Chapter 2: Pre-Colonial Africa i. ii. iii. iv. v. Introduction a. Western academics viewed all non-Europeans as pagans with dark cultures and behaviors b. Western media portrays Africa as a jungle infested with diseases of every kind and inhabited by wild animals and primitive people c. Evidence has confirmed that humankind evolved from the African continent Pre-Colonial Africa: Social Organization a. Community must come first in terms of maintenance and sustenance, the individual cannot survive without the group or community support b. African society is organized around ethnicity c. The African family features prominently in the social organization of the traditional African society d. Family members are expected to teach and pass on the community’s moral codes and skills and knowledge onto their children e. Morals and values are extremely important to the African because of cordial human relations, preservation of the family’s honor, and the name of the community or group f. Strong value system is paying respect to the elders or anyone older than the child in question Government and Politics a. Traditional African societies are ruled by ethnic leaders, headmen, headwomen, or councils of elders b. The goal is to offer guidance and support to the people in times of crisis c. Kings have councils or cabinets to assist in decision making whom he must consult on all matters Marriage and Children a. An unmarried man or woman who is past the age of marriage is often not respected within the community b. Africans strongly believe in reincarnation, so reproduction is the only open chance for their long dead family to come to the physical world again c. Motherhood is a highly respected status d. The husband is responsible for all the needs of his wife and children e. Any wealth accumulated by the wife goes to her family home while any debt incurred belongs to the husband f. The African society allows the practice of polygamy due to the need for more hands on the farm and the provision of companionship to those who have lost their husbands g. Each family does a thorough background search into the man or woman to ensure that they won’t contaminate the family’s good name The Traditional Economy a. The traditional African economy was based on agriculture, fishing, hunting, trade, crafts, and livestock b. The economy was self sufficient due to everyone being involved without the central authority subsidizing anything vi. vii. c. The economy was not based on money though the exchanged of gold and diamonds formed an integral part of the economic structure Education a. The education system taught children the social, economic, political, and cultural knowledge and skills of their specific ethnic group b. The environment became the classroom with the teachers being the parents, elders, and the rest of the community members c. The knowledge of the past was passed down to the young ones to discourage individualism and selfishness d. Women taught motherhood and marital responsibilities, hygiene, cooking, agriculture, and weaving while boys studied fatherhood and marital responsibilities, hunting, fishing, war, agriculture and learning goldsmithing and blacksmithing e. European education systems labeled elders and parents as illiterate because they didn’t teach the same as they did in Europe Religion and Worship a. Due to the natural resources available they based their beliefs on the gods of the ocean and certain fishes in the sea b. Africans believed that everything in the universe is inhabited by the divine spark or spirit of the Supreme Being (God) c. Religious rituals and ceremonies are performed on specific days at specific times to give thanks to the Creator d. The idea of life and death and reincarnation are heavily emphasized in almost every African traditional religious belief system e. An important aspect of African traditional religions was the strong belief in witchcraft