Ghana a Survey of West African History from the 16

th A Survey of West African History from the 16 Century

Spring Semester, 2009/2010 Academic Year

Meeting Place: NYU-Ghana Campus, Accra Meeting Time: Thursday 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Course Instructor: Dr. D.E.K. Baku Office: Office hours: Thursday, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm E-mail: [email protected]

Course Description

The course provides an introduction to the history of West Africa in the period of the Atlantic slave trade and since the abolition of the slave trade. Instead of presenting a comprehensive survey, covering every country in the vast West African sub-region, the course takes a topical approach by focusing on a selection of themes and issues that are crucial to developing an understanding of modern West African history. Themes to be discussed in the course include the land and peoples of West Africa, the Atlantic slave trade, explorers, missionaries, settlers and cross-cultural encounters; expansion of European power after the abolition of the slave trade; European conquest and resistance; West African aspects of Pan-Africanism and contacts between African nationalists and pan-African leaders in the Diaspora, nationalism and struggles for independence; developments in post colonial West Africa.

Throughout the course, attention will be paid to the importance of culture in West African history, - including religion, music and art as well as the role of women in West African societies. Select case studies will allow us to gain an understanding of the historical experiences of West Africans as they developed their societies and encountered European colonizers and cultures. This course is designed for all students wishing to learn about West Africa’s fascinating history.

Requirements

1. The course is organized around lectures and tutorials discussions.

2. Students will be required to attend all lectures. Attendance at lectures is NOT optional and the roll will be taken at random and excuses will not be accepted for absence from lectures unless prior permission has been sought. Students who 2

frequently absent themselves from lectures will not be eligible to take the end of semester examinations.

3. To ensure that students attend lectures, snap (not previously announced or programmed) tests would be conducted and answer sheets would be evidence of attendance in class.

4. Tutorial discussions will be part of weekly lectures. Students will be expected o contribute actively to tutorial discussions and will be expected to show understanding of assigned readings and the lectures. Tutorial discussions will not follow a set pattern; they may follow or precede a weekly lecture.

5. Students are expected to read the assigned materials before lectures, take notes of the readings, and be prepared to discuss them in class.

Grades

(a) Attendance in class will account for 10% of the end of semester grade. Attendance at lectures will be taken at random and dates on which attendance will be taken will not be announced ahead of time. Absence from lectures will lead to deduction of grades. Snap (unannounced) tests will be conducted in class and participation in the test will be evidence of attendance in lectures.

(b) There will be 4 in-class tests each of which will be graded over 10 making a total of 40. This will represent 40% of the final score for the semester.

The end of semester examinations will be sit-in examinations. There will be five questions and you will be expected to answer 3. The end of semester exams will have adequate instructions and information on grading.

Use of Mobile Phones in Class

Use of mobile phones in lectures in any form is STRICTLY forbidden. You will be severely sanctioned if you use a mobile phone in any form (receiving or making calls, making or reading text messages) in lectures.

Seeking Assistance outside Course Instructor’s Office Hours

Ensure to contact your Course Instructor during his office hours. Do not call him on the phone and do not seek assistance outside his office hours. You are, however, permitted to send him e-mail to seek assistance or clarification.

Readings

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You will understand the course better if you read the recommended books and the assigned readings. Failure to read extensively will reflect in your performance in class, in-class tests and end of semester examinations.

Academic Dishonesty

In keeping with NYU-Ghana policies, academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations, facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possessions of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, tempering with the academic work of other students or signing any name other than your own to the attendance sheet. Where you are found guilty of any act of academic dishonesty, you will be given an F grade for the course and you will, in addition, be reported to NYU-Ghana for further disciplinary sanction.

Week 1 (21 January 2010)

Introductory class

Getting to understand what the course is and what is expected of students.

Week 2 (28 January 2010)

Overview of the land and peoples of West Africa

Toyin Falola (ed): Africa, African History Before 1885, Durham, Carolina Academic Press, 2003, pp. 137 – 189

J.F. Ade Adjayi & M. Crowder (eds): History of West Africa, Vol. 1, Columbia University Press, 1985, chapter 1, pp. 5 – 47

Joseph Anene & Godfrey Brown (eds): Africa in the Nineteen and Twentieth Centuries Ibadan, Ibadan University Press, 1999, pp. 234 - 290

M. Crowder: West Africa: An Introduction to its History, London, Longman, 1988, pp. 1 - 7

Week 3 (4 February 2010)

West Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade

Stephen Behrendt: “Transatlantic Slave Trade” in K.A. Appiah & H.L. Gates (editors): AFRICANA, The Encyclopedia of African and African American Experience, New York, Basic Civitas Books, 1999, pp. 1865 – 1877

John Reader: Africa, New York, Vintage Books, 1999, pp. 377 - 433

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Kevin Shillington: History of Africa, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 169 – 178 and pp. 224 – 239

Toyin Falola (ed): Africa, African History Before 1885, Durham, Carolina Academic Press, 2003, pp. 389 - 412

A.A. Boahen: Topics in West African History, London, Longman, 1986, pp. 107 – 116

Walter Rodney: “Gold and Slaves on the Gold Coast”, Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, (1969), Vol. X, pp. 13 – 28

Per Herneas: “’A somber Affairs’: The Story of a Slave Ship Mutiny and the Destiny of the Mutineers upon the Return to Africa”, Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, (2006 – 2007), No. 10, pp. 215 – 222.

