the cold war beginsthe west africans section 3 describe the development and cultural characteristics...

The Cold War BeginsThe West Africans

Section 3

• Describe the development and cultural characteristics of West Africa in the fifteenth century.

• Summarize the events that led to contact between Europeans and West Africans.

• Explore the roots of the system of slavery practiced in the Americas.

Objectives


Section 3

Terms and People

• Ghana − prominent kingdom in West Africa, known for its wealth and trade in gold, lasting from A.D. 800 to A.D. 1050

• Mali − West African empire lasting from 1200 to the 1400s that prospered from the gold trade

• Mansa Musa − king of Mali in the early 1300s who expanded the kingdom’s domain, increased the role of Islam, and promoted scholarship

• Songhai − large West African empire lasting from 1460 to the 1600s


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What was life like in West Africa before the age of European exploration?

The early civilizations of West Africa grew into great trading empires with rich and varied cultures.

Trade between West Africans and Europeans—including trade in slaves—would shape the future of both peoples for years to come.


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West Africa is a land of varied geographic features.

• The Sahara Desert dominates the northern part.

• To the south of the desert lies a broad savanna.

• South of the savanna is a lush region watered by the Niger and Senegal rivers.

• Valuable natural resources such as gold and salt are found in West Africa.


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A thriving trade network promoted the growth of trading towns.


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In time, the trading routes of these empires linked West Africa with North Africa,

the Mediterranean, and Asia.

Trading towns eventually grew into great and

powerful empires.

• Ghana

• Mali

• Songhai

• Other, smaller kingdoms


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West African Kingdoms, A.D. 800–A.D. 1600

Trade promoted rich and thriving cultures.


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The earliest kingdom, Ghana, supplied much of the gold for the Mediterranean

region by the 11th century.

A thriving caravan trade with African peoples across the Sahara to Morocco resulted in extensive Muslim influence in North Africa.

Ghana had large towns, beautiful buildings, a system of commerce, and a complex political structure.


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Attacks from outsiders weakened Ghana until it was supplanted around A.D. 1200

by a new kingdom known as Mali.

• Mansa Musa, who reigned in the early 1300s, expanded Mali’s domain.

• His promotion of Islamic scholarship led to the founding of the famous university at Timbuktu.

• Mali weakened after his death in 1332.


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By the 1400s, the Songhai empire emerged.

Education and Trade

• Songhai sustained an Islamic system of education based at Timbuktu.

• Like Ghana and Mali, Songhai grew rich from trade.

Conquest

• In 1468, Songhai conquered Mali.

• As a result, Songhai became the largest and most powerful kingdom in West Africa.


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West African Trade Routes, A.D. 800−A.D. 1600


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West African societies were diverse.

Spiritual Beliefs

• Islam had a strong influence, although many held traditional beliefs about the spirit world and the influence of ancestors.

Land

• Land belonged to extended kinship networks.

• People often farmed the land in common and divided the harvest.


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Slavery was common in West Africa, and slaves were often used as items of trade.

The slave trade was an important part of West Africa’s economy.

West African rulers sold about 1,000 slaves annually to Arab traders, who took them to the Mediterranean.


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West African slavery had developed as a system with unique characteristics.

• It was not based on racial superiority or inferiority.

• Prisoners of war and criminals often became slaves.

• Slaves were usually adopted by their owners, and their children usually did not inherit slave status.

• Slaves could become wealthy, important officials and soldiers.


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Initially, they acted as pirates, seizing gold, pepper, and slaves.

But African resistance soon forced the Portuguese to shift to trading.

Throughout the 1400s, the Portuguese explored farther south along the West

African coast.


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In this way, Europeans first

became involved in the long-

standing slave trade of Africa.

The Portuguese exported peppers, ivory, copper, and

African slaves.

In time, the Portuguese established a profitable trade with the West Africans.


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The Portuguese greatly expanded the slave trade.

By 1500, Europeans purchased about 1,800 African slaves a year, nearly doubling the trade between the West Africans and the Arabs.

• Some slaves were shipped to Europe.

• Most worked on sugar plantations on islands in the East Atlantic.

• Growing numbers went to new plantations in the Americas.


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Thus began the brutal exploitation of West Africans enslaved by Europeans.

This fate would befall millions more African men and women in the centuries ahead.

the cold war beginsthe west africans section 3 describe the development and cultural characteristics...

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