.  Slaves are deprived of the right to leave, option to work, and/or deprived compensation. Slavery is wrong, no matter who is being enslaved. Nobody deserves to be taken as collateral. The treatment of enslaved people was horrendous. No person has the authority to dictate another person’s action. Africans were enslaved and used throughout centuries. Africans should have never relied on slavery as a form of commerce. A person has never, and will never have equal value to any tangible goods. Colonization is like enslaving an entire area. Colonization settles a group and establishes political control over it. Europeans, and others who colonized, believed that they were more powerful therefore gaining the right to take possession of any area. Forcing the native civilizations of an area to merge takes away from the culture and uniqueness of the region. Individuals lose their identity from being colonized. Using violence, guns, and other weapons as a way to intimidate civilizations to comply with rules of colonization is unfair. Everybody has a decision on how to live their life, having that decision stripped from you due to colonization is not right. Even when nations thought they were helping, they left regions in a poor state; often in poverty, famine, and war. The Scramble for Africa should have never taken place. Whether the colonizing country was peaceful or violent, no country should be granted the right to seize and restrict a region. Europeans crippled the rich native African civilizations for their own political and economic gain. No matter the reason, no intelligence, knowledge, or technology permits one country to be able to overtake another.

Colonization: A Sad Comparison

Many have heard the phrase “in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” in reference to the discovery of North America and subsequent colonization. It seems like an innocent child’s rhyme, recited to foster memorization of our country’s history. Sadly however, the process of colonization of the Americas by European countries is anything but innocent. Not only did European countries colonize America, they also had a heavy hand in the colonization of Africa. Two beautiful countries with amazing potential, savagely ruled because of greed and a thirst for power. Slavery also was a huge factor with founders exploiting both Native Americans and Africans and the negative effects are still being dealt with in today’s society with inequality being a continuous fight.

The three g’s that governed the exploration and later colonization of the Americas I believe also had an affect on what was happening in Africa though with slight variance. They are: God, Glory and Gold. Religion played a huge role in that the European countries believed (wanted to believe) that what they were doing in these parts of the world was governed and blessed by God. God would have wanted them to bring life and love and Jesus to these poor heathens who probably have never even heard of the bible. Countless actions were excused on behalf of bringing the Christian faith to these “naïve” people of the world. Now I am a Christian myself and this greatly saddens me because at its core, these explorers and conquerors of the land were committing acts that fostered inequality in the name of religion.

During the time of colonization in the Americas the second g “Glory” was quite important to those countries investing in the exploration. To obtain pieces of land, establish a new sector of trading, and be known to other parts of the world that you have lived and conquered, all fall into the category of glory. Countries such a France, Brittan and Spain saw Africa and the Americas as parcels of land waiting to be divided and thrived in. Wars were fought, treaties were signed and lives were lost often times with little respect for the native inhabitants. Why should their needs, desires and customs matter? These countries believed that no matter what African’s and Native Americans original methods of living were, theirs would be better, stronger, and more civilized.

The third g “Gold” was also a huge factor in colonization. In this world and throughout history, there is one thing to be counted on: people’s love of wealth. The pilgrims traded the Native Americans beads and other worthless trinkets for knowledge of the land and other life-saving information/tools that they had no way of providing for themselves. As discussed in class, Africa was sought after for jewels, gold and other goods. When a country is discovered to have goods worth trading, suddenly the value and desire for parts of that land skyrocket. Countries began to carve away at the rich country of Africa, all seeking personal gains for their own economies with little heed to what would become of the societies they were pillaging.

As a person who is of both Native and African American decent I cannot help but feel overwhelming remorse for the suffering of my ancestors. While colonization of the Americas and Africa did bring about definition of the nations that we know and love today, it went hand-in-hand with the crushing of economies and the spirits of those natives who were expected to follow willingly into a life of despair and pain. Those hurtful actions are still being seen in our society today in fights for equality and reparation for past grievances. The toil of those who went before us is not to be soon forgotten as it can still be seen all around us.

Modern Africa & America

When you think of history you remind yourself of the past. Countries throughout the world 100% of the time have gone through a period that has changed the course of a nation. Both Africa and the United States are fairly similar in how they became nations. Starting with Africa it was ruled by the British, between the 1870s and 1900, Africa faced European imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and eventual conquest and colonization. At the same time, African societies put up various forms of resistance against the attempt to colonize their countries and impose foreign domination. By the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, had been colonized by European powers. The Europeans pushed Africa into 3 sections they were political, social, and economic. They were motivated to stabilize Africa and make it contend with other providences.

