Questions and thoughts for those posting on 09/30

1. Who should be held most accountable for the slave trade? Africans? Muslims? the Portuguese? the British? Colonists? Is the responsibility shared? Who benefited the most?

2. What were the significant differences between indentured servitude and slavery in the American colonies? What were the significant differences between the treatment of slaves and the treatment of immigrant laborers in the colonies? How were these differences reflective of race relations in the American colonies?

3. Slave owners in the Americas justified the practice of slavery by claiming that they were Christianizing and civilizing the African slaves. Was this a valid argument or a significant misrepresentation of African culture? explain.

4. What role did the Middle Passage play in breaking the spirits of African slaves shipped to colonies in the Americas? How were slaves dehumanized in the transportation and selling process?

5. How did a unified African American culture develop so early in American history, even as slaves came from many different parts of Africa, spoke many different languages, and had a variety of beliefs and practices?

Have fun :)

Thoughts and Questions for those Blogging on 09/23

1. Can African Americans take pride in Africa as the birthplace of human civilization or are African Americans so far removed from their cultural history as to be unable to claim a relationship to this status?

2. How have ancient African cultures influence modern African American culture? What beliefs or practices seem to have carried over from the old continent to the new?

3. How did the geography of the African continent affect both the development of African cultures and the interactions between those cultures and European and Asian cultures? Did the geography of the African continent provide opportunities or obstacles to development and trade?

4. Why and How did Europeans develop such a low opinion of the African continent? How did European preconceptions of the value of African culture shape interactions between Africans and Europeans? Why were the Europeans able to take control of the African continent so easily?

5. How were African, Muslim, and European systems of slavery different prior to the exportation of African slave to Europe and the Middle East? How did the European system change when Europeans began importing African slaves? How did racism and slavery become intertwined?

6. Most intracontinental and intercontinental interactions with ancient Africans was based on trade of precious resources. African countries still trade some of the most valuable resources in the world: precious metals (esp. gold), gems (esp. diamonds), and oil. Why, then is Africa a poor continent with many countries that are struggling to overcome poverty, corruption, and violence?

7. Ethnic conflict is quite common in many areas of the African continent. Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and the Sudan have all been deeply affected by the violence associated with such conflict. How deeply rooted in African culture is this conflict? Is it something inherent in Africa or has it been made worse by intervention by and interaction with people from other continents?

8. In the 1960's Kwanzaa was invented as an African-American holiday in the spirit of some of the beliefs and practices of ancient Swahili people. In seeking to define the African American culture, how much should modern African Americans delve into the beliefs and practices of ancient African peoples? Are African Americans helped or hurt by an exploration of ancient African customs?