Section
3
Objectives
•
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
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
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
A thriving trade network promoted
the growth of trading towns.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
Trading towns
eventually grew
into great and
powerful
empires.
•
Ghana
•
Mali
•
Songhai
•
Other, smaller
kingdoms
In time, the trading routes of these empires
linked West Africa with North Africa,
the Mediterranean, and Asia.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
West African Kingdoms,
A.D. 800–A.D. 1600
Trade promoted rich and thriving cultures.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Ghana had large
towns, beautiful
buildings, a system
of commerce, and a
complex political
structure.
Section
3
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
By the 1400s, the Songhai empire emerged.
Education
and Trade
Conquest
•
Songhai sustained an Islamic system
of education based at Timbuktu.
•
Like Ghana and Mali, Songhai grew
rich from trade.
•
In 1468, Songhai conquered Mali.
•
As a result, Songhai became the
largest and most powerful kingdom
in West Africa.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
West African Trade Routes, A.D. 800−A.D. 1600
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
West African societies were diverse.
•
Islam had a strong influence,
although many held traditional
beliefs about the spirit world and
the influence of ancestors.
•
Land belonged to extended kinship
networks.
•
People often farmed the land in
common and divided the harvest.
Spiritual
Beliefs
Land
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
West African rulers
sold about 1,000
slaves annually to
Arab traders, who
took them to the
Mediterranean.
Section
3
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
Throughout the 1400s, the Portuguese
explored farther south along the West
African coast.
Initially, they
acted as
pirates, seizing
gold, pepper,
and slaves.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
But African
resistance soon
forced the
Portuguese to
shift to trading.
Section
3
In time, the Portuguese established a
profitable trade with the West Africans.
The Portuguese
exported peppers,
ivory, copper, and
African slaves.
In this way,
Europeans first
became involved
in the longstanding slave
trade of Africa.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
Section
3
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.
The Cold War
The
Begins
West Africans
•
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.
Section
3
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
The
Begins
West Africans