Many other factors played an important role in the process. The political process that derived from the impact of the European power struggles and competition for territory. Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain were competing for power within European power politics. One way to show national preeminence was through the acquisition of territories around the world, including Africa. The social factor was the third major element. As a result of industrialization, major social problems grew in Europe: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, social displacement from rural areas, etc. These social problems developed partly because not all people could be absorbed by the new capitalist industries. One way to resolve this problem was to acquire colonies and export this “surplus population.” This led to the establishment of settler-colonies in Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, and central African areas like Zimbabwe and Zambia. Eventually the overriding economic factors led to the colonization of other parts of Africa.

In the beginning of United States colonial era they were 13 original colonies. The Colonial America Time Period covers the time in early American history from 1607 to 1776 during Colonial Times and the events leading up to the American Revolutionary War and the establishment of the constitution. During this period of Colonialism the colonists and settlers arrived from Europe looking for religious freedom, land and the opportunity for wealth. The newcomers were governed by the laws of the European homelands which eventually led to dissension, anger and rebellion during the Colonial America Time Period and the creation of the new nation of the Unites States of America.

Slavery was a difficult time in american history. It was mostly in the south that slavery was at it highest of the peek. The British who owned the colonies after the Native Americans founded it first were the ones who had killed thousands upon thousands of slaves for their satisfaction and gain. I just don’t understand why there was even slavery in the first place and why did the Europeans did  not like blacks back then. People today are very blessed and fortunate that we did not live in those times because it was not have been pretty.

Imperialism occurs when a strong nation takes over a weaker nation or region and dominates its economic, political, and cultural life. In this case Africa was dominated mainly by also the british settlers. Imperialism and slavery are some what connected to currents events today in one case this year the Ferguson, Missouri incident or the Trayvon Martin where both of these young men were killed over nonsense. Was it because it was a race issue possibly and strongly? I think that even though we have come a long way from the 1950’s to 1960’s  there are still events like in recent years that makes me think why are citizens still behaving this way and for what purpose. It is better to love than to hate because with love there would even be slavery or imperialism and that would change the world.

“Ancient” Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is a relatively young country, only forming after breaking away from the United Kingdom’s rule in 1961.  However, the area that Sierra Leone now occupies has been home to indigenous people for over 2500 years.  The people in this region were isolated from other indigenous people of Africa however, because of the dense surrounding tropical rainforests.  This created a unique civilization that was unexposed to outside forces unlike other African cultures, such as the spread of Islamic religion. Outside contacts did not interact with the people of Sierra Leone until 1462 when a Portuguese explorer landed near the area now known as Freetown, mapping the surrounding mountains giving them the name Serra Lyoa. At this time the area was inhabited by several groups of native people such as he Bulom, Loko, Temne and Limba.  These groups were politically independent from one another but would interact to trade goods and such.  The most powerful and well known of these groups are the Temne people. The most well known of the Temne was Farma Tami. He was a great warrior and is regarded by the Temne people as their founder. He is said to have organised the TemneFarma Tami into strong kingdoms and established their importance in the country. According to tradition, Farma Tami came from the east with a great army, conquering and destroying all opposition in his advance, until he reached the estuary of the Rokel River. He established his capital in what is now Koya Chiefdom at the town of Robaga, near modern Freetown. Temne elders say that Farma Tami ruled when there were still no guns or swords—only spears, shields, knives and bows and arrows.

The port at Freetown became very important later in history because it would serve as a large port for transporting and moving slaves from Africa to Europe and the Americas. Sierra Leone began to mold into the country it has become today when in 1787 a group of 331 people — made up mostly by freed slaves from Great Britain — were moved to Freetown to start a new civilization. However, the idea did not work out as planned as most of the voyagers died within the first year.  Several years later though,  a group of more than 1000 freed slaves from the Americas travel to Sierra Leone and begin new lives in what will become known as Freetown.  Over the next couple decades more and more freed slaves along with others will join in the new developing city and slowly turn Sierra Leone into what it is today.

When I was searching for info about Sierra Leone there was little to nothing about “ancient” Sierra Leone.  I think there are several factors that lead to this problem. One, there just were not many people living in the area that would come to be known as Sierra Leone.  There were not enough people to create substantial civilizations, just small tribes and villages scattered across the diverse landscape.  These people left behind little evidence of what their lives were like and this leads to my next point. Two, because the scarcity of people in these times and the even more scarce artifacts of their civilization that they left behind people just do not put the effort or money into researching about these people.  They would rather focus on things that are very well known and heavily researches such as the Egyptian pyramids.  These artifacts fascinate people because that’s what they grew up learning about and hearing about, not the small villages in the little rainforests of Sierra Leone.

