Why do we have history and archaeology?

History Today

Why do we have history and archaeology? In the light of our understanding of ‘deep time’ Daniel Lord Smail argues that it is high time that the two disciplines were reunited. Though obscure in other respects, 1936 was an important year for the philosophy of the human past. This was the year in which the Australian archaeologist V. Gordon Childe published Man Makes Himself, a book that became one of the most widely read works of archaeology ever published. In the same year, R.G. Collingwood, the Oxford don, sat down to pen 36 lectures later published as The Idea of History, a landmark in historiography.

There is nothing to suggest that Collingwood read Man Makes Himself while writing his lectures, though we know that Childe, in later years, read Collingwood. The books themselves could not be more different in form, in substance and in their intended audience. Yet both authors, in their very different ways, had things to say about the curious fragmentation that afflicts the science of the human past. For, when you come to think of it, why do we have history and archaeology? This was not a question that motivated either Childe or Collingwood. But today, more than 70 years on, it is a question that is causing more and more people to scratch their heads. With enough scratching the answer becomes clear: there is no logical way to defend any division of human history. It is high time to reunite archaeology and history.

Yet such a project faces enormous institutional hurdles. Teaching mandates exclude archaeology from the history curriculum and departmental divisions prevent the easy flow of ideas. Visions of a unified history falter in the face of misguided insistence on methodological purity. The division of the human past was set in place more than a century ago, when the logic of ‘deep history’ was not yet apparent. Overcoming the institutional inertia involved will be the great challenge of the next decade. So, as we work towards the reunion of history and archaeology, it is helpful to know that the growing desire for historical interdisciplinarity is not new. Since 1936, or thereabouts, history and archaeology have been on converging paths. There is a history to be written here, a history of how history and archaeology fell apart in the 19th century and then, with the help of figures such as Childe and Collingwood, came back together.

Souce: (Daniel Lord Smail)

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African Currency

African History

In pre-colonial times African currency included shells, ingots, arrowheads, iron, human beings, salt, cattle, goats, blankets, axes, beads, and many others. In the early 1800s a slave could be bought in West Africa with manilla currency; multiples of C-shaped rings of bronze or other metal that could be strung on a staff. Slaves could also be bought for salt or for any number of exchangeable items with a 'store of value'. Dowry or bride price or Lobolo items were usually of diverse nature: cows, blankets, clay pots, and so on. Coins were used in Northern and Eastern Africa from Egyptian times onwards due to ongoing trade contact with Europe and Asia.
During Colonial times (roughly from 1680 to 1990) the respective colonial powers introduced their own currencies to their colonies or produced local versions of their currencies. Examples include the Somali shilling; the Italian East African lira; and the African franc (in Francophone countries). Many post-colonial governments have retained the name and notional value unit system of their prior colonial era currency. For example the British West African pound was replaced by the Nigerian pound which is still divided into shillings.

A different trend is seen when the predominant foreign power relationship changes, causing a change in the currency: the East African rupee (from long-term trade with Arabia and India) was replaced by the East African shilling after the British become the predominant power in the region. Other countries threw off the dominant currency of a neighbour; the Botswana pula replaced the South African rand in Botswana in 1976. Some countries have not changed their currency despite being post-colonial, for example Uganda retains the Ugandan shilling.

Many African countries change their currency's appearance when a new government takes power (often the new head of state will appear on bank notes), though the notional value remains the same. Also, in many African currencies there is such rampant inflation that re-valuing must take place every so often (viz. the Zimbabwe dollar). There is a thriving street trade by unlicensed street traders in US dollars or other stable non-African currency, which are seen as a hedge against local inflation. The exchange rate is grossly more favorable to the seller of the foreign currency than is the official bank rate, and is usually labelled a crime.

In many rural areas there is still a strong bartering culture, the exchanged items being of more immediate value than official currency (you can eat a chicken but not a coin). Even where currency is used, haggling over prices is very common. This is in contrast with the pre-independence Rhodesian dollar which was always a strong currency linked to the British pound.

