Islam was a religion brought to Africa through trade with the Middle East and was mostly prominent in high- ranking politicians and traders. Holy wars are fought in Islamic cultures when followers feel that those in power or among other divisions start to not follow the Koran as originally intended. The second article “KABAKA MUTESA I. 1875,” by Ernest Linant de Bellefonds is actually Bellefond’s journal describing his time spent with the King of Buganda. Bellefond’s is an administrator with the Egyptian government and he was sent Page 2 to Buganda, present day Uganda, to get King Mutesa to recognize Egyptian sovereignty.
Chinua Achebe’s Lens Chinua Achebe’s brilliantly written novel, Things Fall Apart, carefully tells the story of an organized Umuofian society who stumbles and falls apart mostly because of its inner struggles dealing with certain key members of the tribe. Achebe approaches Things Fall Apart with a redeeming and caring eye, as the main purpose of the novel is to change the primitive and spiteful image that Africa had gleaned from various documents written in the past. Many “Westerners”, such as Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness appeared to see Africans as unintelligent and primordial. Achebe made it his duty to prove them wrong, and shed a whole new light on the intellectual capability of African tribes. Both novels involve the colonization of Africa, but each has its own perspective of the native’s response to it.
Rastafari is a young, Africa-centred religion which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as King of Ethiopia in 1930. Rastafarians believe Haile Selassie I is God and that he will return to the African members of the black community who are living in exile as the result of colonisation and the slave trade. (www.bbc.co.uk) Marcus Garvey a political activist developed the idea of Rastafari ideology because he wanted to improve the status of his fellow black people. There are approximately one million people worldwide adherents of Rastafari as a faith. The 2001 census found 5,000 Rastafarians living in England and Wales (bbc.co.uk) Rastafarians are known by different names such as Rasta, sufferers, locks men, and dreadlocks or dreads.
It became a trading center and caravan stop for the Sudanese Muslims who wanted to cross the Sahara route to Mecca during the Hajj. Timbuktu fell after the collapse of the empire in Mali and was than captured by the Songhai ruler Sonni Ali in 1468. Sonni Ali died in 1492, so his son took over and was very unsuccessful. In result Timbuktu came under the control of the Songhay Dynasty, entering the “golden ages” of Timbuktu where scholarship and trade flourished. In medieval Timbuktu there were examples of religious interactions, trade, and cultural exchange, such as Timbuktu immerging into a center of Islamic culture, products being imported and exports, and libraries and religious institutions being built.
It is not sure whom it is written by, because the author only wrote down his initials (A.Z. ), but it can with some certainty be stated that the author was a British merchant. The subject of the letter, as the title suggests, is the trade between British merchants and Africa, and it is especially concerning the slave trade along the African coasts. In his letter, the author requests that the British Parliament meet the British merchants (and/or companies—whether or not yet to be established—of traders) financially, in order to help them strengthen their position in the African slave trade. Also, he suggests that they fortify existing or erect new forts, castles and settlements along the African coasts.
Influences on the Robin Johns In Randy Sparks’ novel, The Two Princes of Calabar, the Robin Johns, who are the main characters, are commonly characterized as creoles. Being a creole means that you are a product of various cultures, and in the Robin Johns case, they fit the description. Due to their involvement in the Atlantic slave trade, the Robin Johns were products of the Americas, Africa, and Europe. In the novel, Randy Sparks references a well-known historian by the name of Ira Berlin. Ira is speaking of the Robin Johns when she states that, “ ‘by there experiences and sometimes by their persons, they had become part of the three worlds that came together along the Atlantic littoral’ ” (Sparks 4).
His plea is designed to cause self-reflection of the actions and events that happen in the kidnapping and selling of slaves with a focus on faith in a deity of power, or an almighty God. Wesley writes with a lot of emotion and power which comes from his background as a leader of a Methodist group. In the selection Wesley begins by focusing his attention to the sea captains who operate the actual slave trade itself. Although there are many ships that run the slave trade route, the number of captains compared to the ratio of slave owners is quite small. Because this article is very harsh and blunt, and perhaps even offensive, to whom it is targeting, by temporarily drawing his attention away from the average population who supports slavery he is able to draw the audience in to read his call to justice.
No doubt ably when the discussion of slavery is on hand it is difficult to avoid associating the idea of religion into the mix. It is difficult to accept the religion of the land when one lives below the line of existence of said land, but it is greater to recognize that the religion at hand is perverted by those whom seek to find shelter for their hypocritical actions. This is the viewpoint from which Fredrick Douglass writes his take on religion in the narrative of his life as a slave. While he wants to make sure that we understand he is not opposed to religion, he attempts to illustrate the inconsistencies with the religion of the objects of his observance, mainly his master and others likewise. Douglass effectively describes the situations in which the concept of religion and practice of slavery walk hand in hand; thus exposing his problems with the religion of the land.
Narrative of an American Slave Douglass' Narrative begins with the few facts he knows about his birth and parentage. He knows that his father is a slave owner and his mother is a slave named Harriet Bailey. Here and throughout the autobiography, Douglass highlights the common practice of white slave owners raping slave women, both to satisfy their sexual hungers and to expand their slave populations. In the first chapter, Douglass also makes mention of the hypocrisy of Christian slave owners who used religious teachings to justify their abhorrent treatment of slaves; the religious practice of slave owners is a recurrent theme in the text. Throughout the next several chapters, Douglass describes the conditions in which he and other slaves live.
Treachery and Virtue in “Oroonoko or The Royal Slave” Treachery and Virtue are two things that often times do not go together. They in fact contradict one another completely. However, in Oroonoko these two themes play a very important role in the development of the story as a whole. They are the basis for this paper and they teach the reader that if a man’s word is not his bond and he allows himself to be consumed with only self gratification, then that man will abandon his virtues and often become a treacherous person. Because this novel was written during a period in history that dealt with the injustices of slavery, this paper will take on the aspect of a sociological criticism.