After 600 A.D, the new crops saw changes in the area of Toronto, the change in diet, and the creation of semi-permanent villages (that was used to farm these crops). The people of these semi-permanent villages moved out during parts of the year to hunt, fish, and gather other goods to supplement their farming. The earliest known Iroquoian semi-permanent villages date to about 900 A.D. Iroquoian villages during this period were located on high, fortified grounds, with access to wetlands and waterways to facilitate hunting, fishing, trade, and military operations. Their villages typically stood in place for around 10 to 20 years, before the inhabitants relocated to a new site. Typically, these villages would cycle through many sites but return to the same areas repeatedly. This lessened the impact on surrounding flora and fauna, allowing hunting and agriculture to be utilized sustainably. Many Iroquoian villages date back to the 1200's and have been excavated in Toronto, including an ossuary in Scarborough. From the 1300s to the 1500s, the Iroquoian inhabitants of the area migrated north of Toronto, joining the developing Huron-Wendat Confederacy. During this period, the Huron-Wendat Confederacy used Toronto as a hinterland for hunting, with the Toronto Passage continuing to see used as a north–south route. The northeast portion of Toronto also held two 14th-century Iroquoian burial mounds, known today as Taber Hill. Europeans didn't visit Southern Ontario during the 17th century. European goods did start to make its way into the region as early as the late 1500's.
During the 17th century, nearly half of Southern Ontario's First Nations population was wiped out from as a result of the transmission of communicable diseases between Europeans and First Nation groups. The population loss, along with the desire to secure furs for trade, saw the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to the south invade the area and attack the Huron-Wendat Confederacy. The Haudenosaunee ultimately defeated the Huron-Wendat in the mid-1600s, and the Huron-Wendat fled as refugees, were killed or were forcibly adopted into the Haudenosaunee. After the Haudenosaunee secured the region, they established several settlements on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The Seneca (one of the five Haudenosaunee nations) established two settlements in present-day Toronto, Teiaiagon, near the Humber River, and Ganatsekwyagon near the Rouge River. The two communities provided the Haudenosaunee control of the north–south passage in Toronto. Roman Catholic missionaries visited the two settlements in the 1660s and 1670s. The two Seneca settlements were abandoned by 1687. After the Haudenosaunee left, the Mississaugas moved in and established villages in the area in the late 17th century. The first European to set foot on the shores of Lake Ontario in the area of Toronto may have been the French explorer Etienne Brule, taking the Toronto Passage from Huronia in 1615. This claim is disputed by several scholars, who suggest that Brûlé took a more westerly route and reached Lake Erie, as opposed to Lake Ontario. However, Europeans were active in the Toronto area by the 1660s, with missionaries visiting First Nations settlements in the area.
By the 18th century, Toronto became an important location for French fur traders, given its proximity to the Toronto Passage. In 1720, Captain Alexandre Dagneau established Fort Douville on the Humber River, near the shore of Lake Ontario. The trading post was built to divert First Nations traders from British trading posts to the south of Toronto. The success of Fort Douville prompted the British to build a larger trading post in Oswego, New York. The completion of Fort Oswego in 1726 led the French to abandon their first trading post in Toronto. The French made another trading post in 1750 on the Humber River. It was enough to cause the Rench to make Fort Rouillé, at present-day Exhibition Place in 1751. After the British captured Fort Niagara in July 1759, Fort Rouillé was destroyed by its French occupants, who withdrew to Montreal. In 1760, Robert Rogers, with an armed force of two hundred men and a flotilla of fifteen whaleboats came to secure the Toronto area for the British. The Treaty of Paris of 1763 formally ended the Seven Years' War and saw New France ceded to the British. This included the Pays d'en Haut region of New France, the area containing present-day Toronto.
European settlement in the western half of the colony of Quebec was limited before 1775, amounting to only a few families in the area. However, in the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War, the area saw an influx of settlers, known as the United Empire Loyalists; American colonists who either refused to accept being divorced from the Crown, or who felt unwelcome in the new republic of the United States. Many loyalists fled from the United States to the mostly unsettled lands north of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario; some had fought in the British Army and were paid with land in the region.
These early immigrants originated from the midland region of the United States. They valued pluralism, were organized around the middle class, were suspicious of top-down government interventions, and were politically moderate. It has been argued that these immigrants' attitudes laid the foundation for Southern Ontario's (and by extension Toronto's) existing pluralistic and politically moderate culture.
