West African Society and Culture (Research Paper Sample)

West African Society and Culture
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West African Society and Culture.
Since West Africa has such a diverse population, generalizing about early African Americans' social and cultural backgrounds is dangerous. However, researchers have put together a comprehensive picture of life in West Africa before the start of the transatlantic slave trade.
Individuals and Communities
These West Africans were cultivators by the early 1600s when the Europeans arrived in the region. They mostly resided in small towns or villages made up of several different lineages or extended families and clans. Extended families and genealogies were either male primogeniture or matrilineal based on the racial community involved. Social status and property were transmitted down the male line in primogeniture societies from dads to sons. Matrilineal civilizations have status and property handed down via the female line, even though males govern them. In a matrilineal culture, a village chief was replaced by his sister's son rather than his son. However, many West Africans lived in civilizations that lacked a central government and instead relied on extended families and lineages for leadership.(Siegel,1996)
The Way of Life in the Village
On the grassland, villages were often bigger than in the forest because of this. People in these communities