Fall 2005
HIST 3318:
An Introduction To African History: The Pre-colonial Era
Dr. Aran MacKinnon, Office: TLC 3220
Tel: O: (678) 839-6038, E-mail: amackinn@westga.edu
Office hours: MW 10-12, 1-2, or by appointment.
Lectures: MW, 2-3:15; W 3:30-6 :00
Office hours: MW 10-12, 1-2, or by appointment
Class: Wed. 3:30-6:00, Pafford 202
Course Description and Learning outcomes.: This is an introductory course on selected themes in pre-colonial African history from the emergence of modern humans through the foundations of African societies until contact with European cultures to the eve of European conquest and white settlement in Africa. While the course follows the developments and processes that shaped African society before the 1880s in a loose chronological framework, it is more concerned with important themes related to economic, environmental, social, cultural and political developments. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to identify and analyze in writing the nature of the African continent, to explain the importance of the environment to African societies, to describe selected examples of African societies and civilizations, and to explain major themes in the emergence and development of African states.
This is a lecture and seminar discussion-based course. Students are reminded, however, that reading and writing are essential parts of the course. All students are expected to fulfill the reading assignments in order to follow the course, participate in discussions and complete written assignments. The recommended books and reading assignments are designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the course material. They are by no means an exhaustive list of what you should be reading. I will direct students to supplementary readings from time to time. The more you read, the more you learn. Students are expected to attend all the lectures and attendance will be taken. If you miss more than two or three lectures, please ensure that you see me and get class notes from a fellow student.
Required Texts:
J. Reynolds and E. Gilbert, Africa in World History
D. T. Niane, Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali
S. Hamdun and N. King, Ibn Battuta in Black Africa
Other readings will be assigned and will be made available to students through the University Library Reserve Section on electronic reserve. Be sure to check the reading assignments for each class and do the reading in advance.
Course Requirements:
Essay: 25%
Mid-term exam: 25%
Class Reports: 20% (10% for each of two)
Final exam: 30%
1. All students are expected to attend all the classes, to hand in assignments on-time and to sit the exams in the times and dates noted below. Failure to do so for any reason other than documented and verifiable medical issues will adversely affect your grade and the instructor reserves the right to fail a student for missing more than 3 classes or assignments.
2. Each student will be responsible for preparing a written report based on all the readings for two assigned class topics. These reports will be presented to the class on the days assigned.
3. Essay topics and further guidelines will be handed out well in advance of the due date of 16 Nov. Essays are to be 4-6 pages in length (1000-1500 words), not including bibliography. NB: Essays are to be type-written and in conformity with accepted University standards. Your essay must have a thesis or argument and cleaar evidence to support it. You must use at least four print sources (library books or journal articles) in addition to any course readings or Internet-based sources. If you are in doubt about the appropriateness of the sources, please consult the instructor. If you have any queries or require any help writing your essay, please see the instructor or go to the University Writing Center. Prior to final submission, I will read and comment upon draft copies of any student’s essay. Please avail yourself of this offer as it is sure to improve your mark. Further details of suggested bibliographies and expectations for the work will be made available before the assignments are given out.
4. Exams: The mid-term and final exam will be essay format exams based on course topics and discussions. They may be given as in-class exams or as take-home exams and will be written or due in the times noted below.
Weekly Assignments and lectures:
24 Aug.
Introduction and Course Handouts
31 Aug.
Africa and Human Origins
Readings: Gilbert and Reynolds (G&R), chp. 1
7 Sept.
The African Societies, Economies and African Environments
Readings: Gilbert and Reynolds (G&R), chp. 2 and on reserve: D. Schoenbrun, ‘The Roots of Agricultural Abundance’
14 Sept. African and the Mediterranean World: Contributions and Controversies
G&R, Chp. 3, On reserve: C. Williams, ‘Egypt: The Rise and Fall of Black Civilization’
21 Sept. Migrations, Settlement Patterns and Christianity
G&R, Chp. 4 and 5 and on reserve: C. Kriger, ‘Iron Production in Central Africa’ and C. Hilliard, excerpt from ‘Intellectual Traditions of Pre-Colonial Africa: Shihab al-Din’
28 Sept. Islam, Trade and State foundations: North and West
G&R, Chp. 6 and on reserve: D. Wright, ‘Niumi in a restructuring world system before A.D. 1446'
5 Oct. Sundiata and State Building
Discussion of
Read D. T. Niane, Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali and on reserve: R. Hull, Origins of Cities and Towns’
12 Oct. ****Mid-Term Exam****
19 Oct. Islam and Trade: East Africa
G&S, chp. 6 and on reserve: J Fleisher behind the Sultan of Kilwa’s “Rebellious Conduct”’ in Reid and Lane, African Historical Archaeology
26 Oct. Africa and the World: Islam, Travel and Intellectual Africa
Read S. Hamdun and N. King, Ibn Battuta in Black Africa
2 Nov.
Africa, Slavery and the Global Economy
G&S chp 8 and on reserve J Thornton, Africa and Africans in the making of the Atlantic World, chp.3 and C. Hilliard, excerpt from ‘Intellectual Traditions of Pre-Colonial Africa: Affonso of the Kongo’’
9 Nov.
Slavery and Transformations in West/Central Africa
G&S chp 9 and on reserve, Thornton, chp 4
16 Nov. ****Essay Due****
Southern Africa
G&S, chp 12, On reserve: MacKinnon, ‘The Making of New States’
23 Nov.
*** NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING***
30 Nov. African Society: Gender, music art and culture
Readings: On reserve: C. Coquery-Vidrovitch, ‘African Women’ and J Kwabena, ‘The Musical Traditions of Africa’ and C. Hilliard, excerpt from ‘Intellectual Traditions of Pre-Colonial Africa: Dinka Divorce Song’
7 Dec. Conclusion and Review
***FINAL EXAM***: The Final Exam is Mon. 12 Dec., 2-4. All students must sit the exam in this scheduled slot.
THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE INSTRUCTOR DIRECTLY ABOUT ANY POSSIBLE CHANGES.