Afrobeats exploded during the 2010s and the 2020s. What is Afrobeats? Afrobeats is a unique form of music that comes from West Africa and from the African Diaspora with fusion sounds. It was formed in Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK during the 2000's. Now, it's an international powerhouse. The genre includes hiplife, juju music, highlife, Naija beats, and other forms of musical expression. Most of Afrobeats music is produced in Lagos, Accra, and London. Many Afrobeats artists have been successful in Africa, Europe, North America, and worldwide. Afrobeats is different than Afrobeat (which was created in the 1960's and the 1970's being expressed by Fela Kuti and other artists). Afrobeats take influence from Afrobeat music and other genres like R&B, palm wine music, ndombolo, etc. Afrobeats have the signature driving drum beat rhythms (found electronic or instrumental). Many artists of Afrobeats are Flavour N'abania, Mista Silva, Fuso, Davido, Naira Marley, etc. American artists like Michelle Williams used Afrobeats in her religious gospel song of Say Yes in praising Jesus Christ. Michelle Williams's 2014 song of Say Yes was based on the Nigerian hymn of When Jesus Say Yes. Wizkid of Nigeria, Aya Nakamura (of Mali), Tiwa Savage, Tyla, Tems, and other musicians are part of the Afrobeats movement too.
Ancient Egypt is an ancient civilization found on the Nile River being an African civilization. Egypt is part of Africa. It lasted from ca. 3150 B.C. to 30 B.C. Its history has been filled with research and a constant contribution to humanity like STEM fields, cuisine, fashion, architecture, writing, music, spiritual views, medicine, literature, etc. The civilization developed in the Nile River. The ancient Egyptian Empire by the New Kingdom expanded to Nubia and much of the Levant at its peak before having its slow decline. Ancient Egypt survived by having its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, trade, and transportation. The flooding caused people to adjust their crops and develop their irrigation systems to make their lands more fertile. Ancient Egyptian History has many eras like Early Dynastic Period, the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom, the Second Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom (at its peak), the Third Intermediate Period, and the Late Period. The fertile floodplain caused people to have an agricultural economy and a centralized system of government. Nomadic people lived in the Nile valley about 120,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene era. The region became hotter and drier and people lived in the Nile River. During the Pre-Dynastic period, there was pottery in 5,500 B.C. along with the Badarian culture that came from the Western Desert with ceramics of high quality, stone tools, and usage of cooper. Recent archaeological evidence has suggested that the Tasian and Badarian Nile Valley sites were a peripheral network of earlier Northeast African cultures that featured the movement of Badarian, Saharan, Nubian and Nilotic populations.
Later, ancient Egypt saw the Naqada culture (from Naqada I to Naqada III). There was obsidian that came from Ethiopia and trade with the Levant and Mesopotamia in general during the 3600's B.C. The Nagada culture (filled with decorative stone vases, cosmetic palettes, jewelry, and writing symbols that would evolve into the full system of hieroglyphs) traded with Nubia, the Near East, and the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean. The Early Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt lasted from cs. 3150 B.C. to 2686 B.C. This was the time when the Sumerian Akkadian cultures of Mesopotamia and ancient Elam were growing. According to third-century Egyptian priest Mantheo, the first King of this Dynasty was Menes (who was believed to unite the two Kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt). Menes may be King Narmer. By this time, the capital of ancient Egypt was in the prominent city of Memphis. Ancient Egypt had pharaohs, labor power, and trade routes to the Levant. he strong institution of kingship developed by the kings served to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that were essential to the survival and growth of ancient Egyptian civilization. The Old Kingdom from 2686 to 2181 B.C. saw tons of huge advances in architecture, art, and technology. The Great Pyramids of Giza and The Great Sphinx were created during the Old Kingdom. The Old Kingdom saw the vizier using state officials to collect taxes, handle crops, work on construction projects via peasants, and have a justice system to have peace and order.
With the rising importance of central administration in Egypt, a new class of educated scribes and officials arose who were granted estates by the king in payment for their services. Kings also made land grants to their mortuary cults and local temples, to ensure that these institutions had the resources to worship the king after his death. Scholars believe that five centuries of these practices slowly eroded the economic vitality of Egypt and that the economy could no longer afford to support a large, centralized administration. As the power of the kings diminished, regional governors called nomarchs began to challenge the supremacy of the office of king. This, coupled with severe droughts between 2200 and 2150 BC, is believed to have caused the country to enter the 140 years of famine and strife known as the First Intermediate Period. This period saw Egypt's central government gone. Local rulers existed to deal with resources and provinces became richer. By 2160 BC, rulers in Herakleopolis controlled Lower Egypt in the north, while a rival clan based in Thebes, the Intef family, took control of Upper Egypt in the south. As the Intefs grew in power and expanded their control northward, a clash between the two rival dynasties became inevitable. Around 2055 BC the northern Theban forces under Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II finally defeated the Herakleopolitan rulers, reuniting the Two Lands. They inaugurated a period of economic and cultural renaissance known as the Middle Kingdom (which lasted from 2134 to 1690 B.C.). The Middle Kingdom saw a new era of stability, prosperity, and the growth of culture (like art, literature, and large building projects).
