The arrival of European traders in West Africa | History

Starter quiz

Which of the following kingdoms was ruled by Mansa Musa in the 1300s?
- Britain
- Mali ✓
- Mecca
- Songhay
What were most merchants travelling to West Africa to find from the 1300s?
- 'Gold' ✓
Which of of the following were kingdoms in West Africa in the 14th and 15th centuries?
- Mali ✓
- Morocco
- Songhay ✓
- Kaabu ✓
- Aksum
Which of the following are the best locations for trade?
- coastal areas ✓
- near rivers ✓
- inland
- mountainous regions
Which of the following explains why a kingdom might lose its power?
- Another country taking over their trade. ✓
- Building new trading relationships.
- Sending merchants to explore new land and trade routes.
- Trading expensive goods for less valuable goods. ✓
- Having to fight against several rebellions. ✓
Which religion had spread across West Africa by 1400?
- 'Islam' ✓

In the early 1500s, the Portuguese took enslaved people from West Africa to be sold into chattel slavery in...
- England
- Asia
- the Americas ✓
- east Africa
Match the words with the correct definitions.
- enslaved people
  
  ⇔
  
  people forced to work without pay, or freedom ✓
- indentured labour
  
  ⇔
  
  when someone is made to work without pay for a set time ✓
- chattel slavery
  
  ⇔
  
  when a people is made the legal property of another person ✓
- slave holder
  
  ⇔
  
  someone who owned enslaved people ✓
What is the name of the type of slavery where enslaved people are made the legal property of their slave holder?
- 'chattel slavery' ✓
Which of the following are examples of smaller West African kingdoms that would be found along the coast?
- Mali
- Kaabu ✓
- Wolof ✓
- Songhay
- Benin
What was the name of the West African kingdom that continued to thrive in the 1600s?
- 'Kingdom of Benin' ✓
Which of the following statements best describes the impact of the arrival of Portuguese merchants on the West African coast?
- some kingdoms collapsed, leaving smaller kingdoms along the coast ✓
- all kingdoms collapsed, leaving only smaller kingdoms along the coast
- some kingdoms continued to thrive when they built strong relationships ✓
- all kingdoms continued to thrive when they built strong relationships

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Gold and the wealth of West African kingdoms brought the Europeans to West Africa.
Power in West Africa became concentrated in smaller kingdoms who were able to trade with Europeans.
The growth of Portuguese trade in the Sahel led to collapse of some African kingdoms, but also to the growth of others.
Europeans soon started selling enslaved people in the Americas to make more profit.

No one challenged the Portuguese when they began buying enslaved people to take to the Americas.

Many rulers and local people in West Africa were opposed to the trading of enslaved people from the very beginning.

Enslaved people - enslaved people are people who have been forced to work without pay, lose their freedom and become the property of another person
Indentured labour - indentured labour is a system where someone is made to work without pay for a set period of time
Chattel slavery - chattel slavery is when people become legal property and cannot be freed without the permission of their slaveholder
Slaveholder - a slaveholder is someone who owned enslaved people