• geography of eastern Africa and Indian Ocean basin
• how to analyze material presented chronologically
• how to articulate and compare themes appearing in one context (the Atlantic) with those in another (the Indian Ocean)
• how complex processes of economic transformation have ironic outcomes
• how competing economic interests shaped diplomacy among nations and peoples (Britain, France, India, Oman, Zanzibar, the Nyamwezi)

To expedite teaching, distribute the timeline from Appendix 5 as homework a day or two before the lesson is scheduled. Ask students to complete this assignment:

1. Read the timeline.
2. Think about how this material and these places fit into world history.

Exposure to the timeline and maps of the area will make it easier to present the topic in class. Prime students for an analytic discussion by asking them to compare what happened in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean systems (the lesson assumes prior coverage of the Atlantic slave trade and plantation complex). Consider duplicating the glossary in Appendix 3, the Notes on Places and Peoples from Appendix 4, and items from the Web Work in Appendix 6 as a supplementary handout. Urge students with access to the Web to visit sites with photographs. Prepare transparencies of maps and illustrations (consult the recommended readings). There is much fine visual material and statistical data in Sheriff (1987).

Jump-start the lesson by bringing an ivory artifact — perhaps one found at an estate sale — cloves, and a coconut to class.

• Ask students why you have these items (Zanzibar's major nineteenth-century exports).
• Ask what export commodity is missing (slaves).
• Ask whether there was any link between the slave trade and other exports (provide a brief explanation).
• Show students a piece of unbleached muslin and illustrations of nineteenth-century firearms to represent major imports.

Develop the lesson by "teaching from the timeline" (see the questions in Appendix 1). Put up a transparency of the outline map. Add place-names and major trade routes to the map as the lesson unfolds (to save time, use a transparency with the place-names, just adding the routes with a red pen). Prices on the timeline are taken from Sheriff (1987), where the unit of currency is the Maria Theresa Dollar (MT$).

The essay provides background, but if possible, read Steven Feierman's "A Century of Ironies." The essay includes details about particular African societies and localities to avoid essentializing generalities and to emphasize the complex ways in which the local is connected to the global. When discussing the timeline, students will ask many questions for which the essay, glossary, and notes are inadequate. Jot down their questions, find the answers, revise the lesson - or ask students to do the searching! Let this topic open the door on an adventure.

Note: The lesson may be modified to cover the ivory and slave trade in east-central Africa, the ivory trade in the East Coast's northern hinterland (Kenya, Somalia, Sudan), the Khartoum-based ivory and slave-trade of the upper Nile Valley (southern Sudan, Uganda), or the activities of explorers and missionaries. For the African diaspora in the Indian Ocean see especially Alpers (1997) and Ewald (2000).

Pronunciation of African Names and Place names. For an close approximation, pronounce consonants as in English, but vowels as in Spanish. For initial "m" say "mmm" as in "tastes good" (not "em"). Pronounce "ny" like "ni" in onion (not "en-ya").