 

Rwanda’s History of People

King Kigeri IV Rwabugili was the ruler of the Kingdom of Rwanda from 1853 to 1895. He was of Tutsi descent, and is known for being the most powerful king to rule during this time period. He was also the first King in Rwanda’s history to come into contact with Europeans. His interests lied heavily in the military, and chose to establish an army equipped with guns in order to forbid foreigners from entering his kingdom.

The people that settled in this region were a mixture of the Tutsi and Hutu clans. The relationships between them was not of perfect equality, but were also not particularly problematic either. The Hutu occupied the majority of the population, covering around 82-85%. They were mostly poor peasants who were thought to possess healing power and agricultural skills. On the other hand, the Tutsi were known to reign over the Hutu- being mainly compromised of upper class individuals or those of noble standing. Intermarriage played a part in bringing the two groups together. Through intermarriage, it was possible to change from a Hutu into a Tutsi and vise versa. Intermarriage also allowed both groups to be able to sometimes come to a mutually beneficial agreement through trade and hold power in the other clan’s decision making. Within the royal court, there were ceremonial roles for both the Hutu and Tutsi clans. Strangely enough, peoples at the time believed that the main distinction between the Hutu and Tutsi was only ethnicity, rather than their obvious differences in their populations socioeconomic standing.

Throughout time, the Tutsi King Mwami Rwaburgiri made the decision to centralize power by distributing land among individuals rather than allowing it to be passed down through lineage groups. This proved as a disadvantage to the Hutu chiefs because much of their land was passed down through lineage, and individually they were not chosen to occupy land. King Rwaburgiri then imposed the patronage system, which allowed Tutsi chiefs to demand manual labor in return for the right for Hutus to occupy their land.

Rwaburgiri played a huge part in transforming Rwanda into an expansionist state. He did not believe that ethnic identifies held any importance, and instead decided to label all conquered people as “Hutu.” This abolished the Hutus socially and politically, and helped to create the idea that the names Hutu and Tutsi were a socioeconomic distinction rather than ethnic. Rwaburgiri believed that one could kwihutura, or “shed Hutuness” by accumulating wealth and rising through the social hierarchy.

To be honest, I felt extremely strained while writing this entire blog. There was not much information about pre-colonial Rwanda available, and the information that I found was contradicting and vague. I am still uncertain as to how a kingdom was borne to Rwanda, or around what time a hierarchy emerged. Whenever I would try to piece together a timeline, I would find information that proved my previous invalid. I tried to find articles that mentioned religion or language, but had no luck. I suppose this could be due to an extreme lack of documentation- for oral was the chief medium in that era.

The Kingdom of Kush

Looking back into the history of Sudan and it’s great people, one can’t truly appreciate the realm and privileges of the country’s being and existence without comprehending it’s establishments and rises.. The name of the country alone represents it’s beings who inhabited the land.

Unknown-1“Sudan” translated to the Arabic meaning of land of the black people. By the 6th century, the country was Christianized, then with existence dating back to c. 650, Islamization of the land arose between the eight and nineteenth century. During this time, men lived in political unity among the four-thousand mile “Valley of the Nile.” Prehistorically speaking, many evolutions of the land began extraordinarily before such era.

The Neolithic people first inhibited the land and survived on prehistoric materials. Living in villages of huts composed of mud and brick, conditions were less luxurious than expected. Food resulted from anything collected during hunting or fishing along the river. Grain was collected and agriculture rose for the people of the Nile river valley.

imagesTrade was a large aspect of the developing years of Sudan. The Egyptians would compose deals of agriculture material, such as grains, with the land of Kush for stones, incense, etc. When Egyptians began seeking a more permanent trading area, they decided for travel forts protecting the trade of gold, which was very valued to the mines in Wawat. Gold and slave trades were amongst the pharaoh’s control.

Mansa_MusaEgypt then felt more power over the area and pharaoh Ahmose arose the New Kingdom from c. 1570-1100 BC. During which time the extent of control contained Kush until the fourth cataract. The Egyptian soldiers expected devotion is exchange for respect and commitment from chiefs and kids over the pharaoh’s people.

