How Economics Explained Gets African History Wrong

Further Research Recommendations below. Check out the original video by Economics Explained here:    • MIT Study Reveals Why Africa Is Still Poor   "Why Is Africa Poor" by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson: https://economics.mit.edu/sites/defau... Book Recommendations: Austen, Ralph A. Trans-Saharan Africa in World History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010. Conrad, David C. Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Chelsea House Publishers, 2010. Ehret, Christopher. Civilizations of Africa: A history to 1800. Charlottesville: The University of Virginia Press, 2018. (This one is super long and a bit academic, but covers an extremely broad timeframe and area, and goes much further back than most history books on Africa.) Fauvelle , Francois-Xavier. The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages. S.l.: Princeton University Press, 2021. (This book covers a lot of topics in African history over a pretty wide area, but isn't overwhelmingly long) Gomez, Michael A. African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. (Very good book on Medieval Sahelian history) Parker, John, and David Adjaye. Great Kingdoms of Africa. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2023. (This book features articles written by different scholars on a variety of topics from across Africa, and like The Golden Rhinoceros it's not too long. Great place to get a taste of history from across the continent) Phillipson, David W. Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC - AD 1300. Oxford: James Currey, 2012. Thornton, John K. A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250-1820. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Thornton, John. Africa and Africans in the making of the Atlantic World: 1400-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007. (Probably my favorite book an Atlantic Africa) The Cambridge History of Africa (Volumes 1-5 for Pre-Colonial History) African History-Focused Channel Recommendations: ‪@hiddenhist‬ ‪@Bamise‬ ‪@Mrminibagel‬ ‪@medievalafrica‬ ‪@ronuspirit‬ Video Recommendations from channels not specifically focused on African history: Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa: Crash Course World History #16:    • Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa: Crash Cour...   Int'l Commerce, Snorkeling Camels, and The Indian Ocean Trade: Crash Course World History #18:    • Int'l Commerce, Snorkeling Camels, and The...   Kongo: Central African Superpower - African Empires Ep. 5:    • Kongo: Central African Superpower - Africa...   What Wheelbarrows can teach us about World History:    • What wheelbarrows can teach us about world...   Brief History Of Africa Before Colonialism -- How did we get there?:    • Brief History Of Africa Before Colonialism...   Medieval transport - the beginners' guide (this one isn't related to African history directly, but elaborates on some of the stuff I talked about regarding transportation in this video):    • Medieval transport - the beginners' guide   My own videos on West African History: The Kingdom of Benin (Edo Empire) | West Africa's Longest Lasting State:    • The Kingdom of Benin (Edo Empire) | West A...   The Ghana Empire (Wagadu) - Africa's Land of Gold:    • The Ghana Empire (Wagadu) - Africa's Land ...   Apparently my citations are too long to include in this description, so I'll put them in a pinned comment. Patreon:   / somasacademy   Twitter:   / somas_academy   BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/somasacademy... ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/kalahsoma 00:00 Intro 00:55 Claim: The Sahara Isolated Sub-Saharan Africa 01:25 Trans-Saharan Contact 03:45 Nile Valley and Red Sea Trade 04:10 The Horn and Arabia 04:41 The Swahili Coast and Indian Ocean Trade 05:26 Actual Possible Barriers in Africa 06:11 Claim: Africans Never Developed Farming 07:00 Independent Crop Domestication in Africa 07:58 Introduced Crops in Africa 08:07 Animal Agriculture in Africa 08:52 Spread of Farming in Africa 09:32 Hunter-Gatherer Populations 10:54 MIT Study 12:25 Claims About The Wheel 13:50 Wheel Use in Sub-Saharan Africa 14:14 Saharan Wheels 14:51 Non-Wheeled Transport 16:25 Reasons for the Decline of Wheeled Transport 18:54 Conclusion + Source Recommendations Correction: 04:29 Muhammad sent his followers to seek refuge in Aksum, but did not go with them.