Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T10:27:56.318Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Africa Between the Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Robert J. Cummings
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Africa is the second largest continent in the world. Partitioned into what is now fiftyone or more territorial units at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, the continent presently has the largest number of states represented at the United Nations. This numerical strength has advantages and disadvantages for Africans. It is advantageous because it gives Africa greater visibility in the international voting process. It is disadvantageous because it turns this vast continent into a highly fragmented sector of the international community. Yet Africa's size and fragmentation have great significance for Africanists because together these factors make the continent a major laboratory for research on human society. Africa's numerous political and socio-economic units provide many examples of political and social engineering for students of underdeveloped world societies.

My presidential address tonight deals with Africa and its role and position in world history between two ages. The two ages addressed are the ancient/medieval and the modern/contemporary. As a historian, I see ancient African history as going back to the appearance of Homo Sapiens whose origins are now conclusively identified with East Africa. In tracing the historical past of Africa, I do not wish to travel so far back as to link up with those early Homo Sapiens, rather I wish to go only as far back on the world continuum as ancient Egypt to show in time how this magnificent civilization served as the birthplace of many cultural ideas that later travelled in all directions from the Nile Valley.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, Archibald. 1969. A History of Colonization on the Western Coast of Africa. Connecticut: Negro Universities Press.Google Scholar
Amin, Samir. 1973. Neocolonialism in West Africa. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Amin, Samir. 1977. Imperialism and Unequal Development. London: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Ajayi, J. Ade. 1971. Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1845-1891. New York: International Publications.Google Scholar
Ayandele, E. A. 1960. The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842-1914. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Azikiwe, Nnamdi. 1970. Liberia in World Politics. Connecticut: Negro Univerisities Press.Google Scholar
Baran, Paul. 1957. The Political Economy of Growth. New York: Marzani and Munsel Publishers.Google Scholar
Bastide, Roger. 1967. Les Ameriques Noire, Les Civilizations Africaines Dans Le Nouveau Monde. Paris: Payot.Google Scholar
Bastide, Roger. 1978. The African Religions of Brazil: Toward A Sociology of the Interpenetration of Civilizations. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, Norman. 1975. Africa and Europe From Roman Times to the Present. New York: Africana Press.Google Scholar
Bennett, Norman. 1984. Africa and Europe From Roman Times to National Independence. 2nd ed. New York: Africana.Google Scholar
Berman, Edward H. 1975. African Reactions to Missionary Education. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Billington, James A. (ed.). 1953. The Journal of Charlotte L. Forten. New York: Collier Books.Google Scholar
Blyden, E. W. 1978. Selected Letters of Edward Wilmot Blyden. Reprint. New York: KTO Press.Google Scholar
Boorstein, Daniel J. 1983. The Discoveries: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Browne, R. S. and Cummings, R.J. 1985. The Lagos Plan of Action vs. The Berg Report: Contemporary Issues In African Economic Development. Lawrenceville, VA.: Brunswick Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Burness, Donald. 1977. Fire: Six Writers From Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde. Washington: Three Continents Press.Google Scholar
Casely-Hayford, J. C. 1969. Ethiopia Unbound. Reprint London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Cesaire, Aime. 1955. Discours Sur Le Colonialism. 3rd ed. Paris: Presence Africaine.Google Scholar
Casaire, Aime. 1959. “L'Homme de Culture et Ses Responsabilities.” Presence Africaine,Deuxieme Congres Des Escrivains Et Artistes Noirs. No. Special, March 26-April 1. Tome 1.Google Scholar
Christy, David. 1854. African Colonization By the Free Colored People of the United States: An Indispensible Auxillary to African Mission. Cincinnati: J.A. James.Google Scholar