There is a planned West African Monetary Zone among Anglophone African countries planned for implementation in 2009. Similarly in East Africa, the member countries of the East African Community plan to introduce a single currency, the East African Shilling in 2012.

 Liberia Cloth currency (strips)


Among the peoples of Liberia and Sierra Leone, rolls of woven cotton strips were used as bride price or exchanged for metal implements and salt.

Another widely used common currency was woven goods. Two types are a part of this exhibition—the cotton woven strip roll and the raffia mat or bundles. Strip cloth known among Nigerians as gabanga was often plain and undyed. As a rule, the strips had a standard width between four and six inches. Variations in width and the quality of the weave gave the parties of the transaction a means to negotiate value. Cloth was also frequently used in connection with other currencies, such as brass rods, lending additional flexibility to the negotiations. As there was no government regulation of cloth production, its circulation was limited by the cost and effort of production (the need to spin fibers into threads and then weave the fabric) and by demand. Cloths or mats of more-or-less uniform size were used for gifts, peace offerings, payment from a son to his father upon attaining adulthood and payment upon the birth of a child or the burial of a parent. Cloth currency was also used as a tribute for a spouse who remained chaste or, by contrast, as a penalty for adultery.

 

Brief Summary of the History of Nigeria as a country in 'General'

Nigeria officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Capital Territory. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the south. The capital city is Abuja. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

Before 1914, before there was ever a country called "Nigeria", the people in what is known as "Nigeria" consisted of 4 different 'empires', some of them extending into parts that are not part of current-day Nigeria, like parts of current-day Ghana, and current-day Cameroon.

THE NORTHERN EMPIRE was composed of the Borno empire, some Hausa states (Zazzau, Gobir, Kano, Katsina, Birori, Daura) and some other groups (Gwari, Kebbi, Nupe, Yelwa...)

THE CALABAR KINGDOM is the oldest kingdom, and had the oldest contact with the Europeans. It is believed to have been founded around 1000 A.D., and has the oldest chuch built in Nigeria dating back to 1850. The belief is that this kingdom was founded by twins, and it stretched into parts of current-day Cameroon.

THE ODUDUWA EMPIRE consisted of two main groups. One of them was the indigenous people, whose central religious and cultural center was Ile-Ife, who now make up the Yoruba people. The other group were the Berbels, who eventually formed the Hausa states and the Borno states. (This empire has a lot of interesting stories and legends attached to it. For instance, Oduduwa is considered the creator of the earth, and the ancestor of the Yoruba kings. According to myth, Oduduwa founded the city of Ife and dispatched his sons to establish other cities, where they reigned as priest-kings and presided over cult rituals.)

THE BENIN EMPIRE was also powerful, and stretched to reach some of current-day Ghana. It was very well known for it's African sculpturing.

In the 1800s, the British started to reside in parts of these kingdoms and empires. In 1914, Nigeria was formed by combining the Northern and Southern Protectorates and the Colony of Lagos. For administrative purposes, was divided into four units:
the colony of Lagos
the Northern Provinces
the Eastern Provinces
the Western Provinces
Some parts of current-day Cameroon were still considered part of Nigeria at that time. Between 1914 and 1922, Nigeria was presided over by a Governor-General. In 1922, as part of the constitution of the time, the British introduced the principle of direct election into the Legislative council.

In 1951, a new constitution elevated the provinces to regional status. The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) had control of the Eastern Region government, the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) had control of the Northern Region, and the Action Group (AG) had control of the Western Region. By 1957, the Eastern and Western Regions attained self-governing status. In 1959, the Northern Region attained self-governing status.

Nigeria declares independence from Britain in October. Three years later, it becomes a republic. On October 1 1960, Nigeria obtained it's independence. At this time, Northern and Southern Cameroon were given the option of staying as part of Nigeria or leaving Nigeria. Southern Cameroon decided to leave Nigeria, but Northern Cameroon stayed. Also, on October 7, 1960, Nigeria was admitted to the United Nations as the 99th member. One of the earliest and most signification contributions to the UN was to furnish troops for the peacekeeping opearting in Zaire in the the early 1960s. Later on, the main thrust of Nigeria's activism on the world stage was to eradicate apartheid and racism from Africa.

