Senegal History

Senegal History

West Africa Kingdoms

Kingdoms and Empires

The region of modern Senegal was a part of the larger region called Upper Guinea by European traders. In the absence of written sources and monumental ruins in this region, the history of the early centuries of our era must be based primarily on archaeological excavations, the writing of early geographers and travelers, written in Arabic and data derived from oral tradition. Combining these data suggests that Senegal was first populated from the north and east migration, the last being that of the Wolof, the Fulani and the Serer. 

History of Senegal

 The history of the Saharan region is mainly characterized by the consolidation of settlements in large state entities – the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire. The cores of these great empires were located on the territory of the current Republic of Mali, so current-day Senegal occupied a peripheral position.

Indeed the growth of a vast empire by Arab-Muslim Jihads is not devoid of economic and political issues and brought in its wake the first real growth of the slave trade. This trade called the Arab slave trade provided North Africa and Saharan Africa with slave labor. The Tekrur were among the first converts to the Islam, certainly before 1040. : the Mali Empire and the empire of Djolof   together forming Senegambia to also know as  "Grand Djolof" which collapsed in 1550.

Wolof Tribe Senegal

Under the influence of Islam, these kingdoms were transformed and marabouts played an increasing role.
In the mid-fifteenth century several European nations reached the coast of West Africa, vested successively or simultaneously by the Portuguese, the Dutchman, the English and French. Europeans first settled along the coasts, on islands in the mouths of rivers and then a little further upstream. They opened trading posts and engaged in the "trade:"

Dutch West India Company

 The Dutch West India Company

In West Africa trading posts were opened at some points of the current Senegal, Gambia, Ghana and Angola.Created in 1621, the Dutch West India Company purchased the island of Gorée in 1627.The company built two forts that are in ruins today:  The Dutch settlers occupied the island for nearly half a century, but were dislodged several times: in 1629 by the Portuguese, in 1645 and 1659 by the French and in 1663 by the British troops.  On 10 February 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War and reconciled, after three years of negotiations, France, Great Britain and Spain. Great Britain returned the island of Gorée to France, but now the premere colonial power, it acquired, among many other territories, "the river of Senegal, with forts & trading posts St. Louis, Podor, and Galam .

Africa slave routes

In 1789 people of St. Louis write a List of Complaints. The same year the French were driven out of Fort St. Joseph in Galam and kingdom of Galam. A trading economy  The Europeans were sometimes disappointed because they hoped to find more gold in West Africa, but when the development of plantations in the Americas, mainly in the Caribbean, in Brazil and in the south of the United States raised a great need for cheap labor, the area received more attention. The Papacy who had sometimes opposed to the slavery, did not condemn it explicitly to the end of the seventeenth century; in fact the Church itself has an interest in the colonial system. The Black Code, enacted in 1685, regulated the trafficking of slaves in the American colonies. Senegal, trading posts were established in Gorée, St. Louis, Rufisque, Portudal and Joal and the upper valley of the Senegal River, including Fort St. Joseph Galam was in the eighteenth century a French engine of trafficking in Senegambia.

Modern History

Fulani Tribesman

 In January 1959, Senegal and the French Sudan merged to form the Mali Federation, which became fully independent on 20 June 1960, as a result of the independence and the transfer of power agreement signed with France on 4 April 1960. Due to internal political difficulties, the Federation broke up on 20 August 1960. Senegal and Soudan (renamed the Republic of Mali) proclaimed independence. Léopold Senghor, internationally known poet, politician, and statesman, was elected Senegal's first president in August 1960.

The 1960s and early 70s saw the continued and persistent violation of Senegal's borders by the Portugese military from Portuguese Guinea. In response, Senegal petitioned the United Nations Security Council in in 1963, 1965, 1969 (in response to shelling by Portugese artillery), 1971 and finally in 1972.After the breakup of the Mali Federation, President Senghor and Prime Minister Mamadou Dia governed together under a parliamentary system. In December 1962, their political rivalry led to an attempted coup by Prime Minister Dia. The coup was put down without bloodshed and Dia was arrested and imprisoned. Senegal adopted a new constitution that consolidated the President’s power. Senghor was considerably more tolerant of opposition than most African regimes became in the 1960s. Nonetheless, political activity was somewhat restricted for a time. Senghor's party, the Senegalese Progressive Union (now the Socialist Party of Senegal, was the only legally permitted party until 1973.
 

Léopold Senghor 

In 1980, President Senghor retired from politics, and handed power over to his handpicked successor, Abdou Diouf, in 1981. 1980–2006 Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia on 1 February 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group in the Casamance region has clashed sporadically with government forces since 1982. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping. Abdou Diouf was president between 1981 and 2000. He encouraged broader political participation, reduced government involvement in the economy, and widened Senegal's diplomatic engagements, particularly with other developing nations. 

Domestic politics on occasion spilled over into street violence, border tensions, and a violent separatist movement in the southern region of the Casamance. Nevertheless, Senegal's commitment to democracy and human rights has strengthened over time. Diouf served four terms as President. In the presidential election of 2000, he was defeated in a free and fair election by opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade. Senegal experienced its second peaceful transition of power, and its first from one political party to another.

On 30 December 2004 President Abdoulaye Wade announced that he would sign a peace treaty with two separatist factions of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) in the Casamance region. This will end West Africa's longest-running civil conflict. As of late 2006, it seemed the peace treaty was holding, as both factions and the Senegalese military appeared to honor the treaty. With recognized prospects for peace, refugees began returning home from neighboring Guinea-Bissau. However, at the beginning of 2007, refugees began fleeing again, as the sight of Senegalese troops rekindled fears of a new outbreak of violence between the separatists and the government.

Currently Senegal is looking at a  Presidental election February of 2012. Running for the position is international singing star Youssou N'Dour.