Chazan, Naomi. 1978. “The Africanization of Political Change: Some Aspects of the Dynamics of Political Culture in Ghana and Nigeria.” African Studies Review XXI, 3:15–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chittick, H. N. 1965. “The Shirazi Colonization of East Africa.” Journal of African History, 6:275–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clapham, (Sir) John H. 1941. The Cambridge Economic History of Europe from the Decline of the Roman Empire. Edinburgh: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cobban, Alfred. 1960. In Search of Humanity: The Role of The Enlightenment in Modern History. New York: Brazilier.Google Scholar
Cummings, Melbourne S. 1972. “The Rhetoric of Bishop Henry McNeil Turner: Leading Advocate in the African Emigration Movement, 1866-1907.” Los Angeles: UCLA Ph.D. Diss.Google Scholar
Cummings, Robert J. 1986. “Internal Factors Which Generate Famine: A Critique,” Chapter 8 in Glantz, M. (ed.) Drought and Hunger in Africa: Denying Famine a Future in Africa. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Curtin, Philip D. 1964. The Image of Africa. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Curtin, Philip D. 1969. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Damas, Leon-Gontran. 1934. L'Etudiant Noir. Paris: Gallimard.Google Scholar
Curtin, Philip D. 1956. Black Label. Paris: Gallimard.Google Scholar
Curtin, Philip D. 1972. Pigments. Reprint. Paris: Presence Africaine.Google Scholar
deBenoist, Joseph-Roger. 1979. La Balkanization De L'Afrique Occidentale Francaise. Abidjan, Dakar, Lome: Les Nouvelle Editions Africaines.Google Scholar
De Graft-Johnson, J. C. 1957. African Empires of the Past. Paris: Presence Africaine.Google Scholar
Delany, Martin R. 1969. The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States. Reprint. New York: Arno Press.Google Scholar
Delany, Martin R. (with Campbell, R.). 1969. Search for a Place: Black Separation and Africa, 1860. Arm Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Diop, Cheik Anta. 1955. Nations Negre et Culture. Paris: Presence Africaine.Google Scholar
Diop, Cheik Anta. 1974. African Origins of Civilization: Myth or Reality. Cook, Mercer, ed. & trans. New York: Lawrence Hill.Google Scholar
Diop, Cheik Anta. 1978. The Cultural Unity of Black Africa. Chicago: Third World Press.Google Scholar
Douglass, Frederick. 1962. Life and Times cf Frederick Douglass. London. Collier-Macmillan Ltd.Google Scholar
Drake, St. Clair. 1977. The Redemption of Africa and Black Religion. Chicago: Third World Press.Google Scholar
DuBois, W. E. B. 1947. The World and Africa. New York: Viking Press.Google Scholar
DuBois, W. E. B. 1970. The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870. New York: Dover.Google Scholar
Duffy, James. 1963. Portugal in Africa. Baltimore: Penguin.Google Scholar
Economic Commission for Africa. 1985. Evaluation of the Implementation of the Regional Food Plan for Africa (1978-1984): A Preliminary Assessment of the Food and Agricultural Aspects cf the Lagos Plan of Action. New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
Emmanuel, Argihiri. 1972. Unequal Exchange. New York: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Esedebe, P. O. 1982. Pan-Africanism: The Idea and Movement, 1776-1963. Washington: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Fagan, Brian M. 1984. Clash of Cultures. New York: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Fage, J. D. 1978. Cambridge History of Africa, vol. 2, c. 500 B.C.-A.D. 1050. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Fage, J. D. and Oliver, R. (eds.). 1970. Papers in African Prehistory. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Fanon, Frantz. 1967. Black Skin, Whited Masks. New York: Grove Press.Google Scholar
Fisher, M. M. 1922. “Lott Cary, the Colonizing Missionary.” Journal of Negro History. 7 (October):17–32.Google Scholar
Folz, Robert. 1980. The Concept of Empire in Western Europe from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century. Connecticut: Greenwood.Google Scholar
Frank, A. G. 1978. Dependent Accumulation and Underdevelopment. London: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Frazier, E. Franklin. 1957. Race and Cultural Contacts in the Modern World. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Freyre, Gilberto. 1946. The Masters and the Slaves: A Study in the Development of Brazilian Civilization. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Frutkin, Susan. 1973. Aime Cesaire, Black Between Worlds. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press.Google Scholar