Mentuhotep II and his Eleventh Dynasty successors ruled from Thebes, but the vizier Amenemhat I, upon assuming the kingship at the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty around 1985 BC, shifted the kingdom's capital to the city of Itjtawy, located in Faiyum. From Itjtawy, the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty undertook a far-sighted land reclamation and irrigation scheme to increase agricultural output in the region. Moreover, the military reconquered territory in Nubia that was rich in quarries and gold mines, while laborers built a defensive structure in the Eastern Delta, called the "Walls of the Ruler", to defend against foreign attack. The Middle Kingdom focused on eloquent literature, personal piety, and new relief sculptures.
The last great ruler of the Middle Kingdom, Amenemhat III, allowed Semitic-speaking Canaanite settlers from the Near East into the Delta region to provide a sufficient labor force for his especially active mining and building campaigns. These ambitious building and mining activities, however, combined with severe Nile floods later in his reign, strained the economy and precipitated the slow decline into the Second Intermediate Period during the later Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties. During this decline, the Canaanite settlers began to assume greater control of the Delta region, eventually coming to power in Egypt as the Hyksos. The Hyksos were Semitic people who ruled Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. They made their capital at Avaris. The ancient Egyptians paid tribute to the Hyksos. They used the composite bow and the horse-drawn chariot. The Theban Kings were trapped between the Canaanite Hyksos ruling the north and the Hyksos' Nubian allies, the Kushites, to the south. After years of vassalage, Thebes gathered enough strength to challenge the Hyksos in a conflict that lasted more than 30 years, until 1555 BC. The kings Seqenenre Tao II and Kamose were ultimately able to defeat the Nubians to the south of Egypt, but failed to defeat the Hyksos. That task fell to Kamose's successor, Ahmose I, who successfully waged a series of campaigns that permanently eradicated the Hyksos' presence in Egypt. He established a new dynasty and, in the New Kingdom that followed, the military became a central priority for the kings, who sought to expand Egypt's borders and attempted to gain mastery of the Near East.
The New Kingdom was during the peak of the ancient Egypt civilization. The New Kingdom pharaohs established a period of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbors, including the Mitanni Empire, Assyria, and Canaan. Military campaigns waged under Tuthmosis I and his grandson Tuthmosis III extended the influence of the pharaohs to the largest empire Egypt had ever seen. Beginning with Merneptah the rulers of Egypt adopted the title of pharaoh. Between their reigns, Hatshepsut, a queen who established herself as pharaoh, launched many building projects, including the restoration of temples damaged by the Hyksos, and sent trading expeditions to Punt and the Sinai. When Tuthmosis III died in 1425 BC, Egypt had an empire extending from Niya in northwest Syria to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile in Nubia, cementing loyalties and opening access to critical imports such as bronze and wood. The New Kingdom pharaohs began a large-scale building campaign to promote the god Amun, whose growing cult was based in Karnak. They also constructed monuments to glorify their own achievements, both real and imagined. The Karnak temple is the largest Egyptian temple ever built.
Around 1350 BC, the stability of the New Kingdom was threatened when Amenhotep IV ascended the throne and instituted a series of radical and new reforms. Changing his name to Akhenaten, he touted the previously obscure sun deity Aten as the supreme deity, suppressed the worship of most other deities, and moved the capital to the new city of Akhetaten (modern-day Amarna). He was devoted to his new religion and artistic style. After his death, the cult of the Aten was quickly abandoned and the traditional religious order restored. The subsequent pharaohs, Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb, worked to erase all mention of Akhenaten's spiritual views, now known as the Amarna Period. Around 1279 BC, Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great, ascended the throne, and went on to build more temples, erect more statues and obelisks, and sire more children than any other pharaoh in history. A bold military leader, Ramesses II led his army against the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh (in modern Syria) and, after fighting to a stalemate, finally agreed to the first recorded peace treaty, around 1258 BC. The ancient Egyptian leaders wanted to expand. Yet, they faced the Libyan Berbers, the Sea Peoples, and others in the Aegean Sea. Egypt lost lands in southern Canaan to the Assyrians, there was civil unrest, tomb robbery, and corruption. After regaining their power, the high priests at the temple of Amun in Thebes accumulated vast tracts of land and wealth, and their expanded power splintered the country during the Third Intermediate Period.
