Jory Gutman and Jocelyn Baker

History Video Project

November 15, 2017

Jocelyn: Did you know that the culture in medieval Africa was very different from the

culture today?

Jory: Hi my name is Jory.

Jocelyn: And I’m Jocelyn, and today we’ll be talking about the importance of medieval

African society in terms of family, labor specialization, and commerce in the

development of states and cities in West Africa.

Jory: The first subject we will talk about is family.

Jocelyn: Families also known as kinship were grouped together in cities, towns and

villages.

Jory: Women made food, cared for children, made pottery, worked in fields, and carried

water to the villages.

Jocelyn: Men usually cared for the animals, cleared land for farming, and built houses

and fences.

Jory: Children gathered firewood and helped their parents.

Jocelyn: Life was centered around farming and food production. Each person in a

domestic household had a role, and they were expected to follow that.

Jory: Kinship groups with common ancestors form large groups called clans.

Jocelyn: Clans were a large group of people that shared the same ancestor.
Jory: One of the most important empires was Ghana. Ghana was also the first empire

Jocelyn: The kings of Ghana relied on help from a council of ministers, or group of close

advisers. As the empire grew, rulers divided it into provinces.

Jory: Lesser kings, often conquered leaders, governed each of the provinces.

Jocelyn: Each district usually included a chief’s clan Ghana rose to power in the A.D.

400s. It was located where several trade routes came together.

Jory: People wanted the trade items, especially salt and gold, at almost any price. For

traders to meet, they had to pass through Ghana. And because of this Ghana formed a

smart plan. Passage required a fee a tax paid to Ghana’s rulers, and these taxes made

Ghana rich.

Jocelyn: Although Ghana owned no gold mines, it controlled the people who did.

Jory: Ghana built a huge army.

Jocelyn: Ghana’s power eventually declined as warfare hurt Ghana. Another important

empire was Mali.

Jory: Even when Ghana fell and Mali rose the city on the Niger River was still a leading

place of trade.

Jocelyn: Mansa Musa ruled the West African empire of Mali with great skill and

organization.

Jory: The kingdom was so vast that Mansa Musa once bragged it would take a year to

travel from the northern border to the southern border. Mali was one of the largest

empires in the world at the time.

Jocelyn: Mali followed Ghana’s example but on a larger scale.

Jory: Mali had more territory, people, and trade, so royal officials had more

responsibilities than in Ghana. This made Mali a more successful empire than Ghana.

Jocelyn: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai ruled the wide-open savannas.

Jory: The dense rain forests along the Equator kept them from expanding to the

southern coast

Jocelyn: Rain forest kingdoms that bordered on the dry savannas traded surplus food

and crafts for copper, salt, and leather goods from the savannas

Jory: The second subject we will talk about is labor specialization. Labor specialization

was the doing of specific types of work by trained or knowledgeable workers.

Jocelyn: Labor specialization is important because it helps people be assigned the jobs

they are good at. Labor specialization could include weaving, textiles, working with

metal, or creating farming tools.

Jory: Each clan focused on a specific type of work.

Jocelyn: One of the jobs was a Griot which was an official storyteller.

Jory: Griots would pass on their history, cultural values and spiritual forces or religious

rituals.

Jocelyn: By 350 BC, West Africans were making iron tools.

Jory: Ghana knew how to make iron weapons

Jocelyn: Like ancient Kush, Ghana used these weapons to conquer its neighbors

Jory: With help of iron tools they could grow more food

Jocelyn: When food increased so did the population and with the increase of population

and supplies drew more people into the area to trade which increased commerce.
Jory: Commerce relates to the buying and selling of goods and services.

Jocelyn: Regional commerce increased as the population of villages grew as trade

increased throughout the region.

Jory: Markets offered goods from caravan routes.

Jocelyn: The facts that we have stated were many important facts about the Medieval

African society in terms of family, labor specialization, and commerce in the

development of states and cities in West Africa.

Both: Thanks for watching!