From as far back as the emergence of civilization until the present industrial age, Africa has had a presence and an influence in world affairs. If a civilization is regarded as “an advanced state of a society possessing historical and cultural unity,” and if political institutions, economic life, and social organizations are considered to be vital components of a civilization, then Africa has indeed constituted an integral part of the broader history of civilization. The continent itself and all that it has had to offer have lured the interests of nations, societies, and people from throughout the world. For example, Africa’s abundant natural resources, products, and people fed the strategic, ideological, and more so economic interests of Europe during the colonialism period of the 15th-19th centuries.
Even today, there is worldwide attention directed towards Africa. At present, there is interest in resolving negative issues that are plaguing particular regions of the continent. Particularly, the issues include the AIDS epidemic, civil strife, and localized poverty. At the same time, it must be understood that these problems are products of an extended history of Western interference, primarily in the form of colonialism, which resulted in a diaspora of millions of native Africans to remote regions of the world and the exploitation of those left behind. Accordingly, this dispersal led to sexual, social, and cultural amalgamations between dispersed Africans and Asians, Australians, Europeans, and Native Americans. This goes to show that the African influence on other cultures was a worldwide phenomenon. To this day, their influence can be seen and felt in the same areas they were taken to during the Diaspora. Therefore, it is appropriate to argue that Africa has repeatedly made its mark in the broader history of civilization.
Before establishing a brief discussion of Africa’s influence in the history of world civilizations, it is important to recognize that Africa’s cultural influence stems from the pre-colonial civilizations and societies of the continent. Many historians and cultural anthropologists observe aspects of the cultures that shaped and defined particular pre-colonial societies. The African way of life, for the most part, was constructed by political, economic, and social organizations.
In terms of political institutions, organized kingdoms, isolated family states, and village states were the chief political units in Africa. While all political units were not organized kingdoms, “they all seem to indicate the normal capability and desire of establishing governments to solve the problems that every community encounters” (Franklin and Moss, 12-13). The impact of governing entities was a reflection of the sovereignty owed to them by their constituents. As the number of village states increased, many of them began to merge. These mergers resulted in larger, more developed central political organizations. Eventually, each unit formed its own chain of command and military organization.
African economy was driven mostly by agriculture and specialization. Agriculture played an important role in the further development of government organization, as communities sought local leadership over division of labor, crop maintenance, and product distribution. In addition to harvesting crops, domestication of animals was also an important aspect of African economy. Tribes were known for their great skill in breeding, raising, and grazing their livestock. One individual presents his observations of agriculture and domestication from his experience in a small town in Northern Africa:
“The natives cultivate the soil, and keep large droves of horses, cows, sheep, goats, and some asses. The great grain crop is rice…Besides rice, they cultivate a species of red maize, millet, and Guinea corn. They also grow beans, pumpkins, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cotton…The usual food is rice, milk, butter, fish, beef, and mutton. The domesticated animals are horses, used for riding, asses and camels for carrying loads; cattle, the bulls of which have lumps on their shoulders, for milk and meat – sheep with very long wool…goats and poultry, and dogs for guards. They have no hogs…” (“Salih Bilali Remembers Massina – 1844).
Artisanry and metallurgy were significant areas of economic activity. There was a remarkable knowledge of basket and textile weaving, pottery, woodwork, and metallurgy. The use of iron was introduced early in the African economy. In From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, historians John Hope Franklin and Alfred A Moss Jr. discuss the idea of indigenous Africans being the first discoverers of iron:
“The anthropologist Franz Boas insisted that Africans were using iron when European peoples were still in the Stone Age. The simple processes the Africans were found to have used and the early date at which they began to make iron suggest that it was the natives of Africa, and not the Hittites, who discovered its use” (Franklin and Moss, 15).
While studies on this subject still take place, the proposed discovery of iron in Africa proves that pre-colonial African societies were highly advanced civilizations, and they had much to offer the world even before their first encounters with the outside world. As their economies flourished and became more advanced, commerce between tribes and villages took economic activity to advanced levels. Traders often traveled from place to place to barter and to purchase goods. Upon returning, traders would sell the goods they purchased to their community members. Indeed, commerce made communities self-sufficient and were soon able to fully function on their own.