Following the death of Ramesses XI in 1078 BC, Smendes assumed authority over the northern part of Egypt, ruling from the city of Tanis. The south was effectively controlled by the High Priests of Amun at Thebes, who recognized Smendes in name only. This Third Intermediate Period lasted from 1069 to 653 B.C. During this time, Libyans had been settling in the western delta, and chieftains of these settlers began increasing their autonomy. Libyan princes took control of the delta under Shoshenq I in 945 BC, founding the so-called Libyan or Bubastite dynasty that would rule for some 200 years. Shoshenq also gained control of southern Egypt by placing his family members in important priestly positions. Libyan control began to erode as a rival dynasty in the delta arose in Leontopolis, and Kushites threatened from the south.
Around 727 BC the Kushite king Piye invaded northward, seizing control of Thebes and eventually the Delta, which established the 25th Dynasty. During the 25th Dynasty, Pharaoh Taharqa created an empire nearly as large as the New Kingdom's. Twenty-fifth Dynasty pharaohs built, or restored, temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, and Jebel Barkal. During this period, the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids (many in modern Sudan) since the Middle Kingdom.
Egypt's far-reaching prestige declined considerably toward the end of the Third Intermediate Period. Its foreign allies had fallen under the Assyrian sphere of influence, and by 700 BC war between the two states became inevitable. Between 671 and 667 BC, the Assyrians began the Assyrian conquest of Egypt. The reigns of both Taharqa and his successor, Tanutamun, were filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians, against whom Egypt enjoyed several victories. Ultimately, the Assyrians pushed the Kushites back into Nubia, occupied Memphis, and sacked the temples of Thebes. The late period saw ancient Egypt ruled by the Assyrians. Saite kings of the 26th Dynasty were allowed to rule. By 653 BC, the Saite king Psamtik I was able to oust the Assyrians with the help of Greek mercenaries, who were recruited to form Egypt's first navy. Greek influence expanded greatly as the city-state of Naucratis became the home of Greeks in the Nile Delta. The Saite kings based in the new capital of Sais witnessed a brief but spirited resurgence in the economy and culture, but in 525 BC, the powerful Persians, led by Cambyses II, began their conquest of Egypt, eventually capturing the pharaoh Psamtik III at the Battle of Pelusium. Cambyses II then assumed the formal title of pharaoh, but ruled Egypt from Iran, leaving Egypt under the control of a satrap. A few successful revolts against the Persians marked the 5th century BC, but Egypt was never able to permanently overthrow the Persians.
Following its annexation by Persia, Egypt was joined with Cyprus and Phoenicia in the sixth satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. This first period of Persian rule over Egypt, also known as the Twenty-Seventh Dynasty, ended in 402 BC, when Egypt regained independence under a series of native dynasties. The last of these dynasties, the Thirtieth, proved to be the last native royal house of ancient Egypt, ending with the kingship of Nectanebo II. A brief restoration of Persian rule, sometimes known as the Thirty-First Dynasty, began in 343 BC, but shortly after, in 332 BC, the Persian ruler Mazaces handed Egypt over to Alexander the Great without a fight.
