1. WEST AFRICA ESSAY RUBRIC Name ______________________________________________, Date ________________________, Period ____ Name, date period Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4 Title. “African Empires and Trade” 1. Write this topic sentence. (“Ghana developed as the first kingdom and empire in West Africa.”) (Never include the word essay.) 1. Write this topic sentence. (“Mali developed as the second kingdom and empire in West Africa.”) Paragraph 1 1. Underlined Thesis. 2. What was the consequence when Ghana kings gained wealth by taxing trade? p. 159 “Trade became important for the growth of empires in West Africa.” 2. What did Chief Sundiata expand after his army captured the capital of Ghana around A.D. 1240? p. 165 2. What are the three major vegetation zones in West Africa? p. 158 3. What was traded in the trans-Saharan trade? (paragraph 2 on p. 158) 3. What did Chief Sundiata do about the gold-salt trade and trade routes? p. 165 3. Answer these questions in one sentence by using commas: a. what rich deposits were found in the Sahara? p. 158 b. what was grown in the savannah? p. 158 c. what was found in the rain forest? p. 158 4. Who were the Berbers who came across the Sahara to trade with the West Africans? p. 159 4. What did the Muslim king Mansa Musa do in A.D. 1324? p. 166 5. Why did the Berbers use camel caravans to cross the Sahara? (last paragraph on p. 152) 5. What happened to Mali’s trade when more merchants wanted to travel to the Mali Empire? p. 166 4. How was the Niger River used in three ways as a key route? p. 157 6. Write this transition sentence. (“The borders of Mali were continually expanded by Mansa Musa until his death in A.D. 1332.”) 6. Write this transition sentence. (“Trade would continue to be part of the pattern of growth for another West African empire.”) 5. What was produced from the annual flooding of the Niger River? p. 157 6. Write this transition sentence. (“West Africa’s geography helped to support trade that led to the formation of empires.”) Paragraph 5 Paragraph 2 1. What would a third empire called Songhai become after the Muslim Askia Muhammad took over the northern salt mines? p. 168 1. Write this topic sentence. (“A society developed in West Africa.”) 2. What did kinship groups form? p. 151 2. What did labor specialization encourage West Africans to do? p. 152 3. Who made decisions within kinship groups? p. 151 3. Restate the thesis. (“Trade became important for the growth of empires in West Africa.”) 4. Why did storytellers called griots transmit West African history and values by mouth, music, and acting? p. 153 5. What were West Africans able to do as they got wealthier from specialized labor? p. 152 Corrected by _____________________________________________ 6. Write this transition sentence. (“Eventually kings would play an important role in West African society.”) 29