In 1960, a Federal Government based on the Parliamentary system was created. More information about the government's history can be found in the Government section of this site. Only the parts that aid with the explanation of the history will be covered in this section. In 1963, Nigeria became a republic.

By 1964, the Nigerian army units had formed the backbone of the UN force. In January of 1966, a group of army officers, consisting mostly of the Ibo peoples, and led by General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, overthrew the central and regional governments, killed the prime minister, took control of the government, and got rid of the federal system of government to replace it with a central government with many Ibos as advisors. This caused a lot of riots and a lot of Ibos were killed in the process. In July of the same year, a group of northern army officers revolted against the government (it seems this started a long history of military coups), killed General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, and appointed the army chief of staff, General Yakubu Gowon as the head of the new military government.

In 1967, Gowon moved to split the existing 4 regions of Nigeria into 12 states. However, the military governor of the Eastern Region (Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu) refused to accept the division of the Eastern Region, and declared the Eastern Region an independent republic called Biafra. This led to a civil war between Biafra and the remainder of Nigeria. The war started in June 1967, and continued until Biafra surrendered on January 15, 1970 after over 1 million people had died. During the early 1970s a lot of time was spend reconstructing the areas that were formerly part of Biafra. Around this time, the petroleum industry was booming, and the economy was recovering from the effects of the civil war, though there were still problems with inflation, high unemployment, decline in the price of peanuts and cocoa, and a drought.

In 1971, Nigeria joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). However, the prolonged drought in 1973 led to the death of thousands of livestock, the suffering of farms, and the fishing industry. This, in combination with the oil boom, made a lot of people move into away from the farms, and more towards the cities. Though the oil boom in the early 1970s brought a lot of revenue to Nigeria, this seemed to stay mostly in government.

In 1976, Nigeria was further broken down into 19 states, and plans to move the capital to Abuja were in the works. In 1987, 2 more states were created. In 1991, 9 more states were created, leading to 30 states at the time (please note that new states were taken as parts of existing states, so the total size of Nigeria remained the same). Also in 1991, Abuja was formed as a new (more central) section of the country, and the capital of Nigeria was officially moved from Lagos to Abuja. Abuja took portions of then Niger, Kogi, and Plateau states to form the territory. (Recently, 6 more states were added, leading to a total of 36 states. A map showing all the states. Though Biafra was the most deadly and violent of the wars in Nigeria, there have continued to be disputes in Nigeria due to land, ethnic differences, religious differences. For example, in 1992 there were major clashes in the north between Christians and Muslims, and over 3000 people were killed in the clashes. Also, there was a possibility of Nigeria going to war with Cameroon in 1993. Even today, I keep reading about clashes in Oshun state over land, and it is killing dozens of people with each new headline, including women and children. Part of where oil was rich in Nigeria were the Ogoni lands. In 1993, 300,000 Ogoni marched peacefully to demand a share in oil revenues and some form of political autonomy. They had formed an organization called MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People), and they also asked the oil companies to begin environmental remediation and pay compensation for past damage. They were a minority and felt that they were not being given their human rights, and they were being tortured just so the country could make money off the oil that was on their land.

This started a lot of opposition from the government, and the leader, Ken Saro-Wiwa was imprisoned on several occasions. In November of 1993, Abacha took over the government, and this is when the real trouble started for the Ogonis. The military started terrorizing Ogoniland with arrests, rapes, executions, burnings and lootings. It is believed that the Shell oil company was working with the government, and that is part of the reason there were many protests worldwide to boycott them. In May 1994 Saro-Wiwa was abducted from his home and jailed along with other MOSOP leaders and charged with the murder of four Ogoni leaders. By this time, the world was involved in the issue, and dismissed these charges as fraudulent. While Ken was in detention, he was denied legal or medical help (which if you do a lot of reading, is unfortunately common in Nigerian prisons), and he had 4 heart attacks while in jail. On October 31, 1995, the military government tried him and the other 8 people, and found them guilty of the murder of the 4 Ogoni people. The sentence immediately drew an international outcry by concerned persons and organizations, including Earthlife Africa, Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the United Nations, and others. They urged the government to spare the lives of the environmentalists, and they called on Shell to intervene, but on November 10, 1995, Saro-Wiwa and the others were executed anyway. Their execution resulted in more international outcry, a lot of which you can read more about on the web, and Nigeria was almost immediately suspended from the Commonwealth.

