Empire of Ghana and the

Gold-Salt Trade

Ghana emerged as a

Kingdom by the 700s. Ghana grew rich

through the newly formed trade across the Sahara with Musilm traders.

Empire of Ghana

Gold and Salt were the

two most important trade items in West Africa.

Ghana produced a lot of Gold and wanted salt which is essential for large cultures.

The explosion in trade made the kings of Ghana extremely wealthy.

Gold-Salt Trade

Islam spread through

Trade to West Africa. Although the leaders

converted to Islam and employed Muslim advisors, many Africans hung on to their local religions.

Ghana went into decline after loosing multiple wars to the Almoravids.

Ghana and Islam

Empire Building: The Empire of Mali

Mali emerged by

1235 just south of Ghana. With Ghana still week, this allowed Mali to become the dominate kingdom of the region as well as take over the gold-salt trade.

Empire of Mali

Mali’s first great leader. He overthrew a dictator

like ruler, expanded the empire, and declared himself Mansa which means emperor.

He strengthened the empire through trade, conquest, and increasing the size of the government.

Sundiata

Came to power 50 years

after Sundiata and restored the wealth and prestige of Mali and promoted Islam as the empire’s religion.

Brought Muslim ideas of education to West Africa and launched several building projects.

Mansa Musa

A Muslim traveler who

traveled for 27 years attempting to write a chronicle and history of all Islamic nations in the world.

He was blown away by how advanced Mali was and wrote that in many ways it was more advanced than any place in the world.

Ibn Battuta

Empire of Songhai and the Collapse of

West African Empires

Mali gradually declined

into the 1400s as a result of poor leadership and lower trade profits.

Songhai was a small kingdom that use to be ruled by Mali but now began to expand and make an empire for itself.

Empire of Songhai

Came to power in 1464 and built a professional army that

conquered most of West Africa. He also heavily relied on his navy to control the rivers

which were the main way of transporting goods to trade.

Sunni Ali

Despite being extremely

wealthy, West African Empire lacked advanced military technology.

In 1591, and army with guns and cannons from Morocco conquered what was left of Songhai and West Africa.

European powers began expressing interest and claiming land in Africa.

Collapse of Western Empires

The Hausa organized

themselves into city-states and relied on trade to prosper.

Yoruba was a small but old kingdom that was famous for it’s art and architecture.

Benin were a powerful kingdom that often competed with Mali and Songhai but fell victim to the slave trade when the Portuguese arrived.

Other West African Kingdoms

Before moving on and studying other parts of Africa,

now is a good time during this year to take a closer look at trade and the vital role it played in mankind’s future at the time and continues to do so today.

Complete the following with your textbook: #1-4 on pg. 429 #1-2 on 431 #1-2 on 432 #1-2 on 433 #1-2 on 435 Complete 3 out of the 6 DBQ questions on 434-435.

*Honors complete all 6.

Trading Empires Assignment

East and Southern African States and Empires Overview

Most of the East African population was concentrated

in coastal cities who traded by sea. The modern day language of Swahili was created

when Arabic from Muslim traders mixed with African Languages.

East Coast Trade Cities

In 1488, the first

Portuguese ships arrived looking for a trade route to India.

In order to establish permanent trading ports, the Portuguese attacked using their cannons and conquered several East African cities.

Portuguese Conquest

Islam was introduced

through trade and quickly became the preferred religion of the leaders and wealthy merchants.

Most common people maintained their traditional religious beliefs.

Islamic Influence

Muslim traders began

exporting slaves from East Africa along with luxury goods.

Although this trade went on for a long time, it was relatively small when compared to West Africa.

Often times East African armies would capture other Africans to sell in the trade.

Enslavement

A city-state in Southern

Africa where most East African cities got their gold and ivory to trade.

After reaching its’ height of power, Great Zimbabwe was mysteriously abandoned by 1450. One theory is that food supplies could not support the large population.

Great Zimbabwe

According to oral tradition, a man

names Mutota founded a new trading city to the north when Great Zimbabwe collapsed.

The kingdom he established came to dominate Southern Africa into the 1500s.

Although they survived an attempt by the Portuguese to conquer them, Mutapa fell when the Portuguese instigated a Civil War.

Mutapa Empire

Thursday Workers Only See Handout

African Art Analysis

In groups of 4 you will read a little bit about the

situation of Africa in the Modern World. Pages 1012-1016 and 1040-1045 1. Divide the reading into 4 parts, one for each person. 2. Read your part only and take notes summarizing the

key points. 3. You will then meet with people who read the same

part but are in other groups and you will share and refine what you wrote.

4. Finally you will come back to your original group and present your part of the reading to your group members as they take notes.

Modern Africa Jigsaw

1. Achieving Independence, Ghana Leads the

Way, Fighting for Freedom 2. Civil War in Congo and Angola 3. Colonial Rule Limits Democracy, Civil War in

Nigeria, Nigeria’s Nation Building 4. South Africa Under Apartheid, Struggle for

Democracy *If you have a group of 3 then one person

does #1 and #2, if 5 then the 5th person does Fighting for Freedom.

Suggested Split