History textbooks were wrong

Cultural Movements of the 1960s

That movement allowed people to realize that these History textbooks are biased

Revisionist History: The reinterpretation of history or correcting the mistakes historians have
made because of bias

Africa:
- 2nd largest continent
- Africa can be divided into three layers
- Top layer is Sahara Desert, to the east is the fertile Nile valley
- Middle layer is known as Sahel, a semi desert region
- Bottom layer is the Savanna
- Origins of humanity are from African savannah

Early Civilization in the Nile River Valley

- Emerged in Nile River valley 4000 BCE
- Civilization emerged after a long process of hunting and gathering because of agriculture
- Why does agriculture help provide civilization vs. hunting and gathering?

Egyptians
- Egyptian is a unified prosperous kingdom from 3150 BCE - 1100 BCE
- Invaded by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE
- Greek ideas invade the country and cause decline in Egypt’s ancient culture
- Does not look at color like our society does today
- You would be determined by the location / culture you were born in

Nubia
- Black nation in present day Sudan, south of Egypt
- 4000 BCE begin interacting and trading with Egyptians
- 2000 BCE became a colony to Egypt because of ivory, ebony, leopard pelts, and slaves

West African Societies

Ancient Ghana
- Had superior iron weapons to dominate their neighbors
- Ghana was very rich and successful because of their trade
- Commercial and religious rivalries led to Ghana’s decline (Arab traders taking control of
the economic system in place and Islamic religious beliefs conflicting with African
beliefs)

West African Society and Culture

 - Family
- Nuclear v. Polygynous families
- Patrilineal v. Matrilineal
- African women had more freedom than European and Arab women
- Able to own property
- Control their sexuality
- Participate in politics
- African slavery
- Existed as a tool of assimilation
- Captives of war were enslaved
- Children were assimilate into society and gained employment privileges and
property
- Slave owners had the obligation to treat their slaves as guardians
- Religion in West Africa
- Islam brought by Arabs introduced literacy to West Africa
- Knowledge of Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, and Abraham
- Polytheistic and animistic African religions
- Attributed power to one divine creator and lesser gods representing the forces of
nature
- Africans believed the spirits of ancestors could influence gods and so funerals
were important.
- African Music
- Call and response style singing
- Used instruments such as banjo, xylophones, flutes, bells
- Music was very rhythmic to encourage dancing
- African Literature
- The nobles had their royal poets and musicians
- Common folks spread oral histories (many of which came to America)
- Many of the tales involved animals with the weaker animals outsmarting the
stronger
- African Technology
- Blacksmiths and iron forgers
- Rice cultivation
- Textile production
- Architecture

Agency: (verb) to act for ourselves and not be acted upon