The names of those executed were
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Saturday Dobee
Barinem Kiobel
Paul Levura
Nordu Eawo
Felix Nuate
Daniel Gbokoo
John Kpuinen
Baribor Bera

Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth almost immediately, and sanctions were placed against the country, including oil sanctions, which accounted for over 90% of the nation's exports. Also, Shell had to halt it's operations in Ogoni territory. Maybe because of the economy or because of the image, but then Abacha aided Sierra Leone and Liberia against their military, and set up a plan for Nigeria's transition to democratic rule. However, when the time came for Nigeria's transition, he was the only candidate running for the elections which were to take place in August of 1998, with a 'return to democracy' set for October 1, 1998. However, in June of 1998, he died of a heart attack (or maybe it was the prostitutes), and Abubakar took his place as the interim president. By that time, there was not much chance of making the previously-promised date of October 1, 1998 for a democratically elected president (and the only candidate was dead), so Abubakar set out a new plan of transition to democracy which is supposed to return the country to democracy by May 29,

July 20: In a major television address, Maj. Gen. Abubakar promises that free elections will be held in early 1999 and a civilian sworn in as president of Nigeria on May 29. January 20: Nigerian and international election monitors declared that local elections in December and state elections Jan. 9 were fair. The country enters high campaign season for the election of its first national civilian leadership in 15 year. February 27: Nigerians vote for a civilian president in an election marred by claims of voter fraud and irregularities. Two days later, Nigeria's election commission confirms the winner: former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo.

1999. So far, he has also taken some positive steps in the nation which include releasing some political prisoners, trying to get the economy back up, investigating the Abacha regime's assets for corruption and trying to recover some of the money that Abacha stashed in other countries, fighting against further corruption of the upcoming officials, convinced some of the exiles to come home (including Wole Soyinka). The nations of the world are giving Nigeria the benefit of a doubt, and they are convinced enough of Abubakar's intentions, and they have temporarily removed sanctions against the country, and temporarily reinstated Nigeria into the Commonwealth, all to aid with the transition to democracy. Abubakar has also visited South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and seems to be improving International Relations. The United States Congress even approved an aid of two million dollars for the transition, saying that they had seen enough cause for USAID to step up its activities in Nigeria, and that they view the events in Nigeria with "cautious optimism".

In the meantime, oil troubles continue to plague Nigeria. Environmental activists are still speaking up and protesting against oil companies in parts of Nigeria because it is ruining their environment. These protests and attacks have led to oil production losses of over 400000 a day in September and October of 1998.  Even though Nigeria is a leading producer of oil and petroleum, the masses have had a hard time getting them, and some of them take desperate measures to obtain the petroleum. In October of 1998, some people tried to obtain oil from a burst pipeline, which erupted, and killed hundreds of people, not just the ones that had sabotaged the pipeline, but also men, women and children that were trying to get some of the oil in their containers, and nearby inhabitants that were asleep in their homes.
 

Attribute to Africa

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Attribute Black History of Nigerian

Egg-Larva-Pupa- Woman: A Debut Literary Novel
By – Ogọ Akubue-Ogbata


This is an inspirational, albeit heart-wrenching story, of two remarkable personalities who vivaciously defy all odds: Nkiru: a privileged young girl who is forced to learn the art of survival after the tragic loss of her family and innocence as she knows it…Nigeria: Africa’s most populous and controversial country – starting from its pre-infancy days to its present state of flux. Do they have what it takes to defy all odds?


