ACTIVITY 4

Read the following excerpts from http://www.localhistories.org/africanhistory.html

and jot down in your notebook significant events in African history.

1Scientistsbelieve that Africa was the

birthplace of mankind. By 100,000 BC modern
humans lived by hunting and gathering with
stone tools. From Africa, they spread to Europe.

2By 5,000 farming had spread to North

Africa. People herded cattle and they grew
crops. At that time the Sahara Desert was not a
desert. It was a green and fertile area. Gradually
it grew drier and became a desert.
3Meanwhileabout 3,200 BC writing was invented in Egypt. The Egyptians
made tools and weapons of bronze. However by the time Egyptian civilization arose
most of Africa was cut off from Egypt and other early civilizations by the Sahara
Desert. Sub-Saharan Africa was also hampered by its lack of good harbors, which
made transport by sea difficult.

4Farmers in Africa continued to use stone

tools and weapons however about 600 BC the use of
iron spread in North Africa. It gradually spread
south and by 500 AD iron tools and weapons had
reached what is now South Africa.

5In
the 16th century Europeans began to
transport African slaves across the Atlantic.
Image: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-trans-
6However,slavery was nothing new in Africa. atlantic-slave-trade-44544

For centuries Africans had sold other Africans to

the Arabs as slaves. However, the trans-Atlantic
slave trade grew until it was huge.

7Inthe 18th century ships from Britain

took manufactured goods to Africa. They took
slaves from there to the American West Indies
and took sugar, tobacco, and cotton back to
Britain. This was called the Triangular Trade.
(Many other European countries were involved
in the slave trade).

8Some Africans were sold into slavery

because they had committed a crime. However many slaves were captured in raids
by other Africans. Europeans were not allowed
Image: https://webstockreview.net/pict/getfirst
to travel inland to find slaves. Instead, Africans
brought slaves to the coast. Any slaves who
were not sold were either killed or used as slaves by other Africans. The slave trade
would have been impossible without the co-operation of Africans many of whom
grew rich on the slave trade.
 9The Europeans founded their first colonies in Africa. In the 16th

century, the Portuguese settled in Angola and Mozambique while in 1652 the
Dutch founded a colony in South Africa.
In the 19th century European states tried to stop the slave trade. Britain
banned the slave trade in 1807. On the other hand in the late 19th century
Europeans colonized most of Africa!

10In 1814 the British took the Dutch colony in South Africa. In 1830
the French invaded northern Algeria. However, colonization only became serious
in the late 19th century when Europeans 'carved up' Africa. In 1884 the
Germans took Namibia, Togo, and Cameroon and in 1885 they took Tanzania.
In 1885 Belgium took over what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The
French took Madagascar in 1896. They also expanded their empire in northern
Africa. In 1912 they took Morocco and Italy took Libya. In 1914 the British took
control of Egypt. By then all of Africa was in European hands except Liberia
and Ethiopia. (The Italians invaded Ethiopia in 1896 but they were defeated by
the Ethiopians).

11Furthersouth the British took Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda,

and Kenya. The British also took control of Egypt. Angola and Mozambique
remained Portuguese.

12However in the early 20th century attitudes to imperialism began to

change in Europe. Furthermore in Africa churches provided schools and
increasing numbers of Africans became educated. They became impatient for
independence. The movement for African independence became unstoppable and
in the late 1950s and 1960s, most African countries became independent. In
1960 alone 17 countries gained their independence. However, Mozambique and
Angola did not become independent until 1975.

13In the early 21st century Africa began to boom. Today the economies

of most African countries are growing rapidly. Tourism in Africa is booming

and investment is pouring into the continent. Africa is developing rapidly and
there is every reason to be optimistic.
Reading Skills
A. Arrange chronologically the following events in the history of
Africa. Write letters A-E.

1. Most 2. 3. 4. 5.
African Africa has Modern Africans Europe
nations recovered humans were sold coloniz
have gained from who lived into slavery ed
independen slavery and by hunting making most of
ce as a its moved to them work Africa.
result of economy Europe in sugar
the has from plantations
increasing currently Africa. in America.
number of been
their people growing
becoming rapidly.

B. Write whether the following statements are true or false based on

the selection read and write the number of the paragraph that
supports your answer.

STATEMENT TRUE OR FALSE PAR.

6. Slavery had been existing in
Africa even before the triangular
slave trade.
7. African slaves were sold to
the Europeans in exchange
for manufactured goods.
8. Not all slaves were taken by
force; many of them were sold to
the Europeans by their fellow
Africans.
9. The African slaves were brought
to the West Indies to work at a
rice plantation.
10. The Atlantic slave trade lasted
for over 500 years.
11. Education ignited in the
Africans the will to fight for their
independences.
12. Only few of the African
nations gained independence.
13. Africa no longer recovered
Answer the following questions classified as Right There, Think and
Search and On My Own.

Right There
14. When did the
Europeans begin transporting
African slaves across the
Atlantic Ocean?
15. What three continents
were involved in the
triangular trade and what
did each of them trade?

Think and Search

16. Which year or century
do you think Africa struggled
most? Why do you think so?

On My Own
17. What do you think was
the impact of the slave trade
to the economy of Africa
and its people?
18. How do you think has
education helped the
abolition of African slavery?

Let’s recall what we learned from this lesson by filling in the blanks with
the correct words.

1. The hints that are found within a sentence, paragraph, or

passage that may help the readers understand an unfamiliar word
are called
.
2-5. Types of context clues are ,
, , and .
6. Africa was colonized by .
7-9. The three continents that took part in the triangular trade are
, , and .
10. Slavery in Africa lasted for about years.