African History Before Colonization

Africa before colonization was very different than the Africa after the Europeans came into the picture. According to Amanda Brooks, Africans had a hard time seperating their religious lives from their every day lives. For example instead of moving forward with agricultural processes they relied on praying and the spirits they prayed to. They were very devoted to their religious practices but it often hurt their agricultural production than helped it. The Africans used this ideology for all of their economic, political, hunting and harvesting aspects of their lives. Their lack of agricultural advancement wasn't all bad however; the African people were communal which means they shared and distributed goods based on kinship. This meant that the African people relied on eachother for survival and although it was not seen as advancement by Europeans, it worked for the African people.

Another aspect that was considered very different and frowned upon by the early Europeans was the lack of technology. Africans had invented their own technology based on the enviornment such as; terracing, crop rotation, swamp farming and mixed farming. They also created their own tools such as hammers and hoes, but their lack of scientific methods and knowledge left them with tools in desperate need of upgrades. The African social stratification was also thrown for a loop when the European settlers came about. The original chain of command begane with the headship elders or sucessful families with the most livestock. But there was not much more in the way of social classes in Africa.

Before European colonization borders between countries

was not an issue with native Africans. But soon after the

European take over borders were set up all over the country dividing it into seperate nations rather than a country in whole. These borders also set up ethnic divisions among the people where they did not exist before. This introduced a cultural dichotomy which proved to be detrimental to African civilization.