Question: Compare and contrast the main characteristics of traditional European society and West African society. How were they each similar to and different from Native American societies?
In both the traditional European society and the West African society, the individuals were peasants. Both the societies had limited outputs and the trade was majorly a local barter trade. In the European society, the neighboring families exchanged their surplus grains and meat and their farm products bartered for the services of the blacksmiths, the local millers and the weavers. The European peasants, just as the Native Americans, had a seasonal agricultural year which started in late March. During this period, men sheared the wool of the sheep while women washed the wool and spun it into yarn. In the West African society, both men and women had distinct roles. Men were to clear the land while women were to plant and harvest the crops. Agriculture depended on the regional climate. Most individuals grew cotton and millet on the plains while the forest dwellers planted yams and palm nuts. The barter trade was between the palm oil and kola nuts of the forest people against the textiles and leather goods of the savanna people. In both societies, survival meant constant labor. Primitive tools were used during land cultivation and harvesting and the output was generally small.
In the traditional European society, hierarchy and authority prevailed. The society was ruled by the kings and the nobles. Men were the heads of the families just as in the African society. Both the societies looked down upon women, whom they regarded as weak creatures. Upon marriage, the woman would adopt the husband’s name as her surname and surrender the legal rights to all her properties.
While the powers of the European men were derived from the teachings of the Christian church, the Africans had secret societies e.g. the Poro for men and the Sande for women, which educated the members on the authority, morality and codes of conduct. As compared to the Europeans where Christianity prevailed, the spiritual beliefs varied greatly in West Africa.
Bibliography
Alvin M.Josephy Jr., ed., America in 1492: The World of the Indian Peoples Before the Arrival of Columbus, 1991.
APUS/AMU, The Creation of American Society, 1 4 5 0 – 1 7 6 3, part 1, Bedford St Martin, 2009.
Brian M. Fagan, The Great Journey: The People of Ancient America, 1987.
Kenneth Pomeranz, The Great Divergence: Europe, China, and the Making of the Modern
World Economy, 2000.
