1. West Africa

2. Trading Empires
By 200 A.D., West African empires thrived because of their location on trade routes across the Sahara Desert
gold and salt were the main products traded

3. Trading Empires
Before colonialism, West African form of government was stateless societies
stateless society: society in which people rely on family ancestors to govern their clan
not an elected government or a monarch
oldest man was chief
leaders not voted on
members work through differences to cooperate and share power

4. Slavery
West Africa was one of the busiest points for exporting slaves during the slave trade
Starting in 1500, the Portuguese controlled trade along coastal Arica and sent African slaves to the Caribbean
English, French, and Dutch established trading posts

5. Slavery
European merchants built relationships with African rulers willing to trade slaves
slavery was already widespread in African society, trading in slavery across the Sahara had been going on for years
Africans and Europeans set up a system for enslaving Africans and shipping them from Africa to the Americas

6. Slavery
Africans and Europeans had fairly equal role in slave trade

7. Slavery Africans gathered the slaves
some were kidnapped in raids by African slavers
others were made slaves by a legal judgement or to pay a debt
most were taken captive in war
Coastal West African states were the middlemen in the slave trade
they established trade routes from interior states to the coast and handled the exchange with European traders

8. Triangle Trade

9. Slave ship deck plan

10. Rescued slaves: 1868

11. Economy of West Africa
The economy of West Africa is based on the sale of its products to industrialized countries
They need political stability in order to have economic success

12. Economy of West Africa For political stability, a country needs:
education
business leaders
political experience
all basic needs met
health care

13. Example: Ghana (stable) vs Sierra Leone (unstable)
exports gold, diamonds, cocoa
one of the most stable nations in the region
power changes hands relatively peacefully
one of Africa’s fastest growing economies
Sierra Leone
emerged from a decade of civil war in 2002
poverty and unemployment still major challenges
economic growth in recent years but remains at the bottom for human development

14. Liberia
Liberia, along with Ethiopia, was one of only 2 African countries that were not colonized by Europeans
1820’s: settled by the American Colonization Society as a colony of freed African-American slaves
1847: Liberia declared its independence from the American Colonization Society

15. Ebola Ebola outbreak in West Africa reported in March, 2014
outbreak traced to a 2 year old who died in December, in Guinea
Deadliest occurrence since discovered in 1976

16. Ebola This outbreak has killed more than all other outbreaks combine
over 11,000 deaths in 6 countries including the US
this is an underestimate because of difficulty collecting data
Liberia has been the worst hit
Outbreak was declared over in May, 2015 but reemerged 7 weeks later

17. Label Label the following countries on your map:
Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia