According to history, ancient Africa seemed to be very great. We can look at different aspects that may give us evidence as to why ancient Africa was great. Firstly, the African civilizations were extraordinary in their way. African civilization refers to the pre-colonial African Kingdoms. Some of these kingdoms were the Mali empire, the Songhai Empire, and the Kongo Empire. These kingdoms had powerful male and female rulers and armies. They had special tactics that they used in times of war. Moreover, some powerful religious leaders helped control religious issues in the kingdom. Apart from the religious figures, there were also many more people who aided in managing the Kingdoms.
Secondly, Ancient Africa was rich in natural resources. Some of the most common resources that were in ancient times were minerals such as gold, copper, iron, diamonds, and other precious metals. Thirdly, the African features, especially ancient Egyptian features such as the Great Pyramid, portray how great the region was.
The other thing showing how great ancient Africa was, were the African explorers who explored the new world. It shows that ancient Africans were indeed great travelers. These were people who stepped onto the new world even before Christopher Columbus did (pre-Columbian African presence in the new world). Some sources say the Europeans founded the new world. The very same foreigners whom European rulers sent to the African soil to investigate ancient Africa, report findings, and lay a foundation of European colonization.
These Europeans came into the African land because they feared becoming extinct in the world. The Europeans colonizing the minds of Africans, and even twisting history to justify the colonization was one of the ways that they were able to conquer Africa.
To support the pre-Columbian African presence, there is a history of an African aiding Columbus reach a certain destination of his voyage. Upon their arrival, they found the natives with gold and he asked where they got it from. The locals told him they got the gold from African people. This just shows how much ancient Africa was ahead of the Europeans.
Africa was so great that there ever existed an African empire in Brazil whom enslaved Africans formed. Now, having discussed some aspects that portray ancient Africa as being great, we ask ourselves the following questions. Why did the African continent fall, and how did other foreign parties such as the Europeans get to conquer ancient Africa?
#1 Why the African Continent Fell?
There are various reasons the African continent fell. Here, we will mention about five reasons. African diversity was one reason the African continent fell and other people conquering it. Through diversity, which is an aspect showing African greatness, ancient Africans could not unite since everyone had their language. This isolation made it very easy for foreigners to conquer ancient Africa and eventually the continent collapsing.
Desertification in the northern part of Africa also contributed to Africa falling. The resources good for the continent contributed to foreigners conquering Africa.
This is how it happened. When the Europeans came to Africa, they did their research and found natural resources that they desired a lot. They then reported back to their home and the next thing that happened was more Europeans coming to the African land, exploiting, and conquering it. They described ancient Africans as being primitive, as they did not use their natural resources.
Human error was the other reason the continent fell. We see this with kings upholding their moral uprightness at the expense of their people’s safety and security. For example, king Oba Ewaure, he welcomed foreigners despite his prophecy. He decided to take a moral ground.
Ancient African religion was also a contributor to African falling and foreigners getting to conquer it.
#2 How Religion Contributed to Africa Getting Conquered
During the invasion of Europeans into the African land, they came with missionaries who had their beliefs. They mixed with Africans and gradually they brought in their ideas, making Africans develop other ideologies. Later, Africans began disassociating with who they were. They forgot themselves as ancient Africans, allowing others to look superior and in charge, hence making it easy for them to conquer Africa.
King Mvemba is an example of an ancient African ruler whom Portuguese manipulated through religion to get what they wanted. They had conquered his land and enslaved his people.
#3 How Trade Contributed to Africa Getting Conquered
Just like in religion, the Europeans colonized the minds of Africans before advancing to achieve their target. In this case, the Eurasians came close to the African borders and intermingled with them. They also exchanged ideas and gradually, the Africans were getting familiar with the Eurasians and even trading with them. Before Africans realized that the Eurasians were so much into their natural resources, the Eurasians had already taken over the land.
#4 The Mulattos
The Mulattos refer to people of mixed black and white descent. They were half breeds who might have come through the intermingling of Africans and Eurasians. At one time, they became more of the Eurasians than they were of Africans hence blacks perceived them being superior. The Europeans then used them to conquer the Africans. This is the same tactic Europeans used to colonize other African nations. They would present their culture as being more superior to others, hence using that to manipulate the minds of Africans hence dominating and conquering them.
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