Free Sample Essays > African History
Were African Civilizations uncivilized
Early European scholars had to construct the myth that Africans were uncivilized savages in order to justify the African slave trade. This myth included Europeans looking down upon their whole civilization, history, and their way of life. In reality, Africans civilizations produced great scholarship and art. In fact, African civilizations were highly civilized, having a highly developed society and culture showing evidence of moral and intellectual advancement.
The African civilization developing independently was fortunately able to develop a form of government, where the kings were absolute rulers, and a system on how to elect them. The kingdom was basically made up of villages under a local chieftain. “The kings are elected by the common people and by the highest vote; for the kingdom does not devolve on friends or descendants, and even someone’s children do not inherit,” was a statement written by a merchant named Pieter de Marees. This shows that everyone had a say in the anointment of their new king, in contrast to the “fixed” successors that inherited the throne, such as the monarchies in Europe. In conclusion, corruption in the government was decreased but not eliminated. Corruption in the government had brought down even the most powerful civilizations such as dynasties from ancient China and the Roman Empire. “For his inauguration he must in the first place buy many Cows and much Palm wine and give these to his Subjects as a present; for they very much love a king who often fétes them, but hate a king who is frugal and keen on accumulating Gold. They will not respect such a king and he is not loved by the common people…” The relationship between king and servant was less harsh than other ancient societies, like in ancient Asian societies, where the royal family was separate from the common people. If the king passed the subject had to bow down and could not even look up to the ruler. In Africa, the ruler would frequently hold an audience to allow the people to voice their complaints. This shows how caring an African king are and how they respond to the people’s needs and complaints.
African women had more rights compared to other early societies of the world at that time. They were actually valued for their the work they did, such as working the fields or even for just bearing the children and not just thought of as property and it was their “duty” to take care of families. Family ties were very important to African society, such as in other great civilizations, for example, the ancient Chinese societies. They believed that it was the building blocks of the entire economy. Furthermore, African lineage was based on the mother instead of the father. In one of Ibn Battuta’s accounts of his visit to Mali from a Muslim perspective, he wrote: “None of them traces his descent through his father, but from the maternal uncle, and a [next page]