AFRICA and the ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE(S) A BALANCED APPROACH

1. AFRICA and theATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE(S) A BALANCED APPROACH DR. BRUCE M. HAIGHT WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY KRESA TEACHER’S WORKSHOP March 19, 2008

2. MDE CONTENT EXPECTATIONS • STRENGTHS: * HELPFUL FRAMEWORK * DEVELOPED WITH RECENT INPUT • CHALLENGES: * CAN BE ‘TWEAKED’ * CURRENT TEXTS OFTEN DO NOT REFLECT RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

3. WHAT’S A TEACHER TO DO TO SUPPLEMENT TEXTS? • ATTEND MCSS FOR LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS • PARTICIPATE IN SUMMER WORKSHOPS • TAKE ADDITIONAL COURSES • FIND RELIABLE WEBSITES AND DO WEBSEARCHES • SET UP A READING PROGRAM TO UPDATE LESSON PLANS

4. OBJECTIVES OF THIS LECTURE • PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO RELEVANT WEBSITES, BOOKS, & ARTICLES THAT DRAW UPON MORE RECENT RESEARCH • IDENTIFY THEMES ON THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE OFTEN MISSING FROM CURRENT TEXTS • SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR ‘TWEAKING’ THE MDE CONTENT EXPECTATIONS

5. WHERE TO BEGIN? • DR. HAIGHT’S WEBSITE THAT GIVES ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON RELIABLE RESOURCES http://www.wmich.edu/library/cg/405 • EMAIL: bruce.haight@wmich.edu • WMU HISTORY DEPARTMENT WEBSITE FOR WORKSHOP INFORMATION http://www.wmich.edu/history/

6. FABULOUS WEBSITE FREE FOR ALL MICHIGAN RESIDENTSMICHIGAN ELECTRONIC LIBRARYhttp://www.mel.org/ • At their home page look under Mel DatabasesFor books: click on WorldCat Then go to MELCAT to borrow the book For articles (free download full text): click on InfoTrac World History Collection

7. MISSING THEMES ON THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE • DETAILED INFORMATION IS NOW AVAILABLE ON DEMAND TO TEACHERS AND YOUR STUDENTS ON NEARLY 27,000 VOYAGES ACROSS THE MIDDLE PASSAGE • SOURCE: THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE: A DATA BASE ON CD-ROM

9. MISSING THEMES ON THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE • WHAT MOVED IN THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE WAS MORE THAN SEEDS AND PLANTS; KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS ALSO MOVED • SOURCEBOOK: JUDITH CARNEY, BLACK RICE

11. MISSING THEMES ON THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE • SLAVERY IN NORTH AMERICA CHANGED OVER TIME - CHARTER GENERATIONS - PLANTATION GENERATIONS - REVOLUTIONARY GENERATIONS • SOURCEBOOK: IRA BERLIN, MANY GENERATIONS GONE

12. SOCIETIES WITH SLAVES:THE CHARTER GENERATIONSSLAVE SOCIETIES: THE PLANTATION GENERATIONSSLAVE AND FREE:THE REVOLUTIONARY GENERATIONS • SOURCEBOOK: IRA BERLIN, MANY GENERATIONS GONE

14. MISSING THEMES ON THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE • THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE - BLACK SLAVES FROM SUBSAHARAN AFRICA TO THE NEW WORLD - WHITE SLAVES FROM EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA TO NORTH AFRICA • SOURCEBOOK: ROBERT DAVIS, CHRISTIAN SLAVES, MUSLIM MASTERS

16. FOR A PERSPECTIVE THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT AFRICAN AMERICAN VIEWS FROM SLAVE TIMES ONWARD SEE MICHAEL A. GOMEZ, REVERSING SAIL

18. HOW DO WE ATTAIN THEMATIC BALANCE? • IDENTIFY MAJOR THEMES FROM THE MDE CONTENT EXPECTATIONS, e.g. slavery and the slave trade. • ASK: THIS THEME IS CHARACTERISTIC OF WHICH AREAS OF THE WORLD DURING WHICH TIME PERIODS? • ASK: DO OUR CONTENT EXPECTATIONS REFLECT THIS?

19. WHAT WOULD BALANCE LOOK LIKE IN RELATION TO THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE(S)? • WHERE & WHEN HAS SLAVERY EXISTED? • WHERE & WHEN HAS THERE BEEN A SLAVE TRADE? • DO OUR CONTENT EXPECTATIONS REFLECT THIS?

20. WHERE & WHEN HAS SLAVERY EXISTED? • FOR BLACKS IN AFRICA: UNTIL THE 19TH CENTURY • FOR BLACKS IN THE NEW WORLD: 16TH - 19TH CENTURY • FOR WHITES IN NORTH AFRICA: 16TH - EARLY 19TH CENTURY

21. WHERE & WHEN HAS THERE BEEN A SLAVE TRADE? • SLAVE TRADE IN BLACK SLAVES - WITHIN AFRICA - ACROSS THE SAHARA DESERT TO NORTH AFRICA - ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO EUROPE & THE NEW WORLD VIA THE ATLANTIC & THE CARRIBEAN • SLAVE TRADE IN WHITE SLAVES TO N. AFRICA - CAPTURED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN & THE ATLANTIC FROM SHIPS - CAPTURED FROM COASTAL TOWNS IN EUROPE, ENGLAND, IRELAND, ICELAND

22. DO OUR CONTENT EXPECTATIONS REFLECT THATFROM THE 16TH THROUGH THE 19TH CENTURY THERE WERE TWO ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADES? • 12 MILLION AFRICANS LEFT AFRICA FOR THE NEW WORLD AS SLAVES • 1.25 MILLION EUROPEANS WERE CAPTURED AND TAKEN TO NORTH AFRICA AS SLAVES

24. CAN & SHOULD WE ‘TWEAK’ THE MDE CONTENT EXPECTATIONS AND SUPPLEMENT WHAT APPEARS IN U.S. HISTORY & WORLD HISTORY TEXTS TO TEACH MORE ACCURATELY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST?

