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1. gr. 10 historical sources.
This document discusses the historical evidence and sources used to understand the emergence of new states in southern Africa after 1750. It outlines that historians use four main types of sources: written documents, visual sources, material artifacts found through archaeology, and oral traditions passed down through generations. Oral traditions are an especially important source for pre-colonial and pre-literate histories. The document cautions that all sources reflect a particular viewpoint and that writing history involves interpretation of surviving evidence from the past.
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Introduces the historical context of pre-colonial Southern Africa, focusing on early inhabitants and agricultural developments.
Defines hunter-gatherers as societies relying on wild resources and pastoralists as cattle farmers.
Discusses the arrival of Portuguese explorers and their establishment of trade in Delagoa Bay by the mid-16th century.
Highlights the emergence of new states and socio-political conflicts in southern Africa post-1750.
Describes various sources historians use to study the emergence of new states after 1750.
Categorizes sources into written, visual, material, and oral, detailing their relevance in historical studies.
Explains the significance of oral sources in documenting history without written records, including cultural narratives.
Discusses potential inaccuracies and biases in oral histories, emphasizing careful analysis.
Distinguishes between primary sources (from the event period) and secondary sources (analyses of primary sources).
Explores the historian's role in interpreting evidence, constructing narrative and understanding multiple historical perspectives.
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1. gr. 10 historical sources.
- 1. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR PRE-COLONIALHISTORY Grade: 10 1Term: 3 Topic: 4 – TRANSFORMATIONS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA AFTER 1750 Sub-Topic: Chapter 1: WHAT ARE THE DEBATES ABOUT THE EMERGENCE OF NEW STATES? HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR PRE-COLONIAL HISTORY. 1M.N.SPIES
- 2. DEBATES ABOUT THEEMERGENCE OF NEW STATES • San hunter-gatherers and Khoi pastoralists were the first inhabitants of southern Africa. • By the mid-18th century, African farmers had settled in the central and eastern parts of southern Africa.southern Africa. • They settled where the climate was suitable for growing crops and keeping cattle. • San hunter-gatherers and Khoi pastoralists then shared the southern African farming landscape with farmers. M.N.SPIES 2
- 3. A hunter-gatherer isa human living in a society in which most or all food is obtained by collecting wild plants and pursuing wild animals, in contrast to agricultural societies, which rely mainly on domesticated species. M.N.SPIES 3
- 4. A pastoralist isa sheep or cattle farmer. M.N.SPIES 4
- 5. • In theearly 16th century, Portuguese explorers landed in Delagoa Bay (modern-day Maputo in Mozambique). • On the east African coast, Delagoa Bay grew as a port of call for Portuguese merchant sailors on their way to and from India. • The Portuguese set up a small trading station at M.N.SPIES 5 • The Portuguese set up a small trading station at the port, which they later protected with small forts. • On the south-west coast, by the mid 17th century the Cape Colony had been established by the Dutch East India Company (DEIC).
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- 7. SOUTH AFRICA IN1750 • African farming settlements were situatedwere situated to the right in the green areas of the map. M.N.SPIES 7
- 8. Historical evidence forpre-colonial history • One of the questions that this topic focuses on is: 'Why did new states emerge in southern Africa after 1750?'Africa after 1750?' • Different historians have provided different answers to this question, depending on the historical evidence they use and how they interpret it. M.N.SPIES 8
- 9. • From about1780, great changes began to happen in southern Africa. • There was intensifying conflict among African chiefdoms. • There is no debate about the fact that new states emerged in this period. • Neither is there debate that political and social violent disturbances in southern African societies occurred on M.N.SPIES 9 disturbances in southern African societies occurred on a huge scale. • However, there are very heated debates among historians about why new states emerged. • Before we study the debates about transformation in the 18th century, we need to understand a little of how the history of southern Africa at this time was constructed.
