What were the chief similarities and differences between the civilizations of Africa and the Americas?

Question

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Answer 1

Both Africa and the Americas had a wide range of societies as far as social stratification and cultural and religious diversity. Africa and the Americas had urban centers, such as the Aztec empire in Mesoamerica. Some of the simpler, more egalitarian societies of West Africa were organized around kinship, like America's Eastern Woodlands Indians. Also, some groups in both Africa and the Americas practiced animist religions in which aspects of nature were considered to be gods and spirits.

But there were vast differences between the civilizations of Africa and the Americas. Slavery was widely practiced on a tribal level in Africa, even before the arrival of the Europeans. On the other hand, the empires of the Americas such as the Aztecs used systems of tribute and taxation instead of slavery. Additionally, there were large domesticated animals in Africa but not in the Americas prior to the arrival of the Europeans.

Trade also played a bigger role in the economic life of Africa than the Americas. The North African states on the Mediterranean had been trading with Europe since ancient times.