GOLD FOR SALT TRADE
There was no unified language in any of the West African kingdoms. People living in the empire were able to speak their own tribal language as long as they pledged loyalty to the mansa (king). If a land was conquered in West Africa, the conquered peoples were allowed to keep their king as a government official. But not having a unified language caused many problems in recording history, spreading news, writing books, and especially TRADE. Due to this difficulty the West African peoples developed a silent barter amongst themselves and other civilizations beyond the Sahara. Eventually Berber traders who brought iron from the north introduced Arabic to the West Africans.
Salt, gold, silver, ivory, honey, jewelry, tools, metal, leather goods, rare birds, livestock, horses, cloth, and even slaves were all important goods in the trans-Saharan trade system. Salt was an import to the West African kingdoms and came from mines worked by slaves north of the Sahara. Salt was so important and valued that it was used as currency, traded for equal amounts of gold and taxed heavily.
Trade took place far from the gold mines at a place along the Niger River. It was there that traders bartered by “silent trade.” Arab and African traders brought salt from the north and upon arriving at the trading place they would spread out their goods and announce their presence by beating on a drum called a deba. They would retreat and traders bearing gold would arrive laying out amounts of gold dust next to the salt or other goods as payment and then depart. When the first group returned, if the amount of gold was sufficient they accepted it and left. If not, they would leave everything untouched and wait for more gold to be put out. This ensured that trade was done peacefully and the gold mines’ location was never revealed.
NEEDS VS WANTS
In ancient Africa, early civilizations had to develop ways to meet their needs. Because of the geographical features and the vast differences in climates, the entire African commerce was based on supply and demand. The Sahara or desert region had once been an ocean bottom millions of years ago and therefore had rich deposits of salt. Quantities were so great in places that entire dwellings were made of blocks of salt. However, there was a scarcity of gold needed for trading with the camel caravans coming from the Middle East and other European traders. In the forested regions of the west, salt was highly valued and prized for flavoring food and was critical for sustaining life in a hot, tropical environment. This area did, however, have rich deposits of gold. As trade flourished between all civilizations around the Sahara, Arabia, Europe, and Asia Minor the demand for gold INCREASED. Kingdoms in Africa needed to silent barter to achieve their society’s NEEDS despite their WANT for gold.
Directions FOR SILENT BARTER:
1. Read your kingdom’s supply and demand products. Understand what products or goods you need to obtain through silent barter.
2. Place your product that is for sale at your table. Wait for the deba to signal it is time to trade.
3. Select 2 traders to travel the trans-Sahara trade route to another kingdom. They will place your product next to a good or product that your country needs or wants. Remember YOU CAN NOT SPEAK TO OTHER KINGDOMS.
4. The other merchants who stayed in your kingdom (table) may talk to one another to decide if they will accept the offer for trade.
5. The deba will signal again for traders to go back to see if their trade was accepted.
Task #1:
A. Define scarcity. Discuss how your kingdom’s geographic location creates scarcity.
B. Discuss WANTS vs NEEDS. Create a t-chart of 5 modern wants and 5 needs.
C. Create another t-chart that explains your kingdom’s wants vs needs.
Task #2:
Based upon the amount of products your kingdoms wants VS needs, fill in the economic resource guide to describe what products you will be trying to obtain.
ECONOMIC RESOURCE GUIDE:
1. Kingdom’s needs:______
2. Kingdom I traded with to obtain needs:______
3. Kingdom I traded with to obtain wants:______
4. Biggest obstacle or struggle during silent barter activity:
______
5. After the 3 rounds of silent barter discuss if your kingdom obtained its needs? And wants? Explain what you obtained through silent barter:
______
6. Salt made the difference between life and death to people of West Africa. What in your daily life has the same value to you? Name at least 3 items in order of importance giving reasons why you couldn't live without them. There are very few geographical barriers today. Can you think of something other than these that might pose a problem for countries meeting their needs today? Provide at least 3 examples.
The Kingdom of the Sahara
NEEDS: gold, iron, honey,
ABUDANCE: salt, horses
WANT: slaves, ivory, cloth
The Kingdom of Ghana
NEEDS: salt, metal, tin, horses, cloth,
ABUNDANCE: gold
WANT: silk, ivory, slaves, leather goods
The Kingdom of Zimbabwe
NEEDS: salt because its so hot and your people need to retain body moisture
ABUNDANCE: incense, dye, silk
WANT: honey, horses, cloth, iron, gold
The Kingdom of the Berbers
NEEDS: cloth, honey, salt
ABUNDANCE: horses, iron, tools, leather goods, ivory
WANT: gold
Interesting fact: The Latin word for salt is sal. Roman soldiers received salt as part of their pay, which was called a salarium-hence the word salary. A really good soldier was "worth his salt."