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

1. What was life like in West Africa before the age of European exploration? Keep in mind: 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.

3. Describe the development and cultural characteristics of West Africa in the fifteenth century. 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 goldand salt are found in West Africa.

4. AS Describe the development and cultural characteristics of West Africa in the fifteenth century. A thriving trade networkpromoted the growth of trading towns.

5. Describe the development and cultural characteristics of West Africa in the fifteenth century. • Ghana • Mali • Songhai • Other, smaller kingdoms Trading towns eventually grew into great and powerful empires. In time, the trading routes of these empires linked West Africa with North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Asia.

6. West African Kingdoms, A.D. 800–A.D. 1600 Trade promoted rich and thriving cultures.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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

12. Explore the roots of the system of slavery practiced in the Americas. Slavery was common in West Africa, and slaves were often used as items of trade. West African rulers sold about1,000 slaves annually to Arab traders, who took them to the Mediterranean. The slave trade was an important part of West Africa’s economy.

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

14. But African resistance soon forced the Portuguese to shift to trading. Summarize the events that led to contact between Europeans and West Africans. Explore the roots of the system of slavery practiced in the Americas. Throughout the 1400s, the Portuguese explored farther south along the West African coast. Initially, they acted as pirates, seizing gold, pepper, and slaves.

15. In time, the Portuguese established a profitable tradewith the West Africans. The Portuguese exported peppers, ivory, copper, and African slaves. In this way, Europeans first became involved in the long-standing slave trade of Africa. Summarize the events that led to contact between Europeans and West Africans. Explore the roots of the system of slavery practiced in the Americas.

16. Explore the roots of the system of slavery practiced in the Americas. The Portuguese greatly expanded the slave trade. • 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. By 1500, Europeans purchased about 1,800 African slaves a year, nearly doubling the trade between the West Africans and the Arabs.

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

18. 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… Describe the development and cultural characteristics of West Africa in the fifteenth century. Trade between West Africans and Europeans—including trade in slaves—would shape the future of both peoples for years to come. The Europeans first made contact with the West Africans when… Summarize the events that led to contact between Europeans and West Africans. Explore the roots of the system of slavery practiced in the Americas.