25. ARE OUR CONTENT EXPECTATIONS BALANCED? • With regard to all types of slavery in the same time period & changes over time? • In that they acknowledge the impact of slavery when it was significant? • With reference to coverage of Africa and peoples from Africa in the U.S. as compared to other areas and peoples? • Within materials covered at each grade level? • As students progress from Grade 5 to Middle and to High School?

26. CONTENT EXPECTATIONS

27. INTEGRATED UNITED STATES HISTORYGRADE FIVE • ERA 1 -BEGINNINGS TO 1620

28. GRADE 5 U1.3.1The Five Major Regions of Africa • NORTH AFRICA • WEST AFRICA • CENTRAL AFRICA • EAST AFRICA • SOUTH AFRICA

29. HOW DO THESE REGIONS RELATE TO THE THEME: THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE(S)? • WEST AFRICA NORTH AFRICA • CENTRAL AFRICA • EAST AFRICA • SOUTH AFRICA

30. GRADE 5 U1.3.2 WEST AFRICA BEFORE 1500

31. THE ECONOMY IN WEST AFRICA BEFORE 1500 MOST WEST AFRICANS EARNED THEIR LIVING * FARMING * AS PASTORALISTS * FISHING

32. DESERTIFICATION AND INNOVATION 300 BC - 300 CE • THE AREA OF THE SAHARA DESERT BECAME MUCH DRYER • GLABERRIMA RICE DOMESTICATED ALONG THE NIGER RIVER BY 300 CE • STATES AND THE THREE MAJOR EMPIRES EMERGED IN THIS AREA

37. THE ECONOMY IN WEST AFRICA BEFORE 1500 SOME WEST AFRICANS EARNED THEIR LIVING IN: • TRADE - AS MERCHANTS • IRON MAKING & BLACKSMITHING • POLITICS • MILITARY SERVICE

38. FAMILY STRUCTURESIN WEST AFRICABEFORE 1500 • PATRILINEAL / MATRILINEAL • HOUSEHOLDS OFTEN INCLUDED FREE & SLAVE MEMBERS • THE FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD WERE FOUNDATIONAL FOR ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL LIFE

39. WHICH WEST AFRICAN PEOPLES CAN WE USE TO REPRESENT OUR THEMES? • FARMERS - BAMBARA, BAGA, YORUBA, & IGBO • PASTORALISTS - FULANI • FISHERMEN - DO & KRU

40. WHICH WEST AFRICAN PEOPLES CAN WE USE TO REPRESENT OUR THEMES? • FARMERS - MALINKE • TRADERS - MALINKE • IRONWORKERS - MALINKE • POLITICIANS - MALINKE • MILITARY - MALINKE

41. THE GROWTH OF TRADEIN WEST AFRICABEFORE 1500 • WITHIN WEST AFRICA • FROM WEST AFRICA ACROSS THE SAHARA DESERT TO NORTH AFRICA

42. THE GROWTH OFVILLAGES, TOWNS & CITIES IN WEST AFRICABEFORE 1500 • LARGER CITIES IN THE INTERIOR • VILLAGES NEARER THE COAST

43. THE GROWTH OF STATESIN WEST AFRICABEFORE 1500 • THE GREAT EMPIRES OF GHANA (800-1200), MALI (1200-1500), AND SONGHAI (1500-1600) WERE IN THE INTERIOR ALONG THE NIGER RIVER • SMALLER STATES WERE ON THE FRINGES OF THE EMPIRES • ACEPHALOUS GROUPS WERE IN OUTLYING AND DEFENSIBLE REGIONS • THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED AREA OF WEST AFRICA WAS THEN IN THE INTERIOR, NOT ALONG THE COAST. THIS WOULD REVERSE LATER BY THE END OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

46. GRADE 5 U1.4THREE WORLD INTERACTIONS FROM THE LATE-15TH THROUGH THE 17TH CENTURY

47. GRADE 5 U1.4.1 THE CONVERGENCE OF EUROPEANS, AMERICAN INDIANS AND AFRICANS IN NORTH AMERICA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE AFRICANS FROM 1492 TO 1700

48. GRADE 5 U1.4.4 THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON EUROPEANS, AMERICAN INDIANS AND AFRICANS 1492-1700

49. THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE: ITS IMPACT ON AFRICA • STAPLE CROPS FROM THE NEW WORLD THAT WERE ADOPTED ALONG THE WEST AFRICAN COAST • CASSAVA / MANIOC (TAPIOCA) • MAIZE • OKRA • GROUNDNUTS (PEANUTS) • CAPISCUM PEPPERS

50. THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE: ITS IMPACT ON AFRICA • STAPLE CROPS FROM THE NEW WORLD THAT WEST AFRICANS BROUGHT TO NORTH AMERICA • OKRA • GROUNDNUTS (PEANUTS) • CAPISCUM PEPPERS