The story kicks off in the early 1950s when two orphan sisters are separated against their wish because their aunt cannot afford to feed two mouths. Nonso is weak and wilts but Nkiru digs deep and keeps on walking. In the wake of her country’s independence from British rule, she meets an aspiring diplomat with radical political views and hopes that love will put her life back on course. However, love only complicates things. Her new husband asks for more than she knows how to give and the past is filled with shameful secrets that threaten to erupt. The plot thickens as Nkiru climbs the ladder of life, fearing the sudden loss of all that she has toiled for (her children’s love, her husband’s trust and the successful business she built out of nothing) all because of a single fatal mistake. At the same time, Nigeria descends further into conflict and corruption as a single foundational flaw leads to a brutal war and lingering mistrust. Eventually Nkiru finds the courage to confront the past and seek forgiveness for an unpardonable sin. This is the only path to peace – both for Nkiru and her beloved country, Nigeria…Set in the politically charged colonial and post-independence Nigeria (as well as the vibrant capitals of Uganda, Sierra Leone and Britain), Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is a novel that fearlessly chronicles the history of Africa’s most populous and complex country whilst tackling big themes such as ethnic identity, racial discrimination, domestic violence, gender equality, endemic corruption, entrepreneurship and self actualisation, as well as universal themes such as love, mother-daughter relationships, betrayal and forgiveness. Through a language of passion, poetry and deceptive simplicity, we see sisters and daughters, mothers and wives who metamorphose over time, juxtaposed with a nation’s fight for freedom, fall from grace and pursuit of an elusive destiny.


It takes a measure of mischief to graft the stages of growth of an insect to that of a woman in a debut novel. Ogo Akubue-Ogbata dares to walk where angels fear to tread, as her debut poetry collection bears the audacious title: The Last African Poet. In Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman Ogo Akubue-Ogbata creates a heroine, Nkiru, whose history blends seamlessly into the history of the Nigerian nation and by extension to the black world; whence the celebration of the novel in the Black History Month. Part One of the novel entitled "Shackles" situates Nkiru's story "Early on 1950s". Part Two entitled "Freedom" extends the story to "1955-1965" while Part Three "The Scattering" dates between "1967-1999". The author's language is poetic from the very beginning: "Nkiru wasn't sure if it was the screaming that woke her or Uyi's glance which poked her on the cheek chicken's beak. Her bed felt slightly damp as she stirred, her pillow cool against her cheek, wet with patches of odourless mouth dribble. For a moment, when she opened her eyes, everything seemed hazy, lazy... Then all of a sudden the images rushed to her face like shreds of metal streaming to a giant horseshoe magnet: walls the colour of vanilla ice-cream, smooth but for a long, thin, crack the shape of a lightning bolt - translucent button-eyed geckos stuck on the top right hand corner like bland stamps on an envelope. Faded Ribena stains on toffee coloured wool-twist carpet, strings of ants curling round slivers of sugar-coated biscuit and an unlit bulb hanging from a distant ceiling - motionless - like a corpse drooping from a noose."


Born into a privileged home, Nkiru and her sister Nonso were inseparable, sleeping on the same bed in a house that boasted of eight good bedrooms. "Are you lesbians?" was the irate question for the duo. Tragedy strikes when Nkiru's father dies, but she shoulders on until she falls in love and marries the radical nationalist, Ejimonye Ndulue, who counts Nigeria's first president Nnamdi Azikiwe as his mentor: "That was how every political discussion ended - with the assignment of one impossible task or another to Zik. After all Nnamdi Azikiwe was more than a politician, more than a god, more than a party leader, more than a bard. They said that before 1934 when he entered the limelight, no other Igbo person had a say in anything, impacted African affairs in any shape or form. It was Zik who sailed to faraway America and returned with Ivy League degrees, Zik who founded the West African Pilot and filled its pages with nationalist editorials, Zik who, with the great Herbert Macaulay, founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons in 1944, Zik who became NCNC president when Macaulay died two years later, who turned the Igbos, erstwhile farmhands, into intellectual equals. It was his name that children wove into their songs and mothers spiced their lullabies with. So dazzling was the light around this man that for a moment Frank and Ojugo danced together in the ambience, like moths around a hunters lamp."