Hilary Mcd Beckles: “African Resistance to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade” in J.K. Anquandah, N. J. Opoku-Agyeman & M.R. Doortmont, (eds): The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade: Landmarks, Legacies, Expectations, Accra, Sub-Saharan, 2007, pp. 81 - 91

Week 4 (11 February 2010)

1st in-class (open book) test.

Source:

Readings for week 3.

Week 5 (18 February 2010)

Islamic Jihads in West Africa in the 19th century

J.F. Ade Adjayi & M. Crowder: History of West Africa, Vol. 2, London, Longman, 1984, pp. 1 – 29.

J.B. Webster & A.A. Boahen with M. Tidy: The Growth of African Civilization, The Revolutionary Years West Africa Since 1800, London, Longman, 1992, pp. 1 – 45

Toyin Falola (ed): Africa, African History Before 1885, Durham, Carolina Academic Press, 2003, pp. 299 – 319.

M. Crowder: West Africa: An Introduction to its History, London, Longman, 1988, pp. 72 -85

Week 6 (25 February 2010)

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Prelude to European Conquest of West Africa: Case Study of the Gold Coast (Ghana)

D.E.K. Amenumey: Ghana, A Concise History from Pre-Colonial Times to the 20th Century, Accra, Woeli Publishing Services, 2008, pp. 110 – 161

Roger Gocking: The History of Ghana, Greenwood Press, Westport, 2005, pp. 37 – 48.

A.A. Boahen: Ghana: Evolution and Change in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, London, Longman, 1975, pp. 34 – 66.

Michael Crowder: West Africa Under Colonial Rule, London, Hitchinson, 1976, pp. 144 - 161

Week 7 (4 March 2010)

2nd in-class (open book) test

Source:

J.D. Fage with W. Tordoff: A history of Africa, London & New York, Routledge, 2006, 326 - 354.

Week 8 (11 March 2010)

European conquest and African response

Kevin Shillington: History of Africa, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 288 - 311

Erik Gilbert & Jonathan T. Reynolds: Africa in World History, From Pre-History to the Present, Upper Saddle River, Pearson, 2004, pp. 238 – 257

A. Adu Boahen: African perspectives on Colonialism, London, James Currey, 1987, pp. 1 - 57

Week 9 (18 March 2010)

Mid-semester break

Week 10 (25 March 2010)

Political Economy of Colonialism in West Africa

Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore: Africa Since 1800, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 146 - 154

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Kevin Shillington: History of Africa, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 332 – 338.

A. Adu Boahen: African perspectives on colonialism, London, James Currey, 1987, pp. 58 - 93

Week 11 (1 April 2010)

3rd in-class open book test

Source:

J.D. Fage with W. Tordoff: A history of Africa, London & New York, Routledge, 2006, pp. 391 - 425

Week 12 (8 April 2010)

Nationalism in West Africa and Contact Between West African Nationalists and Blacks in the Diaspora and Independence in West Africa

Kevin Shillington: History of Africa, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 376 – 383.

Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore: Africa Since 1800, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 244 – 254

Erik Gilbert & Jonathan T. Reynolds: Africa in World History, From Pre-History to the Present, Upper Saddle River, Pearson, 2004, pp. 323 – 330.

Adu Boahen: Ghana: Evolution and change in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, London, Longman, 1975, pp. 119 - 135

Week 13 (15 April 2010)

The Independence of the Gold Coast: The success of the independence revolution in West Africa

Adu Boahen: Ghana: Evolution and Change in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, London, Longman, 1975), pp. 149 – 154; pp. 155 – 165; pp. 166 – 172; pp. 173 – 190.

D.E.K. Amenumey: Ghana: A Concise History from Pre-Colonial Times to the 20th Century, Accra, Woeli Publishing Services, 2008, pp. 191 – 215.

Roger S. Gocking: The History of Ghana, Westport, Greenwood, 2005, pp. 75 – 89; pp. 91 – 114.

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F.K. Buah: A History of Ghana (Revised and Updated), Oxford, Macmillam, 1998, pp. 144 167.

Week 14 (22 April 2010)

4th in-class open book test

Source:

A.E. Afigbo, E.A. Ayandele, R.J. Gavin, J.D. Omer-Cooper & R. Palmer: The Making of Modern Africa, London, Longman, 1996, pp. 34 - 54

Week 15 (29 April 2010)

Colonialism – An assessment

W. Rodney: How Europe underdeveloped Africa, Lagos, Panaf, 1972, pp. 246 - 347

A. Adu Boahen: African perspectives on colonialism, London, James Currey, 1987, pp. 94 – 112

Week 16 (6 May 2010)

Post colonial West Africa

Erik Gilbert & Jonathan T. Reynolds: Africa in World History, From Pre-History to the Present, Upper Saddle River, Pearson, 2004, pp. 339 – 368.

Kevin Shillington: History of Africa, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 417 - 427 and pp. 431 – 440 and pp. 441 – 443 and pp. 445 -449

J.D. Fage with W. Tordoff: A history of Africa, London & New York, Routledge, 2006, pp. 495 – 592

A.E. Afigbo, E.A. Ayandele, R.J. Gavin, J.D. Omer-Cooper & R. Palmer: The Making of Modern Africa, London, Longman, 1996, pp. 55 - 79