A Brief History of Africa for People That Only Have 2 Minutes *in 7 pictures*

Everyone should have a general knowledge on the history of Africa. How much do you really know about African History? Here is a simple and brief history of Africa people!

Throughout the history of Africa people from all over have done a great many things, obviously. The purpose of this article is only to give a brief overview of it. It is always good to further your research.

The text below in divided into three time periods in a sort of a timeline of African history. The first section goes over the time period before colonialism; then the colonial period; and thirdly the post-colonial period. These time periods revolve around colonialism because of its large impact on Africa in recent history. It is by no means, along with slavery and forced labour, a representation of Africa’s full history.

7 images representing different times in African history were chosen for this article. Some may be upsetting, though they all play a vital role in presenting and bearing witness to the story of the continent of Africa.

ULIJUA?

Ulijua means did you know? in Swahili so be on the look out for the fun facts in the purple text!

A Brief History of Africa: People & Places 

In Africa countries and regions are so diverse. There are 54 countries in Africa! This is only a summary of the history of Africa. In this article, you will read about Africa its peoples and their culture history in umm.. partial entirety (because you only have 2 minutes ;-D).

Pre-colonial Africa

The history of African culture started way before any colonizer set foot on the continent. Asking what Africa was like before colonization is like asking for the history of humankind on planet earth. Some of us were part of great and awesome kingdoms spanning from one side of the world to the other, while others belonged to different, and maybe quainter societies, in comparison, but still all the more significant to world history.

In Africa there were kingdoms…

Africa has been home to kingdoms since time immemorial. Presently, the countries of Lesotho, Eswatini and Morocco are the only monarchies on the African continent. Though there were times when African Kings and Queens ruled over vast territories.

It is most widely known that over the course of the history of Africa from 1500 to 1800, many powerful kingdoms rose and fell. But there have been kingdoms all over Africa long before then, and even till this day! Today, remnants of ancient African kingdoms, like the ruins of Kerma in Sudan or of the Kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia, can be traced back to great and advanced ancient African civilizations. From such kingdoms, some powerful, and influential, rulers such as Queen Nzinga and Mansa Musa rose to lead.

To see more impressive houses like the one pictured above click here to see them in: These are 23 Little-Known Ancient African Houses and Structures. Which ones do you recognize?

…and there were chiefdoms

It is true that real African history involves kingdoms and palaces, however, people belonging to smaller-scaled societies hold just as much importance. Very many communities across Africa had governments composed of chiefs and elders… that is until colonialism (for the most part).

A chiefdom is super broad term used here to define African populations governed by a chief. There are innumerable differences between past and present chiefdoms in Africa. Among well-known chiefdoms are the Zulu of South Africa, the Igala of Nigeria and the Mende of Sierra Leone.

The Bantu peoples have composed what are the major ethnic groups in Africa since time long past! A large portion of Bantu peoples like the Sukuma or Chagga of Tanzania were chiefdoms. Note that non-Bantu chiefdoms existed. We know, through the history of the Luo-speaking peoples of eastern Africa, that some even settled among Bantu communities.

ULIJUA?

Some general geological changes in Africa:

• Certain “land” bridges disappeared
• Rivers, like the Zambezi River, changed their course
• The Sahara desert expanded

Colonial Africa

While some colonialists claimed to have first discovered Africa know that it is impossible to discover inhabited land. Especially a territory as immense as the entire continent of Africa, whose inhabitants have been trading overseas for centuries.

Later came European colonialists…

European colonialists first arrived in Africa to trade with Africans and to exploit its resources. The history of Africa during colonization is a sad one. European powers settled in Africa to benefit from labour and natural resources.

Unfortunately, most of the recorded colonial history in Africa that we have access to was put together by former colonial empires. An inestimable number of African history, property and heritage disappeared during colonization. People from multiple nations in Africa lost their lives to severe atrocities caused by European colonists.

If you are interested in learning about the impact of Europeans in Africa consider reading Things Fall Apart, to know more about the book click here.

… who caused agonizing horrors and terrors …

Colonialism was a gruesome time for Africans. During the reign of King Leopold II of the Belgians – alone – over 10 million Congolese were killed. It was one of the most brutal and deadliest reigns in the history of humankind.

Many languages and cultures were lost in massive cultural genocides, not to talk of actual genocides. Millions of people were kidnapped, many “shipped” from the infamous Slave Coast region of west Africa, to labour as slaves in countries such as Brazil and the United States in the Americas.

Colonies in Africa were mainly operated by the present-day countries of Britain, France, Germany and Portugal. In the colonies, Africans were forced to labour on their own land to benefit – and in turn build –  Europeans powers. A stark example of this regime took place in Apartheid South Africa.

…until Africans had enough of it

Throughout colonial African history, people ardently fought off the oppressive European powers. Sure enough a time came when a mighty independence movement swept over Africa.

To name but a few there was in Kenya the Mau Mau Uprising against Britain and the Algerian War of independence against France. Most Africans strived to gain their independence without violence. African politicians such as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and Nelson Mandela are some of the awesome people responsible for liberating their nations, while positively impacting the world.

ULIJUA?

• Ethiopia is the only country, of all the countries of Africa, to have never been colonized.
• Many African countries gained their independence throughout the 1960s, and a large group did so in 1960 which is known as the Year of Africa.

Post-colonial Africa

Ever since attaining independence, work to restore and build Africa has been taking place. However, challenges such as underdevelopment and poverty must be overcome.

It is up to Africans…

Nearly all African countries have only been in existence for 60 years, they are new nations. Soon after independence many African states united to form organizations with the intent to better and/or develop Africa. Like the African Union (AU), as well as regional organizations like ECOWAS and SADC.

Later, aid from western powers, commonly referred to as tied-aid, started being poured into African economies. Put into place to fuel economic development and eradicate poverty, among other things, this aid has not proved to be much help to African populations. Poverty has only shot up. Where did we go wrong?

Poor governance can be blamed for wars and conflicts that have long ravaged the lives of Africans like in Somalia and the Sahel region. However, bear in mind that Africa has done quite well in handling select issues given its colonial inheritance.

Considerable peace and order has been maintained in most states despite the arbitrary boundaries formed during the Scramble for Africa (1884). We have some politicians, activists and Pan-Africanism to thank for that. Today some African countries, like Botswana and Rwanda, highly rank as the cleanest, safest and most gender-equal countries in the world!

…to do good because Africans are able.

In Africa history and culture are fundamental subjects to safeguard and study. Languages indigenous to Africa must be kept from dying. There have been notable initiatives to preserve African cultures on the continent. Like the use of Kiswahili in Tanzania or traditional dress as school uniforms in Burkina Faso.

Children are the future. Education is vital for a nation, as well as its economy. At this time, too many children are denied a standard education due to lack of funds and resources. Education must become accessible to all peoples. All children – including girls – deserve an adequate education. The girl child is just as important as the boy child.

Nowadays youth are mobilizing to create sustainable change across the continent of Africa and in the diaspora. Acting to establish good governance, accessible resources and public goods for all people is a great leap into the greatness that will become future African history.

The history of Africa cannot be put into one box: this was a brief one whew!

This post was all about the history of Africa people!