Trading Salt for Gold in West Africa

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Trading Salt for Gold in West Africa
Ghana

• Standard 7.4

Niger River
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Standard 7.4.1 Identify how trade in the Niger
River region of Africa led to the development of
powerful and wealthy empires in West Africa.

• Content Objective SWBAT trace the steps and
  roles in the gold and salt exchange.

Language Objective SWBAT list and discuss the
steps and roles in the gold and salt exchange on
an organizer.
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Key Vocabulary

• Nomadic Person who moves
• from place to place.
• Silent Barter Process in which
• people exchange goods
• without ever contacting each
• other directly.
• Caravans Group of traders
• that travel together

Salt
Gold
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Background

• In the early 300s
• Soninke families banded
• together to protect
• themselves from nomadic
• herders who wanted to
• take their lands. This
• group became Ghana.

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Control of Trade

• Ghana lay between the Sahara Desert and the
  forest of the Niger River valley. From this
  location, Ghana was in a good position to trade
  the regions most valuable resources- gold and
  salt. With the development of iron weapons, Ghana
  was able to gain control of these trade routes
  and forced traders to pay taxes.

Salt
Gold
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The Role of Salt

• Salt was very valuable. Africans used salt to
  preserve food, as a currency, but most
  importantly Africans needed salt in their diets
  to survive.

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The Activity

• The purpose of this activity is to allow the
  students to experience the practice of Silent
  Barter. Silent Barter is a process in which
  people exchange goods without ever contacting
  each other directly.
•  

Salt
Gold
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The Characters

• North Africans Salt traders who traveled in
  large caravans to Ghana.
• Wangarans Mined gold from the Niger River Valley
  forests.
• Soninke Warriors Supervised the Silent Barter
  process.
• Drummers Provided cheerful music during the
  Silent Barter process.

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Step 1 North Africans send a salt caravan to
Ghana.
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Step 2 North Africans place salt on the banks of
the Niger River.
Ghana
Niger River
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Step 3 North Africans retreat into the Sahara
Desert.
Ghana
Niger River
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Step 4 Wangarans sail down the Niger River to
Ghana.
Ghana
Niger River
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Step 5 Wangarans examine the North African salt
trade proposal.
Ghana
Good Trade
Niger River
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Step 6 Wangarans place the gold tokens they want
to trade alongside North African salt.
Ghana
Niger River
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Step 7 North Africans react to the trade
proposal of the Wangarans.
Ghana
Niger River
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Step 8 Soninke (Ghana) collects taxes from North
Africans and Wangarans.
Ghana
Tax
Niger River
Tax
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Review Question

• Which of the following statements about trade
  routes in Africa is true?
• Salt was carried south while gold was carried
  north.
• Salt was carried north while gold was carried
  south.
• Salt was carried east while gold was carried
  west.
• Salt was carried west while gold was carried east.

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Review Question

• How did Ghana become such a powerful state?
• Ghana owned more salt than other states.
• Leaders in Ghana formed alliances with other
  groups of people.
• It had the strongest army in all of Africa.
• It gained control of the valuable trade routes.

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Review Question

• Towns and villages grew and the population of
• Ghana increased mostly because
• Ghanas farmers and herders could produce plenty
  of food.
• The people of Ghana believed in having very large
  families.
• Families needed many members to work the trade
  caravans.
• By law, families in Ghana were required to have
  many members.

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Review Question

• What was significant about the location of the
  Ghana Empire?
• It had access to the Atlantic Ocean and therefore
  valuable shipping routes.
• It was located between the gold mines in the
  south and valuable salt resources in the north.
• People needed salt in their diets and they used
  it to preserve and season foods.
• Most of the empire was located in the mountains
  overlooking other empires.

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Review Question

• Why was salt so valuable?
• Salt was important for religious ceremonies.
• Salt was used as a fertilizer for crops.
• Salt was an important trade item.
• Salt was used as a medicine against disease.