Fyfe, Christopher. 1979. A Short History of Sierra Leone. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Harden, Donald. 1963. The Phoenicians. Rev. ed. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Harris, Joseph E. 1982. Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora. Washington: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Hayes, William C. 1965. Most Ancient Egypt. Chicago:University Press.Google Scholar
Herskovits, M. J. 1941. The Myth of The Negro Past. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Herskovits, M. J. 1943. Pesquisa Ethnologicas Na Bahia. Bahia: Publicacoe de Museu da Bahia.Google Scholar
Herskovits, M. J. 1962. The Human Factor in Changing Africa. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Inikori, Joseph E. (ed.). 1982. Forced Migrations: The Impact of the Export Slave Trade on African Societies. New York: Africana Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Inikori, Joseph E. 1976. “Measuring the Atlantic Slave Trade: An Assessment of Curtin and Anstey.” Journal of African History XVII. 2:197-223; and XVII, 4:595–627.Google Scholar
Jacobs, Sylvia M. 1982. Black Americans and The Missionary Movement in Africa. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Kent, R. R. 1965. “Palmares: An African State in Brazil.” Journal of African History 6:169–75.Google Scholar
Kup, A. P. 1961. A History of Sierra Leone, 1400-1787. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Kimambo, I. N. 1971. A Political History of The Pare of Tanzania. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.Google Scholar
Kimambo, I. N. 1972. (with Ranger, T. O.). Historical Study of African Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Ki-Zerbo, J. (ed.). 1981. General History of Africa I: Methodology and African Prehistory. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Leakey, Mary D. 1971. Olduvai Gorge: Excavations in Beds I & II, 1960-1963. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Livingstone, David. 1971. Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. Reprint New York: Johnson Publishing.Google Scholar
Lucas, J. O. 1970. Religions in West Africa and Ancient Egypt. Lagos: CMS Bookshop.Google Scholar
Mafeje, Archie. 1967. “The Role of the Bard in a Contemporary African Community.” Journal of African Languages VI: 193–223.Google Scholar
Mathew, G. 1963. “The East African Coast Until the Coming of the Portuguese.” History of East Africa. Oliver, R. Mathew, G. (eds.). Vol. 1. Oxford: University Press.Google Scholar
Mathurin, Owen C. 1976. Henry Sylvester Williams and The Origins of the Pan-African Movement, 1869-1911. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Mauro, F. 1967. L'Expansion Europene (1600-1870). 2nd ed. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Mazrui, Ali. 1978. “Negritude, the Talmudic Tradition and Intellectual Performance of Blacks and Jews.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 1 (January):19–36.Google Scholar
Mehlinger, Louis R. 1916. “The Attitudes of the Free Negro Toward Colonization.” Journal of Negro History 1 (July):10–19.Google Scholar
Moktar, Go. (ed.). 1981. General History of Africa, II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Murphy, E. Jefferson. 1972. History of African Civilization. New York: Crowell.Google Scholar
Nketia, J. H. K. 1963. “The Study of African and Afro-American Music.” The Black Perspective In Music 1, 1:7–15.Google Scholar
Nkrumah, Kwame. 1964. Consciencism. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Niane, D. T. (ed.). 1982. UNESCO General History of Africa, IV: Africa From the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California.Google Scholar
Nyang, Sulayman S. 1984. Islam, Christianity, and African Identity. Brattleboro: Amana Books.Google Scholar
Nyerere, Julius. 1977. “The Plea of the Poor.” (August) Presidential Address (unpublished). Washington: Howard University.Google Scholar
Obenga, Theophile. 1973. Afrique Dan l'e Antique. Paris: Editions du Seuil.Google Scholar
Obenga, Theophile. 1981. “Sources and Specific Techniques Used in African History: General Outline,” in KiZerbo, J. (ed.), General History of Africa, 1: Methodology and African Prehistory. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Ofuatey-Kodjoe, W. 1977. “The Ideological Triangle: Reciprocal Ideological Influences among Afro-West Indians, Afro-Americans and Africans.” Studia Africana 1 (Spring).Google Scholar
Ogot, B. A. 1974. Zamani: A Survey of East African History. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.Google Scholar
Oliver, Roland. 1952. The Missionary Factor in East Africa. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Oliver, Roland. 1965. Africa in the Days of Exploration. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Oliver, Roland and Fagan, Brian. 1975. Africa in the Iron Age, c. 500 B.C. to A. D. 1400. Cambridge: University Press.Google Scholar