Ejimonye gets drafted into Foreign Service but his life is not all politics as he tells his new bride Nkiru: "Forget Italians. Arochukwu men are the most romantic lovers in the whole world." Nkiru has her own political heroine in Margaret Ekpo: "Without further hesitation, Nkiru bent over the desk and began to write about her heroine Margaret Ekpo: Margaret who galvanised market women to declare a day of national mourning when the white men shot the colliery workers who demanded a pay rise, drawing worldwide attention to the brutal killings. Margaret who was arrested - alongside Barrister Jaja Nwachukwu and two others - even threatened with deportation from the country of her birth just because a fiery speech of hers had offended a couple of colonial housewives. Nkiru narrated how the Aba market women threatened to set the town ablaze if the colonialists dared lay a finger on their beloved committee president. Surprisingly, the authorities were rattled by the threats and promptly set the foursome free."


Nkiru's hubby Ejimonye is posted to Uganda, and the couple lived there during the Nigeria-Biafra war. The uncertainties of the period dominate the discussion of husband and wife: "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, Nigeria may not survive?" Nkiru said. "I mean, one day a two-week census is being announced and the next day it's cancelled. One minute Governor Akintola is dismissed, the next minute the Supreme Court reverses the dismissal and Akintola returns as Western Region premiere. Following the Western crisis a state of emergency lasted five whole months last year - five whole months! In September Obafemi Awolowo was placed under house arrest, in October Balewa announces a conspiracy and twelve traitors were arrested. Then Awolowo is charged with treason, his court trial triggering violent riots." Nkiru paused for breath, "I'm not saying this country, as we know it, will not survive, or that I don't want it to survive for that matter, but sometimes I wonder how viable this entity called Nigeria really is."


The fiery Ejimonye forcefully posits his optimism thus: "Artificial unions are not unique to Africa - they exist also in Asia, Europe, Latin America and other regions of the world. The English and the Scottish can't stand each other and yet they cohabit with civility. Look at us! We have our own differences in this marriage, don't we?" Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman is a novel of secrets. Nkiru is savagely raped by Uncle Frank. Nkiru is led on by Dubem to hide a new-born baby in a refuge bin where she would eventually be found by a missionary couple. Naomi who becomes a mirror image of Nkiru cheats on her husband Chuma and confesses only for the man to ask for divorce. Ogo Akubue-Ogbata tells a very human story in Egg-Larva-Pupa-Woman. Her voice is assured. A writer of great promise, she has added the needed dimension to Nigerian independence and the marking of the Black History Month.

Nigeria pre colonial currency

Manillas Bracelet currency

The name manilla is said to derive from the Spanish for a bracelet manella, the Portuguese for hand-ring, or after the Latin manus (hand) or from monilia, plural of monile (necklace). They are usually horseshoe-shaped, with terminations that face each other and are roughage-shaped. We have different type of manilla and each ethnic had names for each variety of manilla and locality. They valued them differently, and were notoriously particular about the types they would accept. Manillas were partly differentiated and valued by the sound they made when struck.
A report by the British Consul of Fernando Po in 1856 lists five different patterns of manillas in use in Nigeria. The Antony Manilla is good in all interior markets; the Congo Simgolo or 'bottle-necked' is good only at Opungo market; the Onadoo is best for Calabar Kingdom, Igbo country between Bonny and New Kalabari; the Finniman Fawfinna is passable in Juju Town and Qua market; but is only half the worth of the Antony; and the Cutta Antony is valued by the people at Umballa.
The Portuguese cast huge quantities of these Manilla to use for trade in West Africa. They have been widely used since the 16 century. This type currency was used throughout Nigeria and neighboring countries for more than 300 years. Manillas  have the shape of a ring armlets, mostly in bronze or copper, very rarely gold, which served as a form of money or barter coinage and to a degree, ornamentation, amongst certain West African peoples (Guinea Coast, Gold Coast, Calabar Kingdom and other parts of Nigeria, etc.). They also became known as "slave trade money" after the Europeans started using them to acquire slaves for the slave trade into the Americas (as well as England prior to 1807).

