the Ashanti kingdom Flashcards
what goods were produced in West Africa?
*traded millet
*sorghum
*wheat
*kola nuts
*livestock
*ivory
*ostrich
*feathers
*cloth
*gold
what goods were imported into West Africa?
*salt
*copper
*brass
*silver
*tin
*lead
*tobacco
*dates
*textiles
*clothes
who is the leading gold supplier? and for how long?
West Africa and between the 11th and 17th century.
how can the Ashanti kingdom be described?
the Ashanti kingdom is one of the independent Akan kingdoms that controlled many other kingdoms in the area. During the 18th century, the Ashanti kingdom controlled the trade routes to the coast and some of the richest gold mines in Africa.
what happened during the 16th and 17th centuries?
Akan territory was divided into dozens of independent kingdoms.
why was the Ashanti kingdom named the Gold Coast?
Because the early European explorers and traders were so astonished by the richness of the gold in the area, they called the area the Gold Coast.
why was the Queen Mother, the Asantewaa, wearing sunglasses made of gold?
the sunglasses were not to protect her from the sun but to prevent her subjects from looking her in her eyes.
what is the name of the King of the Ashanti kingdom?
Asantehene
why was the Queen Mother an important person in their culture?
the queen mother is a symbol of the wealth that lay in the region.
why were two people needed to carry the hands of the Queen Mother?
because she wore so much jewellery, her hands were heavy and required two people to carry the hands.
why did the Queen Mother change from wearing beads to glasses?
before the Europeans arrived with spectacles, the Queen Mother would wear a headpiece with beads to cover her eyes. Akan goldsmiths made glasses of gold to serve the same purpose as beads, but also to show the Europeans that she was powerful as her glasses were made of gold and not of metal and/or glass.
why did the Portuguese set up a base at Elmina on the coast of the Akan states?
at first the early Portuguese traders and explorers were interested in the gold in the Akan states. their interest in the area later expanded to include tens of thousands of slaves Portuguese slave traders then set up a base on the coast of Elmina.
how were Africans transported to America as slaves?
Africans were kidnapped by fellow Africans who would march their captives to the coast where they sell them to European slave traders at Elmina. The slaves were kept in prisons called barracoons at Elmina Castle where they waited before they were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean.
what did the Ashanti kingdom get exchange for people?
the Ashanti traders got horses and guns in exchange for people. Later they began to exchange cloth, metal items, copperware and brassware.
what manufactured goods were in great demand at the time?
bracelets, water jugs, shaving bowls, barber’s basins, chamber pots, urinals and kettles.
