How Did Mali And Songhai Affect The West African Trade Empires

One advantage was water for their crops (Doc.2). They controlled the floods with levees, gates, and canals. This allowed them to water their crops whenever they wanted. This also allowed for more food to support a larger population. This was only one of many other qualities the river can give.

What is the world-historical importance of the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai and why did each lose their empire?

The Portuguese traded with Africa War weapons in order to get gold, ivory, and jewels. They later began getting slaves produced by inter-African warfare. At first the slave trade was controlled by Africans. These Africans were knows as the Bakongo whom welcomed the Portuguese and the

The Portuguese first made contact with the Kongolese in the 1400s sparking a long and varied relationship between the two kingdoms. In order to better understand how this relationship played a part in the trade, colonization, and warfare of this region of Africa, the following paper will discuss the relationship between the Kongolese and the Portuguese up until the Battle of Mbwila, what occurred at the Battle of Mbwila, and how this battle effectively destroyed the Kingdom of Kongo in the latter part of the 17th century.

Another important factor is the rivers allowed civilizations to have more trade routes, and get to places inland faster, as well as the sea. The societies could trade their resources for ones they didn’t have, which allowed their technology to grow and their populations to expand. Trade “brought in new goods and immigrants” which allowed for an increase of resources and technology. Many of the River Valley Civilizations traded with each other sharing their technology.

There are different experiences of the slave trade that are reflected in these documents such as those of an enslaved person (Olaudah Equiano), a European slave trader (Thomas Phillips – an English merchant), an African monarch (King Jao) whose kingdom and personal authority suffered from the slave trade, and an African monarch (Osei Bonsu) who opposed the ending of the slave trade. Of all the commercial ties that linked the early modern world into global network of exchange, none had more profound or enduring human consequences than the Atlantic Slave Trade. And in all these documents, we can see how people reacted differently to this system based on how they encountered it and how it affected them.

Gold and salt mines surrounded Ghana and were kept a secret from the other countries who might want to get in on the great wealth of Ghana. Another reason Ghana had an opulent economy was because people loved books and would pay a great fortune to buy them. In Document 1 it talks about how the location of Ghana was important to the economy and in Document 4, people in Ghana lived on to do great tasks, because of the knowledge they got from all the books they bought. As seen in the map in document 1, it shows Ghana located directly in the middle of 12 gold and salt mines which they kept private so no one could steal their good fortune (Document 1). In the fourth document it reads,“Here are many doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men that are well maintained at the king's costs. Various manuscripts and written books are brought here . . . and sold for more money than other merchandise” (Document 4). This is helpful because they used the mines to trade with people who did not have the opportunity to collect gold and salt, but needed it. The salt is used to keep food fresh in warmer areas, and the gold is used for trading. They also highly appreciated books and would pay a substantial of money to get them. Books started to even become more highly priced than items like merchandise. The location of Ghana contributed greatly to the rich and wealthy atmosphere of Ghana as well as

When Columbus arrived at Hispaniola, he ran into some people called the Taino. The Taino willingly traded them jewelry, animals, and supplies. Columbus thought to himself that they would make good slaves. Then he forced them into slavery. If the Taino did not cost left enough gold they would be punished. The way they were punished was brutal. The Taino would either get a limb cut off or even be worse

They would soon become interested in a new form of trade which would become much more valuable to them than gold. They eventually stumbled upon the Kingdom of Kongo beginning in the 1480’s. The state was pleased with the prospect of an alliance with Portugal and welcomed these outsiders. Initially the city accepted guns, cattle, and horses from

It also helped countries to win battles, therefore, the countries would expand because they won the land. “…the gunboats had ascended the Nile, and now engaged the enemy’s batteries on both banks.” Rivers such as the Nile allowed the other countries to enter into another country in a hasty manner. This allowed for more of a surprise attack, and the homeland people would not be ready to fight. As the gunboats started silencing forts, it would continue moving up the river to continue their jobs. After the gunboats completed their task of sinking the opponent’s boats and silencing the enemy’s artillery, the men would come to help the men on land, until a new task came up. Therefore, the use of the waterways and boats allowed the Europeans to defeat the country, and to expand their land in this

Another factor enabling the slave trade was a better nautical knowledge. An “understanding of the wind and ocean currents of the North and South Atlantics” (Eltis, 2007). Not having enough indenture servants from Europe and a dying Amerindian population made trading for African’s slaves the best choose. The “agency” that supplied the slaves were the ruling tribe of the African’s region. Slaves were either former prisoner of war or a person of criminal tendencies (Eltis, 2007).

When looking throughout history societies have always been located near water. This was partly because the fact water enables better travel compared to going over land. Waterways are very important in the transportation of goods and people throughout the world with millions of people and cargo going in and out of ports around the world at any given time. With the complex network of different connections between coastal ports, rail, air, truck, and inland ports form the foundation of economic wealth worldwide.

Slave trade began when African slaves were sent to fill up the labor shortage in the Mediterranean World. However, sugar plantations in the Caribbeans intensified the need for African slaves, which eventually led to competitions for African slave trades. Portugal merchants were the first Europeans to become involved in the African slave-trading network due to an increase in sugar production. During that period, sugar was the center of production in Portugal’s Atlantic island of Madeira. As Europeans and Africans developed a crave on sugar, the demand for sugar increased, which intensified the needs for African slaves. African rulers, benefited and eager for European goods, began to wage wars against other African rulers in order to acquire

The Nile River is the longest river and was used for many things by the ancient Egyptians. Without it the Egyptians most likely would not have survived. They used it for drinking water and food sources by catching fish. They did not just eat fish, they also used the soil to plant and grow crops. Heavy rains and floods often helped with the growing of the crops because it left the soil thick and rich. They also used the mud from the river banks for bricks to build their homes. The river was used for transportation very many times and made it easier to get from various places. The boats they used were made of papyrus that grew along the river.

The Kongo Empire was part of an extensive trade network that connected much of Africa to other regions. These trade routes brought wealth to not only the kingdom but also the attention of European traders, specifically the attention of the Portuguese. Due to European influence, specifically that of the Portuguese, the Kongo empire fell during the reign of Nzinga Mbemba in 1665. Through depopulation due to the dramatic increase in the slave trade, the changes in religious influence and eventual colonialism, the Kongo dissolved into Portuguese territories.