Question 1

The module under analysis has played a critical role in enlightening us regarding why Africa is known as the origin of humankind. There are three core ideas that I derived from the module under analysis. The first idea is concerning characteristics of slavery which was imposed on Africans by the Europeans. The second idea is an explanation of what motivated the Europeans to engage in slavery. Thirdly, the module exposes the learner to a wide range of theories attached to the origin of humankind in Africa. However, the question that emerges from the module under analysis is why European countries chose to engage in chattel slavery. Chattel slavery was different from other forms of slavery. A chattel slave became the property of his or her master forever. A child born by a chattel slave got enslaved automatically. Any moral stance did not justify this form of inhuman action (Lovejoy,p99). The European got blinded by the profit derived from that form of slavery. Hence, facilitating the prevalence of chattel slavery which went on for many years.

Question 2

It is imperative to note that the type of slavery that took place before the arrival of Europeans was very different from chattel slavery. Chattel slavery was imposed on Africans by the Europeans (Lovejoy, p44). Firstly, the ancient African philosophy regarding slavery discouraged any form of profiteering from that activity. Secondly, people got enslaved for a certain, and one could not inherit it from his or her parents. With that in mind, Harding explains that the first African slavery was designed to fit in society humanely. However, Harding notes that the Europeans approach to slavery got anchored on a different philosophy. The core agenda of Europeans engaging in slavery was to accrue material benefits from that activity. Harding highlights that the availability of resources motivated the scramble for Africa by the Europeans. One of the core resources was human capital in the form of slaves.

According to Harding, the efforts to enslave indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere failed because those individuals were already familiar with their environment. For example, they were familiar with their land hence they could undertake various economic activities and feed themselves. It is challenging to enslave a person who has economic freedom. Therefore Europeans saw it wise to buy slaves from Africa because they were not familiar with the land. Slaves who hailed from far were more accessible to control. However, they did not enslave Indians because they feared to endanger their trade agreement with that community.

Question 3

Charles Darwin is one of the best-known scholars in the field of human evolution. Among his many contributions is the hypothesis regarding the continent of Africa which he referred to as the cradle of humankind. Charles Darwin provided evidence in support of his theory which suggested that there is a high likelihood humans originated from Africa than other parts of the world. One of the core evidence that Charles Darwin provided was regarding the warm equatorial climate of Africa. Secondly, he noted that animals found in Africa are closely related to those dead ones,because gorillas and chimpanzees fundamentally exist in Africa, and they closely relate to man.

A wide range of stimuli generates racial differences. The core stimuli are related to environmental factors especially the climate of a particular place. For example, the amount of sun a person gets exposed to determines his or her skin tone which he or she passes down genetically to children.

References

Harding, Vincent. There is a River. New York Vintage Books, 1983. Pg1-23

Lovejoy, Paul E. Transformations in slavery: a history of slavery in Africa. Vol. 117. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

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