A language was established within the community which was used in all aspects of work, socializing, and living for the people once settled into the area. The temples of hard work and time were used for the religious worship of Christianity until diminishing after the 6th century.

Although generic information concerning the history and evolution of Sudan exist amongst the Internet in scatters, there isn’t much online or physical history to the land. I strongly believe because the history of Egypt and the Nile is so widely known and recognized, the country sitting on the other side isn’t taken into consideration or mentioned. The history was never a violent once, aside from the assumed slavery and pharaoh ruling that existed in a majority of the surrounding countries at such time. I believe although somewhat generic and peaceful, the land of Sudan be more recognized for it’s beauty and graciousness to surrounding countries and rise than be left in the dust as such.

Pre-colonial Cameroon

Cameroon has always had ethnic diversity; dating back to about 8000 BC when the Baka people migrated to the modern-day borders of the country. By 200 BC, there was an arrival of Bantu-speaking people into the southern and eastern areas of the country. The Bantu-speaking people drove the Bakas off fertile land and into the nearby forests. In the 1500s, the Mandara kingdom inhabited the Mandara Mountains. During this time, Arabic and Hamitic migrants began to settle in the northern regions of the country. Several notable civilizations grew in the north surrounding the Chad basin, including the Karem, Bournou, and Sou people. At the beginning of the 15th century, the northern ethic groups were joined by the pastoral nomadic Islamist Fulani group who, by the 18th century, had established a strong presence in the region. The Fulani took over the northern region until about the 19th century. Europeans first arrive in Cameroon in the 15th century, when Fernando Po, a Portuguese explorer, led a voyage of explorers up the Wouri River. There was an abundance of shrimp in the Wouri River, because of this Po named the river Rio dos Camaroes (River of the Prawns). ‘Camaroes’ forms the base of the name Cameroon.

Trade was a great advancement which the used to everybody’s advantage. Po’s arrival in Cameroon was the beginning of a 400-year trading relationship between the Portuguese and local African chiefs, who were primarily from Douala, Limbé, and Bonaberi. The Portuguese and African’s trade consisted of slaves, food, and goods. Eventually, the trade came to include the British, French, Dutch, and German. Malaria and other tropical diseases restricted European presence in the coastal regions until the late 1870s, when large supplies of the malaria suppressant, quinine, became available. The African-Euro trade increased the prominence of the coastal kingdoms, until the pre-existing Bornou Empire was taken over. The powerful kingdoms were the coastal regions and the Fulani stronghold in the north. By the end of the 18th century, the Fulani had grown so powerful by merging and conquering or ejecting the non-Muslim population. The Fulani proceeded to establish a slave trade that allowed them to hold their power. While the end of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade caused the southern ethnic groups to trade gold and ivory in return for the European’s guns, metals, alcohol, and cloth. The ethnic groups in the south made rewarding profits from their trade with the Europeans, mostly because of their role as the “middleman” in the exchanges. Christian mission groups began to establish a presence in the late 19th century and still play a role in the country.

I found this information about ancient history of Cameroon on the Internet. There was not sufficient information found on any one site, so I had to cross reference all my sources. I also contacted some of my cousins in Cameroon to ask them about what aspects of Cameroonian history they knew and learned in school. I do not think there is sufficient documentation throughout history.

Rich Ancient History of S.A!!

South African Image

Through the eyes of South Africa you wouldn’t expect anything less different other than what you see or hear when you explore this country. The Ancient History behind this country for myself is very much gratifying to learn more about.  This section of South Africa allows one to climb the most ancient rocks on earth, walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs, and discover the very emergence of humankind. During the pre-colonial period of Southern Africa’s history, the first rocks were formed around four billion years ago that cooled the earth that laid the foundation for South Africa. Amongst the oldest are found along the Greenstone Belt stretching from northern KwaZulu-Natal to the Soutpansberg Mountains in Limpopo Province. It was about two billion years ago that in this part of the country that a massive meteorite hit what is now known as the Vredefort Dome, a World heritage site near the free state town of Parys. Thankfully this was not the end of the cataclysmic ancient history of South Africa.

South Africa has ties to one particular kingdom. This kingdom is know as the Zulu Kingdom. At the end of the 18th century, all over the south part Africa small tribal groups were combining into larger communities. This was by no means a peaceful process, but the result of protracted wars. The rise of the Zulu Kingdom falls into this crutical period. Through amazing atrocities and cruelties the infamous Zulu warrior Shaka gained control over a number of Zulu clans. He expanded his territory systematically. Shaka’s warriors raided Zulu villages and burnt them down. South African women and children were gored to death and South African young men were called up and chiefs tortured and forced into allegiance.