An Introduction To African History: The Pre-colonial era
TERMS , CONCEPTS AND WORKING DEFINITIONS;
African History: The study of the processes and events which shaped the peoples and environment in the continent of Africa. We will be considering the underlying social, economic and political forces which changed Africa over time.
Africanist Historiography: The transforming paradigms and theories that shape our understanding of African history and which place an emphasis on the indigenous peoples of Africa. The term historiography also pertains to the body of historical literature on a given theme or region. Historiography reflects the debates among historians concerning the interpretation of historical facts and ideas.
Class: A complex theoretical system that defines social stratification on the basis of economic, social and productive attributes. Loosely speaking, the term class suggests that people operate in their own economic self interest according to their position in society. Although historians often see people operating according to their ‘class interest,' class is not static and it is not the only defining feature of a person’s economic or social position. (See also Race, Ethnicity and Gender.) Some historians often see class conflict where producers oppose non-producers (those who own or control capital resources) who ‘exploit’ them as an inherent feature of class relations.
Ethnicity: Within African history the concept of ethnicity relates to groupings of people who share a common language, ideas, beliefs, social system and values. Although ethnicity is related to race (see below) the two terms are not necessarily defined by each other. While people cannot change their race, they can mold their ethnicity. Ethnicity should be distinguished from the largely defunct historical term ‘tribal’ since this latter term relies too heavily on stereotypes imposed from outside observers. As we will see, ethnicity, and particularly ethnic nationalism can be reconstructed and changed.
Gender: The term gender relates to a recognized set of characteristics, and social and economic activities normally associated with either men or women. It should be distinguished from the physical classification of men and women by their sex since men and women can assume different gender roles or activities depending on their circumstances.
Mode(s) of Production: A theoretical term, now seldom used which was coined to express the concept of a system of production and its associated forms of social organization. A mode helps identify how a given society or part of a society organizes itself to procure the material goods needed for survival. The modes of production with which we will be concerning ourselves are, for example: Hunter-gatherer- where people organize their labor to procure their material needs from what is available to them in the natural world (the Khoisan of southern Africa are one example); communalism - where society organizes shared labor tasks such as agriculture and pastoralism with land and resources which are not privately owned, but rather held in trust for all the people; Capitalism where the ‘means of production’ (the tools and resources necessary to produce material needs are ‘owned’ by a particular group or class of people) operate according to market exchanges where people buy and sell goods and labor. According to the classical definition of capitalism, the market, including the sale of labor, is meant to be free from major political control or coercion. A mode of production is therefore partly determined by who owns the tools of production. The identification of any given economic system provides historians with an understanding of how other related social and political activities are organized. Within this overall theoretical construct there lies a notion of ‘progress’ and development from one stage or mode to another. Thus, capitalism is seen to be a more efficient and refined set of economic relations used to secure material needs than hunting and gathering. Without attaching a value judgment to the different ways in which people procure their needs, try to consider capitalism as a system which may develop out of precapitalist (communalism and feudalism for example) modes of production. An important thing to note regarding the development of capitalism in Africa -or in any in any area’s historical development- is that different people and societies often employ multiple strategies to satisfy their basic material needs (subsistence) and to accumulate a surplus for times of want, to expand and develop their mode of production, or to invest in improved or expanded production.
Peasant: Briefly stated, a peasant is a person who has one foot the capitalist economy of market exchange and one foot in the precapitalist economy of ‘primitive’ cultivation. Peasants generally produce enough food for their family to live on (subsistence) with varying amounts of surplus that can be sold or exchanged for other needs. A peasant’s ultimate security and satisfaction of material needs come from having rights to land and access to family labor. The term suggests that peasants are agricultural producers who are moving toward full integration with the market economy, but that they are sometimes constrained in this effort by dominant groups in society.
Race: The classification of people according to their physical characteristics (for example shape of eyes, color of skin, type of hair). In historical perspective, the term race has been used to explain why some groups of people have interests that differ or are, at times, in opposition to other groups. For our purposes, the term also implies a power dominance relationship between Africans and whites. As we will see, however, other social dynamics can come into play. For example, class, ethnicity and gender can also shape social, political and economic relations between races.
Tradition and Custom: African societies are sometimes referred to as ‘traditional’ and are seen as wedded to ancient ‘tribal custom'. These terms suggest that African society was static, backward and inherently conservative. They are often used to refer to activities or stages of development that are considered precapitalist or ‘primitive.' Just because some features of African society may appear to be traditional and primitive does not mean they have lesser value. Indeed, historians are discovering that many indigenous African practices have significant merit, not only in the African context, but also in terms of the western ‘scientific’ paradigm. Moreover, while many traditions and customs persist over time we must consider why this was the case. In some instances, traditions have been resurrected from the past or reinvented to serve new needs.