Modern African History

Modern African History Quiz

Before beginning our study of African literature it is necessary to have a basic overview of African history.

For this assignment you will be studying web resources on modern African history. On the day of the quiz you will need to write a short answer to one of the questions below. I will announce which question the day of the quiz, so be prepared to answer all of them. No notes will be allowed.

Basic answers to the questions are available on the MSU Exploring Africa website, see pages linked below. You will need to take careful notes on these pages and study your notes. You can improve or elaborate your answers by drawing on what you learn from other resources, such as the BBC Story of Africa site and others hyperlinked below. Notice with the BBC site that each page has a series of valuable pages linked to it that are part of the same content.

1. How did the Atlantic slave trade begin? What is "chattel slavery" and how is it different from other types found in Africa? Exploring Africa: Slavery. BBC Slavery

2. How did the Atlantic slave trade come to an end? What effect did the slave trade have on Africa? Exploring Africa: Slavery. BBC Slavery

3. When did the "scramble for Africa" take place? Why?
What was the effect of the borders drawn at the Berlin Conference in 1884? Exploring Africa: Colonialism, BBC Africa & Europe

4. What are characteristics of the four different types of colonial rule? (Which of these types occurred in the Americas?) Exploring Africa: Colonialism, BBC Africa & Europe

5. What were political, economic, and social practices of colonial rule? Exploring Africa Colonialism, BBC Africa & Europe

6. How did Africans resist colonialism in the early years, between WWI and WWII, after WWII, and during the Nationalist movements? Exploring Africa Colonial Resistance, BBC Between Wars, BBC Independence