Organization of African Unity. 1981. Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa, 1980-2000. Geneva: International Institute for Labor Studies.Google Scholar
Pierson, Donald. 1942. Negroes in Brazil. Chicago: University Press.Google Scholar
Previte-Orton, C. W. 1951. A History of Europe From 1198 to 1378. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Racine, Daniel. 1982. “Concepts of Diaspora and Alienation as Privileged Themes in Negritude Literature,” Harris, J. (ed.). Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora. Washington: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Ranger, T. O. 1968. Emerging Themes of African History. Evanston: Northwestern.Google Scholar
Ramos, Artur. 1934. Negroes in Brazil. Trans, from Brasileiro, O Negro. de Janeiro, Rio: Civilizacao Brasileira.Google Scholar
Rauf, Abdur. 1974. Bilal Ibn Rabah. Washington: Islamic Center.Google Scholar
Redkey, Edwin S. 1969. Black Exodus: Black Nationalism and Back-to-Africa Movements, 1890-1910. New Haven: Yale.Google Scholar
Rodney, Walter. 1965. “Portuguese Attempts at Monopoly on the Upper Guinea Coast, 1580-1650.” Journal of African History 6, 3:307–22.Google Scholar
Rodney, Walter. 1974. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Washington: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Rodriques, Jose Honorio. 1962. “The Influence of Africa on Brazil and of Brazil on Africa.” Journal of African History. 3:45–72.Google Scholar
Rodriques, Jose Honorio. 1968. Brazil and Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Rodriques, Nina. 1932. Los Africanos no Brasil. Sao Paulo: Cia. Editora Nacional.Google Scholar
Rollin, Frank A. 1883. Life and Public Services cf Martin R. Delany. Boston: Lee and Shepard.Google Scholar
Sanceau, Elaine. 1969. Henry the Navigator. Connecticut: Archon Book.Google Scholar
Shick, Tom W. 1980. Behold the Promised Land: A History of Afro-American Settler Society in Nineteenth Century Liberia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.Google Scholar
Shinnie, P. L. 1971. The African Iron Age. Oxford: University Press.Google Scholar
Skinner, Elliott P. 1972. Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Sembene, Ousmane. 1962. Les Bouts De Bois De Dieu. Paris: Le Livre Contemporain.Google Scholar
Senghor, Leopold Sedar. 1959. African Socialism. New York: American Society of Culture.Google Scholar
Senghor, Leopold Sedar. 1964. Liberte 1: Negritude et Humanisme. Paris: Le Seuil.Google Scholar
Tholfsen, T. R. 1984. Ideology and Revolution in Modern Europe: An Essay on the Role of Ideas in History. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Thompson, V. P. 1969. Africa and Unity: The Evolution of Pan-Africanism. London: Harlow, Longman.Google Scholar
Turner, Lorenzo D. 1949. Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect. Chicago: University Press.Google Scholar
Uya, Ukon Edet. 1982. “Conceptualizing Afro-American/African Relations: Implications for African Diaspora Studies,” Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora. Washington: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Van den Berghe, Pierre. 1967. Race and Racism. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Waugh, W. T. 1980. A History of Europe from 1378 to 1494. Connecticut: Greenwood.Google Scholar
Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1979. The Capitalist World Economy. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
wa Thiong'o, Ngugi. 1972. Homecomings: Essays on African and Caribbean Literature, Culture and Politics. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
wa Thiong'o, Ngugi. 1981. Writers in Politics. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
West, Richard. 1970. Back to Africa: A History of Sierra Leone and Liberia. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Williams, Chancellor. 1974. The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. Chicago: Third World Press.Google Scholar
Williams, Raymond. 1976. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. New York: Fontana/Croom.Google Scholar
Wolf, Eric. 1982. Europe and the People Without History. Berkeley: University of California.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1981. Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington: IBRD/The World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1984. Toward Sustained Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Joint Program of Action. Washington: IBRD/The World Bank.Google Scholar
Wright, Richard. 1954. Black Power. New York: Harper.Google Scholar