Study Guides

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils learn about the kingdoms of the Sahel and how the arrival of European traders in the region began to destabilise West Africa. Pupils build a deep knowledge of Transatlantic Slavery whilst retaining a focus on the impacts it had in West Africa.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain the impact of the Europeans arriving in West Africa on West African kingdoms.

Key Notes

• 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.

Vocabulary To Learn

• 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

Common Mistakes To Avoid

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

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• British involvement in Transatlantic Slave Trade Study Guide
• The expansion of the Transatlantic Slave Trade Study Guide
• The impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade on West African society Study Guide
• The kingdoms of the Sahel Study Guide
• The structure of the Transatlantic Slave Trade Study Guide