Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Africa: Perceptions, Historiography, and Imperialism
Over the past several class periods we've examined perceptions and misperceptions about Africa, geographic and cultural diversity in Africa, the historiography of Africa, and imperialism in Africa. In a comment to this post, describe how your understanding of Africa has expanded AND identify questions that still need to be answered in our studies.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout this unit the idea that Africa is more a primitive nation has taken over. The misconceptions of Africa have spread throughout the world forcing a false sense of nationalism of the world. African countries band together due to their similar sense of humiliation and oppression not a shared pride in their countries. I now know that Africa is determined by the European imperialism. For example, the dates in which Africa is split by has a millions of year gap into due to the European colonization. Also, contrary to popular belief, Africa was highly developed and not chanting barbarians. The Africas had highly complex systems of government that were forcibly taken over for commercial gain.
ReplyDeleteI have learned a great deal throughout our African studies. For one thing, I did not know that Africa consisted of so many climate and vegetation zones such as scorching deserts and chilly mountains. I also did not know that before its colonization, Africa was once a thriving continent of great empires and peoples who created successful economic and cultural ways of life. A main question I have is whether or not their were large conflicts between empires in Africa pre-colonialism. Also, did Africans express any racism towards other Africans?
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ReplyDeleteThe initial perceptions of Africa as a primitive and under developed country, through various articles and study, were disproven. Even before Africa was colonized by Europeans, Africa was a rather advanced and diverse society, not just one stereotypical land mass. During the colonial period under the Europeans, Africa was put under massive amounts of stress and strain by European "overlords" that instigated a state of distress and apartheid. Actions such as forced labor and economic hunger stamped an adulterated impression on Africa, which most believe have lead to the problems that occur in the present. Lastly, the history of Africa is very unbalanced, seeing as two thirds of the time line (colonial to present) takes up over one hundred years, and the first third extends from the beginning of mankind, to the beginning of Europe's colonization of Africa.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of Africa has expanded over the past few class periods. I now understand that there are many different and diverse cultures within the continent. I have learned that many of Africa's problems originate from the European colonialism. In addition, before watching "Hotel Rwanda," I did not know much about the genocide and I would like to know if there have been any more events similar to that in Africa's history.
ReplyDeleteBefore discussing the topics about Africa I figured it was a mostly underdeveloped continent consumed by poverty. I discovered that there are over eleven hundred languages found throughout the continent and that almost all the countries found within Africa do not have one official languages, but have multiple ones. Also, before the Europeans colonized many of the African countries, there were many great civilizations such as The Nubians who created powerful militaries and developed diverse forms of political and economic systems. What occurred in South Africa during the 1900's with racism and government policies?
ReplyDeleteThroughout our studies of Africa, several ideas have become evident. First, Africa isn't the primitive, far away land we dream it to be. They're much more civilized than we think, and, in fact, displayed advanced governmental, economical, and social structures much earlier than us. I think one of the major ever present debates which still stands is the argument over whether African nations and cultures should converge, or if the diversity should be preserved.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Sub-Saharan Africa unit, I have learned a vast amount of new information, and began to apply it to eh stereotypes that have risen. Many stereotypes that are brought up, are that "Africans came after us" or that "Africa is completely unified." Instead there are several cultural diversities in each section of Africa, and Africans were here since the beginning of time. The imperialistic impact on Africa, cause a lot of European influence to arise. During the neo-colonialism times, Africa began to divide. Countries are divided and began to fight against themselves, because of the neo-colonialistic ways. Several violent outbreaks had happened, and are still being resolved today. Did Africans ever show racism towards the Europeans?
ReplyDeleteBefore we learned about Africa, I figured that it was an underdeveloped continent. To my surprise, I discovered that Africa is an incredibly developed continent, filled with different cultures and languages. There are various languages and diverse cultures throughout the entire continent. Most people, like me, have stereotyped Africa, therefore refusing to believe the truth about this incredible continent. My last point is that the history timeline of Africa is mostly focused on the pre-colonial time.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of Africa has expanded because prior to our discussions I believed the typical stereotypes. Before, I thought that the country was primitive and behind the rest of the world. For example, in my mind I pictured the people of Africa living in huts. Now I know that they actually have some of the same advancements as us. Now I know that these misperceptions of mine about Africa are not true and the way Africa is perceived is twisted from reality.
ReplyDeleteDuring our investigation of Africa, my understanding of the continent has changed drastically in comparison to my initial thoughts. Contrary to popular opinion, Africa's society is not solely composed of tribal, uncivilized communities. Africa contains many developed cities, religions and languages. The reason behind many of Africa's instability is now a result of the corrupt lessons learned through European imperialism/ colonialism. Prior to this, Africa was made of very well educated societies and empires. Despite the multifarious concepts we have encountered throughout this unit, I still wonder, How is Africa continuing to develop in nations where poverty remains an issue.
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing the misperceptions of Africa over the last few class periods, my entire idea of Africa has been altered. I was definitely along with the majority who believe Africa was a primitive society and still strays far behind the American culture and lifestyle today. However, the DBQ has shown me that Africa was incredibly advanced even before the American's identified it as a nation. The DBQ demonstrated how Africa was always vastly full of economic prosperity, governmental progression, and military prelation. In our studies, we still need to equal our time periods we identify with Africa and investigate more as to what Africa was like before the colonial period.
ReplyDeleteBased on my learning in this class and my personal view, learning about the misconceptions of Africa have been more enlightening than learning about the regions. The fact that we focus on the colonization of Africa instead of the two million years before is absurd! Also, I never knew that Africa was once thriving politically and economically, and still is today. I am interested in learning about the different climates and cultures of the various regions. However, one thing that still puzzles me is if African countries had strong militaries, how was Europe able to take over?
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge has expanded on the geographic, cultural, historical, and imperialism aspects of Africa in this course. At first I was only immersed with the stereotypical ideas of Africa while in this unit I have expanded my knowledge and falsified my previous knowledge. In this unit I learned that pre colonial Africa was economically powerful. In addition they had a judicial branch and laws. They also had extreme wealth because most of the kings family was covered in gold. Finally they had a vast trade routes over land and sea.
ReplyDeleteDuring this unit, i have have expanded my knowledge on the cultural and religious aspects of Africa. I've learned about the different stereotypes and how we as a different culture view them. I now know that Africa is more advanced and does have developed societies unlike how we as Americans perceive them to be. Also i've learned the growth and development process over the years of this primitive country. With all kinds of different religious groups is there racism or hatred towards other groups or cultures?
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of Africa, particularly the time before colonization, has vastly expanded throughout the last few class periods. I have learned that even before Europe invaded Africa, complex civilizations existed. Major trade cities were apparent before the 1850’s when Africa was first colonized, and some areas had already been developed. Also, I learned that Africa is not compiled of many different tribes, it actually has complex societies and cities. Furthermore, I now understand that Africans were not treated well when they were colonized, and many improper leadership actions have caused the recent African violence. We still need to learn about the current violence in Africa, and how to stop it. Also, we must understand how Africans feel about our imperial rule.
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