Click to view: “Early History of South Africa”
This lecture is provided by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Michigan.
During the millennium preceding European colonialism, South Africans forged societies characterized by dispersed political networks, long-distance commerce, extensive regional interactions, and overlapping flows of people, ideas, and materials. By the 18th century, their political economies and political beliefs yielded powerful kingdoms. Colonial political mythology rests on the notion that early Europeans ‘set up a country bare’ and devoid of civilization. The early history of South Africa reveals a far more complex past.
Dr. Raevin Jiminez is an LSA Collegiate Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Michigan.