Gold and Salt Trade

Question 1

More valuable: gold or salt

Answer 1

depends

• availability of items
• need
• status

Question 2

West Africa before 1500 AD

Answer 2

salt
- necessary for life
- food storage and preparation
- dehydration
- scarce (not really available)
gold
- plentiful
- useless as tools

Question 3

Summary of salt trade

Answer 3

• north African traders brings salt and cloth
• south African traders bring gold and food
• meet in the center (Ghana, Mali, Songhai Empires)

Question 4

salt in west Africa

Answer 4

• limited supply
• danger getting to trading site
• middleman
• monopoly

Question 5

empire of west Africa

Answer 5

• controlled the salt/gold trade
• acted as a middleman
• had a monopoly
• made money from both sides

Question 6

west African empires

Answer 6

• Ghana 700 AD - 1100 AD
• Mali 1100 AD - 1400 AD
• Songhai c. 1500 AD

Question 7

end of gold/salt trade

Answer 7

north African traders want to break the monopoly

• use guns to take over the west African civilizations
• control salt trade
• European slave traders