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt with little resistance from the Persians and was welcomed by the Egyptians as a deliverer. The administration established by Alexander's successors, the Macedonian Ptolemaic Kingdom, was based on an Egyptian model and based in the new capital city of Alexandria. The city showcased the power and prestige of Hellenistic rule, and became a center of learning and culture, that included the famous Library of Alexandria as part of the Mouseion. The Lighthouse of Alexandria lit the way for the many ships that kept trade flowing through the city—as the Ptolemies made commerce and revenue-generating enterprises, such as papyrus manufacturing, their top priority. Hellenistic culture did not supplant native Egyptian culture, as the Ptolemies supported time-honored traditions in an effort to secure the loyalty of the populace. They built new temples in Egyptian style, supported traditional cults, and portrayed themselves as pharaohs. Some traditions merged, as Greek and Egyptian gods were syncretized into composite deities, such as Serapis, and classical Greek forms of sculpture influenced traditional Egyptian motifs. Despite their efforts to appease the Egyptians, the Ptolemies were challenged by native rebellion, bitter family rivalries, and the powerful mob of Alexandria that formed after the death of Ptolemy IV. In addition, as Rome relied more heavily on imports of grain from Egypt, the Romans took great interest in the political situation in the country. Continued Egyptian revolts, ambitious politicians, and powerful opponents from the Near East made this situation unstable, leading Rome to send forces to secure the country as a province of its empire. Ancient Rome ruled ancient Egypt by 30 B.C. after the defeat of Mark Antony and Ptomemaic Queen Cleopatra VII by Octavian (who is Emperor Augustus) via the Batte of Actium. Alexandria flourished. There were mummies of many ancient Egyptians continuing during the Roman Empire era. By the mid first century, A.D., Christianity existed in ancient Egypt. Christians were severely persecuted (by Roman Emperor Diocletian and others) and then Christianity was supported by Christian emperor Theodosius. Egypt became part of the Eastern Roman Empire whose capital was in Constantinople. Then, Egypt was ruled by the Sasanian Persian Army by the 600's. A.D., ruled by Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, and ruled by the Muslim Rashidun army 639-641 A.D. Ancient Egypt ended by this time.
Lois Mailou Jones was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Thomas Vreelan Jones and Carolyn Adams. Her father was a building superintendent who would be a layer (after being the first African American to earn a law degree from Suffolk Law School). Her mother worked as a cosmetologist. Jones's parents encouraged her to draw and paint using watercolors during her childhood. Her parents bought a house on Martha's Vineyard, where Jones met those who influenced her life and art like sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller, composer Harry T. Burleigh, and novelist Dorothy West. From 1919 to 1923, Jones attended the High School of Practical Arts in Boston. During these years, she took night classes from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts through an annual scholarship. Additionally, she apprenticed in costume design with Grace Ripley. She held her first solo exhibition at the age of seventeen in Martha's Vineyard. Jones worked with African influences during her time at the Ripley Studio. She researched African masks and created costume design for Denishawn.
From 1923 to 1927, Jones attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to study design, where she won the Susan Minot Lane Scholarship in Design yearly. She took night courses at the Boston Normal Art School while working towards her degree. After graduating from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, she received her graduate degree in design from the Design Art School of Boston in 1928. Afterward, she began working at the F. A. Foster Company in Boston and the Schumacher Company in New York City. During the summer of 1928, she attended Howard University, where she decided to focus on painting instead of design. Jones continued taking classes throughout her lifetime. In 1934, she took classes on different cultural masks at Columbia University. In 1945, she received a BA in art education from Howard University, graduating magna cum laude.
Jones's career started in the 1930's and she worked on art until the time of her death in 1998 when she was 92 years old. Her style shifted and evolved multiple times in response to influences in her life, especially her extensive travels. She worked with different mediums, techniques, and influences throughout her long career. Her extensive travels throughout Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean influenced and changed how she painted. She felt that her greatest contribution to the art world was "proof of the talent of black artists". She wished to be known as an American painter with no labels. Her work echoes her pride in her African roots and American ancestry.
We live in a new era of the 2024 Presidential election. During this time, the Republican primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire are over causing Trump to have victories. Nikki Haley was the closest to Trump in the polls at the New Hampshire primary. Nikki Haley promised to continue to battle on. Joe Biden recently won the Democratic South Carolina primary. We live in an age of paradoxes. Trump still has massive support among some Americans despite his convictions, corruption, racism, sexism, and other forms of evil that he has enacted for years and decades. The reasons for this reality are diverse. Some people follow Trump for economic reasons, some people are far right, and other people are just as racist, xenophobic, and sexist as Trump is. Also, we have much of the base of the Democratic party skeptical of President Joe Biden over his Middle Eastern policies, promises, and other issues (as African American support has declined when we African Americans literally saved democracy and caused Biden to have his first term since 2021). While Biden has made mistakes, Biden has passed some of the most progressive legislation in American history since the Great Society era. The future will be known in the months from now. Until this time, we shall see more developments. Some of the news coming up is the global resurgence of measles because of public health not being prioritized, the massive protests over the Middle Eastern conflict, and U.S. historians filing a brief with the Supreme Court calling Trump's exclusion from the ballot under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was part of the legitimate policies of Reconstruction that emancipated human beings from bondage, ended the Southern slave-owning ruling class, and set up a foundation for the 20th-century progressive blessings from the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Medicare, Social Security, and to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The problem is that far-right extremists want to eliminate progressive policies from the past to make a MAGA-type society in the future. That is why we have the right to vote for democracy unequivocally.
By Timothy
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