Chapter 6 Lesson 1 Ghana C ontrols Trade Pages 130-133

1. Chapter 6 Lesson 1 Ghana Controls TradePages 130-133 By Clay Rivetti and Nick Merchant-Wells If the writing is colored red like, this take notes on it

2. The Beginnings of Ghana Ghana 1.Farmers live in western Africa 2.Farmers - threatened by nomadic herders 3.Farmers band together for protection which forms the beginning of Ghana

3. Ghana’s improvements • They learned how to work with iron • Used improved iron farming tools to farm along Niger river • Increased food production = population grew • Army had advanced iron weapons compared to other local armies which had bone, wood, and stone

5. Ghana was in a great location because… • Gold mines were just south of it • Salt mines were in the Sahara to the north • Trade routes ran through Ghana Why was salt valuable? • Humans need salt in their diets to survive • It could preserve food • Made bland food tastier • Sometimes West Africans cut the salt slabs into smaller pieces and used it as money

7. Silent Bartering • Reasons • This made sure that trading was peaceful • It kept the location of the gold mines secret • Process • Salt traders come to a river bank near the gold mines, left some slabs of salt, and beat a drum signaling that trading had started • The salt traders moved back a few miles and the gold miners came and left some gold and beat the drum again • The salt traders came back and if they liked the trade they would take the gold and leave if not then the two parties would continue trading until both of them were happy

9. Trade Growth • Ghana’s army grew = took over the trade routes controlled by merchants • Merchants from the north and south met in Ghana to trade • Products such as sheep, cattle, and honey came from the south and wheat came from the north Effects of trade growth • Military’s power grew • Rulers became wealthy off of the newly controlled trade routes • Capital city called Koumbi Saleh grew into trade capital

10. The End