Slaves as currency

 

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!" Patrick Henry, Speech in the Virginia Convention, March, 1775.

Slaves and Currency

The history of slavery covers many different form of human exploitation across much culture throughout history. Slavery generally refers to a situation where one human being is considered to be the property of another, and is therefore obligated to perform tasks for the slave master. The first main route of slave trading passed through the Sahara's to the Arab slave trade market, After the European Age of Exploration, African slave became part of the Atlantic slave trade, from which comes the modern, western beginning of slavery as an institution of African- descended slave. Despite its illegality, slavery continues in Africa.

In Africa slavery was domestics in nature. The African people had engaged in slavery in their various locality or Area, which was multilateral in nature (that is involving two or more local areas) e.g. West Africa ‘Nigeria, one of the major ethnic group, the Yoruba people, Ife and Oyo and it extend to regional state or neighbor countries. How do they have their slave?, it can be said that during wars of conquest between two or more various locality, slaves were gotten, which were used as a means of exchange within their areas. These slaves were exchange for tools like guns, farm equipments etc.

Moreover, slave serves as a means of exchange whereby slaves plays a role of debt payment. This means that if a debtor is not able to pay back the money him or her indebted to the borrower. The debtor will have to send one of his children to go and work for the borrower, which he can work for the borrower on his farmland and that serve as a means of paying back the debt the debtor is indebted to. Another means of getting their slaves is slave by birth, means some parents are subject to slave in any form which means any children they have automatic the child is as well as slave as his parents....In my conclusion we should stop to enslaves other..
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CURRENCIES IN PRE - COLONIAL PERIOD

CURRENCIES IN ANCIENT AFRICA

Currency has played a central role in man economics history for a period That dated back to ancient time. It is important for while to take look At the situation of currency as a means of exchange; currency has evolved from very rudimentary (not fully develop) object since ancient time and Africa has always been part of the history. According to some anthropologist, currency in Africa could be seen without reasonable doubt to have been well developed. This is because the people of Africa saw that it was difficult to have an effective and efficient distribution system without currency. It was sort of growth in the economics system in the pre-colonial period that gave birth to currency from barter. During the pre-colonial economy in Africa, barter was the only means of exchange in the pre-colonial period. Barter is a means of exchange of goods for goods. However, barter as system was not dominant as some anthropologists would assume, but some assumed that trade by barter pre-dominated the economy of Africa; that production for the needs of people was subsistence. type of currencies used in ancient Africa : cowrie, Slaves,  commodity currency (examples of commodities that have been used as mediums of exchange include gold, silver, copper, salt, peppercorns, large stones, decorated belts, cowries shells,  cigarettes, cannabis, candy, barley etc. These items were sometimes used in a metric of perceived value in conjunction to one another, in various commodity valuation or price system economies. 

Currency in West Africa could be seen without reasonable doubt to be well developed because trade was multilateral in nature.  Collins discovery encyclopedia:  see currency as a metal or paper medium of exchange that is in current use in a particular country or the local medium of exchange especially in the colonies.  Collins English dictionary defined currency as a general acceptance or circulation.  So, currency is any thing that is considered as valuable for the exchange of goods and services, and a means of calculation. Though trade predates currency, both had complemented each other as Economic forces in man's history.  In Africa like in other ancient societies, the earliest form of was trade by barter.  A major type of this barter in Africa  was what J. D. Fage calls ‘silent trade or dumb. According to Fage, this trade existed between Ghanaian merchants and their southern neighbors. In spite of the predominance of barter in ancient Africa, the Egyptians for example, used metal ring as money some 2500 BC. The trend in the use of currency continued alongside barter to the eve of colonialism. At the beginning of colonialism, barter had evolved to a higher stage which was called commodity currency.  This involved items which because of their quality, enjoyed special advantages as stores of value, media of exchange or units of account.  They included valuable commodities were bought and sold in major trading centers such as west Africa  and central Sudan, the Guinea Coast and the Swahili coast.

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test post

"I am making my first post now and I wish to discover more details about blogging later."