Shaka is the son of Zulu chief Senzangakhona and the young girl by the name of Nandi, a member of the Langeni clan. As a young man when Shaka joined the army of Dingiswayo he soon became their highest commander and ruler. With the support of Dingiswayo he gained supremacy over the Zulu clan, enforcing his claimagainst his opponents with the most ferocious brutality. Under Shaka the Zulu territory expanded greatly. All the clans had to subject themselves to the one leader. At the beginning of the 19th century, Shaka had created the most powerful empire in the whole of southern Africa and was king of the Zulu nation.

Religion plays an important part to millions of people’s lives across the world, thousands of African people are converted to Christianity every day and many practice faith through prayer and worship. South Africa is called the rainbow nation because of its variety of people, cultures and religions. The people follow many spiritual traditions and religious faiths. In South Africa the constitution protects freedom of religion. Everyone is free to follow whatever faith they want to, or not to follow one at all. In South Africa, more than 70 percent of the maize crop consists of genetically modified produce. This is a clear indication that the technology provides benefits for farmers.

One fascinating part of South Africa’s ancient history I found interesting was the Stone Age period. Hominids began to manufacture stone tools about 2.5 million years ago, beginning the Earlier Stone Age. Flakes were a perfect example at the core of Stone Age. They were used for such activities as cutting meat and skinning animals. So far as I have looked more closely at South Africa’s ancient history there is a lot thats said and done that no one can replace or touch the rich history South Africa has to offer that I was personally captivated by and coming from my cultural background i’m more eager than ever before.

Source : www.krugerpark.co.za/early-stone-age-kruger-national-park.html

 

 

South Sudan: history and how old it is

Blog Assignment 3 – Ancient History

 

The New York Times in Africa from the world section was mainly treating about African culture regarding to the geography and other factors, and there were many online sources by the journal that the other authors or reporters from African society have written. Generally most of the online sources had sufficient information to track the history of Sudan. All the sources from the New York Times and geography related sites such as geography.about.com and so on.

South Sudan, officially called the Republic of South Sudan, is the world’s newest country. It is a landlocked country located on the continent of Africa to the south of the country of Sudan. South Sudan became an independent nation at midnight on July 9, 2011 after a January 2011 referendum regarding its secession from Sudan passed with around 99% of voters in favor of the split. South Sudan mainly voted to secede from Sudan because of cultural and religious differences and a decades-long civil war.

Three ancient Kushite kingdoms existed consecutively in northern Sudan. This region was also known as Nubia and Meroe, and these civilizations flourished mainly along the Nile River from the first to the sixth cataracts. The kingdoms were influenced by, and in turn influenced Pharaonic Egypt. Dynasty was founded under Alara and regained independence for the kingdom of Kush although borders fluctuated greatly. I was overwhelmed by the fact that Sudan is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that has real archaeology and local teams working.

Though its historical importance has long been overshadowed by Egypt, its neighbor to the north, Sudan’s archaeological record is pivotal to understanding the history of Africa itself, experts say, and a wave of new discoveries may be adding crucial new information. “The history of Sudan can play a role for Africa that Greece played for the history of Europe,” Mr. Rilly said enthusiastically. “People have been living here for 5,000 years” along the Nile, he added. “It is difficult not to find something.” The Egyptians conquered Sudan in 1874 and established the province of Equatoria. Islamic revolutionaries entered the territory in 1885, but British troops defeated the invaders and took over Sudan in 1898. Britain and Egypt ruled the country, and in the early 20th century, Christian missionaries converted a large segment of the population and introduced English to the region. This result was a clearly defined line between the Arab north and the black African animists and Christians in the south. South Sudan depends largely on imports of goods, services, and capital from the north. South Sudan does have abundant natural resources and produces nearly three fourths of the former Sudan’s total oil output of nearly a half million barrels per day.

The government of south Sudan derives nearly about 98% of its budget revenues from oil. As people might know well about the significance of oil, oil is exported through two pipelines that run to refineries and shipping facilities at Port Sudan on the Red Sea. However, on July 2011, South Sudan became an independent country. South Sudan seceded from the Republic of Sudan in 2011. Geographically it is not the part of the Sudan region forming as it does part of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the parts of the East Sudanian Savanna.