Throughout this semester there has been a lot of information given and absorbed about pre-colonial Africa and African origins before 1800. We have explored different ways of learning about pre-colonial Africa by reading books, analyzing different types of primary sources, watching different types of films, and taking notes in class.
The different primary sources that we had to looked helped us explore more of African history. For example, the bust of Nefertiti gives information on women in Ancient Egypt, especially this woman who ruled a kingdom for some time after her husbands death. The other primary sources that we looked up helped us learn more about African history that we did not get to learn about in class. Or, it expanded on the knowledge we learned in class. For example, on this scrapbook there is an image of the Buganda people, we learned about them in class, but after picking this image, even more was uncovered about their origins and ways of life.
The primary source documents read in class also expanded on the information that was being taught in class. The “Kingdom of Ghana” document gave further insight on what is was like in the Kingdom of Ghana, and how the king of Ghana ran his kingdom.
One of my favorite parts of the scrapbook and of the class was the 1619 podcasts. It was very interesting listening to people talk about slavery and its effects, especially from people who had their own stories to tell. These episodes touched on subjects like medical attention given to freed slaves in the south, African music, and President Lincoln and his participation in slavery. I liked these podcasts because it taught things about slavery and after the Emancipation Proclamation that is not usually taught in regular history classrooms. There were a lot of new things that I learned from these podcasts. One thing I learned was that Lincoln actually wanted freed slaves to be shipped back to Africa and not stay in the United States. He thought that they would be troublesome and that was shocking to learn about from someone that we learned about as wanting slaves to be freed. Another interesting fact was that medical supples and medical attention was very limited in the south and the government did not want to see it progress in the South.
Another aspect of the scrapbook that makes it useful is the analysis of the books that were written in class. “The concubine”, “Daughters of Isis”, and “Sundiata” provided more information that expanded on what was talked about in class. What makes this scrapbook, and other scrapbooks from other students in the class, useful is that not one wrote about the same thing when it came to these books. Different themes from these books were explored and talked about to give a better understanding of what is was like in pre-colonial Africa, in different areas in Africa. The book I found most interesting was “The Concubine.” I liked that this book told a story as well as gave information about what life was like for individuals living in African villages. It gave information on how religion, personally relationships, and morals fit into the lives of Africans.
Overall, this scrapbook is an expansion on what was learned during HIS 321. It focuses on human origins of Africans that is not talked about in high school or other history classes here. This scrapbook also holds information that was not talked about in class that could help the reader gain a better understanding of pre-colonial life in Africa.
1619 Episode 2What Does It Mean To Be Human?
Daughters Of Isis 1619 Episode 4
Kingdom of Ghana, Primary Source
Primary Source 1Primary Source 2
Alexis Sabatelle 