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23 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Where does West Africa begin and what are its borders?
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Sahara
West and South bordered by Atlantic Ocean East-mountains of present day Cameroon |
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Describe the Sahara
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3.5 million square miles of desert
Very dry Sand dunes Bare rocky plains |
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Describe Sahal
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Semi desert
Enough water for short grasses and small bushes |
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Describe Savanna (6)
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Most people will live here
Tall grasses Long rainy seasons Some grains can b grown Grass = food for animals Rivers=Niger river=nearby land fertile, everyone live near here |
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Describe Forest zone
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Southern part of W Africa
Woodland forest-oil palms, yams, kola trees Southern part=more lush |
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In each vegetation zone there are
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Different resources
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Why did they trade
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To get items they couldn't provide for themselves
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What were used as trading routes
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Rivers
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Early farming communities were made up of
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Extended families
15-20 members Communities traded with each other Male elders made decisions |
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Villages (4)
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100-200 people
Communities came together to form them Leader chosen for his wisdom and strength More people=protection bc less likely to b attacked |
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Who found out about Iron
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Nok people (500 BC)
Jenne Jeno |
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What did the ability to make tools out of iron do (4)
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Farmers could clear land more efficiently
More food=larger villages More people could work at other trades bc they didn't hav to farm Surplus food and hand crafted goods=trade for goods they couldn't produce themselves |
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How did goods travel
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Along rivers
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Villages along these routes vecame
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Important trading sites
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Villages that controlled the trade routes became
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Market centers
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How did rulers become woealrhy
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By collecting taxes from the goods that were bought and sold
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What did the wealth dp
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Allowed them to raise large armies
Armies could conquer other trading centers nearby |
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Rulers collected what from their people
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Tribute
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What was this a sign of
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That the conquered people accepted the Kings authority
Tribute could b used to pay for kings protection from outside attackers |
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West African rulers were
What did the people believe and what did the Kings perform |
Political and religious leaders
People believed that Kings had special powers given to the by the gods Performed religious ceremonies to plz gods |
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Kingdom acquired more territory=
Sent a what to rule conquered land |
Empire
Governor Sometimes allowed people to rule themselves |
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Cons of becoming an empire/kingdom
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Obligation to pay tribute
Men had to serve in the Kings army |
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Pros of becoming an empire/kingdom (5)
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Protection provided by the king
Armies kept trade routes safe and kept out raiders and foreign armies Wars between small cities ended Kings collected luxury goods from subjects + distributed them throughout the kingdom fairly Governors were given expensive presents |
