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African American History, Events

CAPE COAST CASTLE (1652- )

Cape Coast Castle is a European-built fortress situated on the central coastline of Ghana. Since its initial construction in 1652, the Castle served as a trading post for European nations and as the headquarters of British colonial administration for the Gold Coast Colony.  Today the Castle is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1652, the African, Asiatic, and American Company of Sweden employed Henrik Carlof, a Polish merchant, to negotiate a land agreement with the … Continue reading CAPE COAST CASTLE (1652- )

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history

Revisit: GAO, WEST AFRICA (CA. 1450- )

The city of Gao, situated near the north bend of the Niger River, served as the capital city of the Songhai state in West Africa from the 11th century until the fall of the Songhai Empire at the end of the 16th century.  Gao emerged as a powerful and wealthy political center located along the trans-Saharan trade routes and was a center for Islamic study in the 15th and 16th centuries. Archaeological evidence, such as … Continue reading Revisit: GAO, WEST AFRICA (CA. 1450- )

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African American History, Events

Revisit: BLUEFIELDS, NICARAGUA (CA. 1650- )

A city at the mouth of the Escondido River and the Caribbean Sea, Bluefields is home to a large black settlement on the east coast of Nicaragua and is strongly associated with Black Creole culture.  Nicaragua has the largest population of African descent in Central America and approximately two-thirds of that group resides in and around Bluefields.  The black presence in the region goes back to the 17th century as Puritans … Continue reading Revisit: BLUEFIELDS, NICARAGUA (CA. 1650- )

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Events

Revisit:EAST AFRICAN CITY STATES (1000-1500)

From approximately 1000 to 1500 AD, a number of city-states on the eastern coast of Africa participated in an international trade network and became cosmopolitan Islamic cultural centers. The major autonomous, but symbiotic, city-states stretched over 1,500 miles from Mogadishu (in modern day Somalia) in the north to Sofala (in modern Mozambique) in the south and included Mombasa, Gedi, Pate, Lamu, Malindi, Zanzibar, and Kilwa. Each of these … Continue reading Revisit:EAST AFRICAN CITY STATES (1000-1500)

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