Take a Diagnostic Exam h 39A good response regarding migration in sub-Saharan Africa may begin by stating
that around 1500 b.c.e., small numbers of Bantu-speaking peoples had already begun to
migrate from present-day Nigeria, possibly because of population pressures. They carried
with them the knowledge of agriculture and ironworking.
Subsequent massive migrations of Bantu-speaking peoples moved out of the Bantu
homeland beginning about 700 –500 b.c.e. Moving southward and eastward throughout
sub-Saharan Africa, they farmed along the riverbanks, especially along the Congo River.
There they transmitted their knowledge of agriculture and ironworking to cattle herders
and, in turn, learned cattle-herding techniques. The Bantu peoples also contributed their
language to the cultures of sub-Saharan Africa. The Bantu were organized into stateless
societies based on age grades.
About 300 to 500 c.e., sailors from Malaysia brought to Madagascar and Africa
the knowledge of banana cultivation. The Bantu learned to cultivate the banana, whose
nutrients contributed to population growth among them. As they continued their migra-
tions, they spread the knowledge of this new crop as well. By 1000 c.e., the major wave
of Bantu migrations had ceased. By this time, the Bantu had reached the eastern coast of
Africa, where contact between the Bantu languages and the Arabic of traders in East Africa
combined to form the new language of Swahili. From stateless societies emerged regional
kingdoms of Bantu peoples.
Comparative Essay
A good response concerning the Indian Ocean would begin by mentioning that in 1450,
the Chinese had recently withdrawn from exploration in the Indian Ocean to attend to
the defense of their own borders. Meanwhile, Europeans were becoming extremely active
in that same body of water. Portugal, the Netherlands, and later the English became inter-
ested in the spices and luxury goods of Indonesia and other islands and mainland territories
in the Indian Ocean. European entrance into the waters of the Indian Ocean caused an
intense competition with Muslim traders already active in the region; Muslim dominance
in the Indian Ocean declined as that of Europeans took hold.
The Atlantic world also saw European dominance during the period 1450 to 1750.
Students should discuss the impact of the Columbian Exchange between the Eastern
and Western hemispheres. Like the Indian Ocean, Atlantic traffi c also dealt with trade
in African slaves; Atlantic slave trade, however, dealt with a much higher volume of trade
in human beings. During this period, Atlantic trade also involved the transfer of huge
amounts of gold and silver from Spain’s American colonies to Europe.
Trade in the Pacifi c Ocean involved several interactions. Polynesian peoples continued
to trade regionally among fellow islanders. The Manila galleons sailed from the Philip-
pines to follow a route that took them to Mexico to acquire loads of silver to trade through
Philippine ports for luxury goods and tea from China. Europeans largely bypassed the
Polynesian islands until the eighteenth century. Thus, Pacifi c Ocean trade did not see the
dominance of Europeans in its waters as the Atlantic and Indian oceans did.
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