1. TEXT: what kind of text is the material
1.1. Africa and Africans is an informative text
1.2. Africa and Africans was published on April 24th, 1992 and again March 22nd 2016 by Cambridge University Press
2. READER: John Thorton wanted us to think about...
2.1. 1. Africans had control over the slave trade.
2.1.1. Europeans couldn't go further than the coast of Africa without a high risk of disease so African elites would collect the slaves and all trading would be done on the coast
2.2. 2. Slaves were a form of wealth.
2.2.1. "Slavery was wide spread in Atlantic Africa because slaves were the only form of private, revenue-producing property recognized in African law." (74)
2.3. African slaves served in a much wider variety of ways than European slaves did
2.3.1. African slaves: "African slaves were treated no differently than peasant cultivators" (87)
2.3.2. European slaves: "slaves typically had difficult, demanding, and degrading work, and they were often mistreated by exploitative masters who were anxious to maximize profits" (87)
3. CONTEXT: ways that the Text fits into the broader historical discussion
3.1. 1. It includes general facts and ideas about how the slaves were used in Africa and in the new world
3.2. 2. Thornton explains how the slaves were used to build the foundations of America and without them we wouldn't have been able to develop so quickly
4. CONCLUSION: what deductions can you draw from the text?
4.1. Africans were in control of the slave trade because it was impossible for the Europeans to leave the coast due to disease
4.1.1. Europeans just tapped into the slave trade they didn't create it
4.2. Africans were responsible of their own downfall.
4.2.1. "the sale of slaves must therefor have been harmful to Africa, and African decisions to sell must have been forced or involuntary." (72)
5. IMPORTANCE: why is it important to read and understand this text?
5.1. Most people just assume that it was the Europeans forcing Africans to give us slaves when in fact that wasn't the case.
5.2. Thornton helps us understand how the slaves were used and what was the overall purpose of the slaves
6. AUTHOR: John Thornton
6.1. Thornton received a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard College in 1976
6.2. B.A/M.A. in jurisprudence from Oxford University in 1978
6.3. M.A. in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management in 1980
6.4. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Bank Street College of Education in 2003
6.4.1. Professor and Director of the Global Leadership Program at Tsinghua University in Beijing
6.4.1.1. Executive Chairman of Barrick Gold Corporation and Non-Executive Chairman of PineBridge Investments.
6.5. John Thornton is a logical Author in the sence that Africans were in Control of the international slave trade
6.5.1. Why? Europeans weren't capable to leave the coast of Africa because of disease
7. FACTS:
7.1. 1. Africa suffered because of the slave trade.
7.1.1. "the loss of adult males had potentially damaging impacts on sex ratios, dependency rates, and perhaps the sexual division of labor" (72)
7.2. 2. Africa already had a slave trade
7.2.1. "Europeans simply tapped this existing market, and Africans responded to the increased demand over century by providing more slaves" (73)
7.3. 3. Africans elites control the slave trade
7.3.1. "African Political and economic elites to sell large numbers of slaves to whoever would pay for them and thus fueled the Atlantic slave trade." (76)
8. EXIGENCE: identify the assumptions, biases, and worldview reflected into the text
8.1. society typically believes that Europeans were just taking the slaves. many people don't realize that it was an actual trade; Europeans would get the slaves to bring to the new world, and the Africans would get weapons which they used for war.
8.1.1. The guns given to Africans fueled civil wars which led to to the elite capturing more slaves.