As with political and economic life in Africa, the family was the basis of social organization. Families were the most important institutions in pre-colonial Africa. While the male was usually the head of the family, relationships and family lineage were traced through the mother – matrilineal succession. A wife was not considered a member of her husband’s family. Instead, she would continue to be part of her own family, and the husband would owe her family an indemnity for marriage. Clans were enlarged families and were composed of all families that claimed a common ancestor. Usually, the clan would develop in the same area, but would separate as it grew. There were signs of social stratification within many tribes. At the top was the nobility, followed by the great mass of workers, and at the bottom were those who enjoyed no political or social rights – the slaves, war captives, disgraced or degraded people. Slavery was an important feature of social and economic life. The practice was widespread and had a long history in pre-colonial Africa. Olaudah Equiano, a slave taken to America, gives an account of his experience on a slave vessel on its way to America:
“When I looked around the ship…and saw a large furnace or copper boiling and a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow, I no longer doubted my fate; and quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted…I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country [Nigeria] or even the least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore.” (Equiano, 1756).
Equiano’s story is just one of many slaves’ stories who were taken by force from their homes to unknown, remote places. Slaves were predominantly captives of war and were regarded as the property of tribes, chiefs, or heads of families. While some became associates of their owners, others were sold and exported from the country. Few were sacrificed by kings for religious purposes.
Religion and art were significant aspects of culture in pre-colonial Africa. Before the arrival of Christianity and Islam, Africans worshiped their ancestors. They believed that the spirits of their ancestors had unlimited powers over their lives. The priests of the indigenous religions were patriarchs of the family. In addition to the early slave trade, Christianity and Islam were forms through which Africans maintained interaction with the outside world, as missionaries and evangelists from both faiths traveled to and resided in Africa. Art was self-expression for many Africans. Carvings, music, and languages were mediums through which Africans expressed their creativity and innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires.
For many years, students and historians have conversed over the subject regarding Africa’s influence on world cultures and the broader history of civilization. It has been questioned whether Africans maintained their culture and whether any significant elements of Africa merged with cultures in other regions of the world. While some sociologists have failed to see comparisons between the contemporary life of people of African descent and an African background, other scholars such as Carter G. Woodson insist that many aspects of African cultural heritage can be seen today throughout the world. Upon arriving to America, for example, African people were involved in New World experiences that reflected their African background. Different customs and practices were formed as a result of interaction between various African cultures in the New World. Concurrently, there was a fusion of African cultures and Western cultures. Examples of this cultural interaction can be seen today in jazz, folk tales, religion, social organizations, etc. Not surprisingly, African culture can be detected in these and many other facets of contemporary American culture. This cultural fusion is important in that it is “central to the story [history of America]…that would result in a new American story” (Huggins, 168). Similar interactions occurred in other areas of the world – Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America.
In conclusion, Africa’s impact in the broader history of civilization is related to the pre-colonial societies of the continent and the cultures that shaped and defined those particular societies. Africans had experience in adopting many of the practices of foreigners while at the same time preserving their earlier way of life. While its history is scarred by slavery, colonialism, and exploitation, a positive would be its great and diverse influence on majority of the world. Throughout history, their influence has been seen and felt in the same locations they were taken to during the Diaspora. Therefore, the broader history of civilization could have been different without Africa’s integral influence.
Bibliography
1.) John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, 7th ed., 1-26.
2.) Nathan I. Huggins, \"Integrating Afro-American History into American History,\" in The State of Afro-American History: Past, Present, and Future, 157-168.
3.) William B. Hodgson. Notes on Northern Africa, the Sahara, and the Soudan (New York, 1844), in Philip D. Curtin, ed., Africa Remembered (Madison, 1967), 147-151.
4.) The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African, ed. Paul Edwards (New York, 1966), 25-32.
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