Why does there seem to be a lack of major African inventions?
It’s not because of the ignorance of Africans. It’s the ignorance of the rest of the world.When everything is depicted as white, you’d think that Black people had absolutely no hand in creating anything. Sometimes I go to White supremacists sites to see what they say. After a long hot shower, I understand that they believe that Black people “eat their grandmothers” and should be grateful for the civilization that White people bought to the continent.They don’t talk about the Walls of Benin nor Timbuktu or Mansa Musa. My nurse was shocked to see cars and roads in Nigeria. I love her to death but she’s not alone in that thinking. I turned the TV to the Africa Channel to show her more. We don’t ever speak about how Africa didn’t have a Bronze or Copper Age because they’d learn to smelt these materials long before Europe did.People also love to believe that when enslaved Africans were brought to America they were simply ignorant fools that knew nothing. It’s ridiculous. Africans knew about irrigation, agriculture, etc. Some were blacksmiths, farmers, and even military tacticians. Many slaves coming from the Congo were able to put together slave revolts, some of the first seen in America using their military training.Why don’t we know about it? Because bringing it back to the White Supremacy websites, if you can show that Africans did all these things, WHITE SUPREMACY IS A GARBAGE THEORY. It no longer makes sense. Your argument falls to dust. This is one big reason why we don’t hear much in those areas. But if you look at the walls of Benin, you will see that they were mathematically precise in their positioning. These are societies that had low crime, family, traditions were kept alive, and a sense of community.But it’s much more fun to believe that the native people of Africa were like a Tarzan movie come to life versus the beautiful communities that existed, right?
Did Russia participate in the slave trade like America did in the past?
Russia’s history is deeply entwined with the trade in slaves.The Kievan Rus — the originally-Norse rulers of what eventually became Russia — were major slave traders. They dispatched a steady stream of captives to the slave markets of the Black Sea or the Volga river— part of the reason that “slave” and “Slav” share an etymology in languages all over Europe and the Middle East. The Arab traveler Ahmad ibn Fadlan described his time among Rus slave dealers on the Volga in the early 900’s (an account that was very, very, very fictionalized into the movie The 13th Warrior). After about the year 1000 the city-state of Novgorod also began capturing slaves in Finland.A Rus trader ( right) selling a slave to a Khazar chieftain (left)Later on — particularly after the fall of the Byzantine empire in 1453 — Russia became large involuntary exporter of slaves. The Mongols and especially the Crimean Tatars were aggressive slave-hunters; the wide, indefensible frontiers to the south and west of Russian territory were ideal terrain for catching slaves. The Black Sea slave port of Caffa — infamous for being the place that introduced the Black Plague to Europe — was also one of the largest slave markets in the world, probably bigger than any individual African market before 1700. Women were the most prized targets: fair-skinned women fetched the best prices in Ottoman markets.For most of the 15th, 16th and 17th century Russia participated in the slave trade as both an importer and a victim. The last great slave raid against Russian territory was made in 1769.Agricultural slavery was a major part of Russian life until the 1670’s when agricultural slaves were converted into serfs. Domestic slavery survived until 1723 when Peter the Great converted that, too, into serfdom. However most Russian slaves were Russian, not foreign; they were often poor people who sold themselves into slavery when they had no other recourse.
How did the myths contribute to Greek society, culture, and history?
In a bad way... really.. But not in the beginning... Ulysses and other have contributed to rise the will to discover and conquest other lands... Later on... Greeks thought they were invincible!... so strong they was... And finally... Where is the so big Empire of Greece? Lays down under the time run out.... This is the way humanity uses to be... Guess I gave a help with a point to follow in your essay.....
How did slavery affect the population of Africa?
In majority the impact was positive to africa.The entry of civilizations and educated people did of course have a population impact but it also brought some knowledge.Let’s not forget, africa had not invented the wheel, had not invented 2 story buildings before europeans came in.Africa was ridden with disease and starvation.If you take away people then new ones are born and survive who would otherwise have hungered to death.It’s the same today, a pest could kill a hundred million westafricans and it would take no relevant time until birthrates brought the population back to balance between hunger-death and newborns.Basically you can say that nearly anywhere low civilizations were conquered by europeans the outcome was positive. Regardless if it was for slavery or occupation.All those areas are now a lot more advanced than others, in some cases extraordinarily better.Also the black africans in america do have quite some benefits from their dark history.Their average intelligence increased from lower than 70 to 85 (by more than 20%!) from the mixing with europeans which I would consider a very positive outcome for human beings in general.While our western societies now clearly see slavery as a barbarian act, even bad deeds can have mostly positive results.