- 10. Sources of information Inorder to find out why new states emerged after 1750,states emerged after 1750, historians use different sources of information. M.N.SPIES 10
- 11. Source B: Thecover of a book about South African history M.N.SPIES 11
- 12. Source C: Anartist’s impression of a Zulu soldier in the 19th Century M.N.SPIES 12
- 13. Source D: theseare objects used in South Africa long ago that archaeologists found. M.N.SPIES 13
- 14. Source E: Thisis a book that contains the diary of a British settler. It was written in the 18th century. M.N.SPIES 14
- 15. Source F: Thisis an example of an oral tredition. Nani magundwane ahlala eyikhotheni kwaNongoma Gijimani nge 'ndlela zonkana niyobikela abangake-e- ZW-A! Nithi 'Lukhulu luyeza luyanyelela, silufanisa nendlovu emnyama yasoBhalule luzoshis' i'khotha zakwaNongoma.'luzoshis' i'khotha zakwaNongoma.' And you rats that live in the long grass at Nongoma run along all the paths and go and announce to those who haven't HE-A-ARD! Say 'Something big is coming, it is sneaking up, we compare it to the black elephant of Bhalule it will burn the long grass of Nongoma.' M.N.SPIES 15
- 16. There are fourdifferent types of sources : 1. Written sources: For the pre-colonial period in our history, there are very few written sources. Thesources. The documents, letters and diaries from the time were written by European outsiders, and were not written in African languages. M.N.SPIES 16
- 17. 2. Visual sources:These include maps, drawings and paintings. These were also created by European settlers and travellers. M.N.SPIES 17
- 18. ARCHAEOLOGY 3. Materialsources: These include geographical features such as the landscape of a region, skeletal remains of humans and animals, as well as items people made and used that remain from the past - buildings, tools,the past - buildings, tools, weapons and pottery. These material objects are also called artefacts. The study of material sources is called archaeology. M.N.SPIES 18
- 19. 4.Oral sources: Theseprovide spoken accounts of the past. M.N.SPIES 19
- 20. Oral sources • Insocieties that did not have a culture of writing, historians can uncover some of what happened in the past through oral history.history. • Oral history uses the spoken word as well as legends and myths as historical evidence. M.N.SPIES 20
- 21. Oral sources includeoral testimony and oral tradition. • Oral testimonies are the first-hand accounts of people telling about themselves and their past experiences. This information is usually recorded by historians in interviews and later written down.down. • Oral tradition are the stories that have been passed down through generations by word of mouth. Oral tradition, together with archaeology, is an important source of pre-literate, pre- colonial history. M.N.SPIES 21
- 22. Oral traditions • Containsongs, praise poems and the genealogies of the king or chief. Oral traditions also include cultural knowledge, for example, court rituals. Like written history, oral tradition is influenced by the politics of the day. It constructs a story of the pre-colonial past that serves the interests of those in power.interests of those in power. • The history of chiefdoms was passed on orally by storytellers linked to the chief's advisors and told in public ceremonies. The histories of defeated groups were often suppressed by chiefs in order to protect their own status. • When British settlers arrived in the region in the 1820's and 1830's, some of them learnt African languages and wrote down the oral traditions that were told to them. M.N.SPIES 22
- 23. Using oral sources •All sources tell us a story from a particular point of view. We should always be careful when using oral sources because: 1. The memories of people are not always accurateaccurate 2. Information can change when it is passed on 3. Not everything is remembered 4. Some events may be deliberately altered or left out. M.N.SPIES 23
- 24. Primary and secondarysources Historians also distinguish between primary and secondary sources. 1. Primary sources • Primary sources come from the actual period when an event occurred. They are based on what an eyewitness saw, heard, wrote orwhat an eyewitness saw, heard, wrote or created. • Primary sources include stories, interviews, drawings, diaries, documents, skulls and bones, ruins of buildings, and artifacts like jewelry. M.N.SPIES 24
- 25. 2. Secondary sources •Secondary sources are produced after the event, using primary and other secondary sources. • Secondary sources describe, interpret M.N.SPIES 25 • Secondary sources describe, interpret or explain a historical event after it occurred. • Textbooks are typical examples of secondary sources.
- 26. How history iswritten • A good historian works with many different kinds of sources. • Historians also ask questions about each source.source. • Questions include: • 'Who produced the source?' • 'Why was the source produced?' • 'When was the source produced?' M.N.SPIES 26
- 27. • Writing historyis a complex process. • Historians use a number of sources of information called evidence in order to write about and interpret the past. • The past includes all events that have ever happened. M.N.SPIES 27 happened. • Since these are countless, it is impossible for historians to write down everything. • Historians select events and interpret evidence from the past in order to construct history.
- 28. • This meansthat all history can be challenged by those who disagree with the version being presented. • Historians select and interpret evidence that has survived from the past with regard to the present. • They are also influenced by their personal values, attitudes and ideologies. M.N.SPIES 28 attitudes and ideologies. • It is important to understand that history does not simply exist; historians construct history. • There is not just one history, but many different versions of history. • So, it is very important that histories be rooted in the evidence left by the past.