Javione Jones

1st
Africa Before Chains

Africa, a place filled with harsh conditions, poor health, and hardship. Everyday
people see Africa as a waste land on commercials and magazines. lt was not always
thought of as a waste land. A time before European and other nations took African
people into slavery. Africa was once a good mine with all kinds of resources. The
people were not bothered, but left alone to grow like a great nation should. The Ghana
empire is a great example. African life in the Ghana empire before slavery was the
richest African kingdom in the west at its time, filled with civilized people. I know this
because of a survey that was taken asking about life in Africa before slavery and a vast
number of the people did not know anything about it(ancient.eu.com)
The Ghana empire which is called Wagadugu;Ghana, is just a name that is also
given to the king. Ghana, which has been around since the 4th Century C.E, was not
known as a nation until the 9th Century. Between the 9th and 11th Century ,C.E ,the
Ghana kingdom was so rich that the dogs wore golden collars and the horses were
designed with silken type halter and slept on plush carpets. Most of the facts we know
about Ghana came from Arab writers. A 10th century, geographer Al-Bakri quoted in
Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History The king adorns himself like a
woman wearing necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his forearms and he puts on
a high cap decorated with good and wrapped in a turban of fine cotton. He holds an
audience in a domed pavilion around which stands ten horses covered with gold
embroidered materials and on his right, are the sons of the vassal kings of his
country, wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold. At the door of the
pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree. Round their neck they wear collars of gold and
silver,studded with a number of balls of the same metals(West African Kingdoms).
One of the main reasons the Ghana empire was so rich is because it literally sat
on a gold mine. Al-Hamdani describes Ghana as having the richest gold mines on earth.
Another reason why is the Ghana rulers took part in successful prosperous trading. The
king was the commander of a highly organized army, controller of all trade and the
administrator of justice. His word was law but he appointed mayors, civil servants,
counselors, and ministers. Every day the king assembled his courts and allowed people
to publicly tell their complaints. The hearings were peaceful unless they were of a
criminal nature. Two of the most serious crimes were murder and denial of debt. The
accused were given a foul drink of wood and water, if they vomited they were innocent.
People of conquered lands were watched for good behavior and loyalty. If obedience
was there and taxes were paid properly, they could self govern themselves but if not
Ghanaian governors were sent as watch dogs.(bb.co.uk)
Most people do not know this about Africa but life before slavery in Africa was
just like any other nation in ancient times; ruled by a king, trading with other lands,
conquering territories, and civilized. The Ghana empire or Wagadugu as it was called
was a very rich and strong empire it lasted for a very long time. The people were treated
fairly, even the slaves had rights. It was nothing like the american southern slavery
when just blacks were slaves and treated like trash. The Ghanaians were a royal people
with lots of riches and land.

Work Cited
"Kingdom of Ghana." ushistory.org. The Independence Hall Association, 2008. Web. 4
Mar. 2014. <http://www.ushistory.org/civ/7a.asp>.
Plubins, Rodrigo Q. "Ghana." ancient.eu.com. Creative Commons: Attribution-
NonCommercial- ShareAlike, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.ancient.eu.com/Ghana/>.
"West African Kingdoms." The Story of West Africa. BCC World Service, n.d. Web. 4
Mar. 2014.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter1.shtml>.
Jones, Javione. Survey of SJHS Students. 27 Feb. 2014