AND THAT'S A FACT...

...WEALTH AND EDUCATION WERE NOT UNCOMMON IN THE URBAN CENTERS OF AFRICA BEFORE AND DURING THE SLAVE TRADE ERA.




...SLAVERY WAS COMMON IN AFRICA AMONG AFRICANS. IT WAS USED AS A PUNISHMENT FOR CRIMES OR MAKING WAR. HOWEVER, AFRICAN SLAVERY PROTECTED THE BASIC RIGHTS OF THE PRISONER AND ALLOWED HIM TO OWN PROPERTY, MARRY (EVEN A MEMBER OF THE "OWNER'S" FAMILY), AND EVENTUALLY GAIN HIS FREEDOM. SLAVERY IN THE NEW WORLD WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT.



...WHILE AFRICANS WERE A DIVERSE POPULATION OF MANY TRIBES, ALL SHARED A GREAT SKILL IN HANDICRAFTS AND CREATED SOME OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST ART, SOME OF WHICH WERE KNIVES AND OTHER WEAPONS. HOWEVER, BEAUTIFUL WEAPONS WERE  NO MATCH FOR EUROPEAN RIFLES AND CANNONS.






***Eyewitness: The Negro in American History - William Loren Katz