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1230
Mali Empire Rises in Power
The Mali Empire rises to power. This empire began as a small kingdom around the Niger River. They rose to power by taking advantage of other fallen kingdoms under the rule of Sundiate Keita. After Sundiate Keita death, the Mali Empire renamed the king name to Mansa. This name was used on Sundiate Keita's nephew, Mansa Musa.He was the first who introduced Islam to the empire. Which is now one of the top religions in the region. -
1280
Mali Empire Trade Routes
The Mali Empire was very inclusive with their resources and traded often with many other tribes, villages, and other empires. They often traded gold, salt, and ivory throughout the Sahara Desert. They would travel on camels or caravans to trade. The resources they traded were often for the North Africa Coast. These trading routes were one of the many reasons why the Mali Empire began to be the one of the richest empires in the Northwest Region of Africa. -
1410
Mali Empire Decline
After the rule of, Mansa Musa, the Mali Empire began to grow weak. The empire didn't have enough power to control its borders and many other forces began to invade the empire. The rulers after Mansa Musa were very bad and didn't care about their empire. Which was very peculiar because they had all the money and riches in their empire. The empire finally declined after the death of the king, Mansa Mahmud IV. The fall of this empire was one of the many that were supposed to thrive. -
1440
Kingdom of Benin
Oba Ewuare is the first of five warrior kings. His son who name Oba Ozolua was believed to win 200 battles against other empires. They both started having battles with the empire and won the battles against the Empire Lfe and let his empire getting more powerful. The many battles won turned the Kingdom of Benin from nothing into a dominate Kingdom. Oba Ewuare is credited to be the most sufficient ruler. He made this Kingdom one of the most powerful kingdoms along with the fallen Kingdom of Mali -
1492
First French Vessels Arrives
The first of the French vessels arrived at the Ghana around 1492. They arrived near a fortress built by the Portuguese, which is now Ghana. They seized the area and during the next few centuries, they fought with the Portuguese to win over the land. This sparked a European rivalry between the countries. Many other countries tried to settle into West Africa. This forced them to move into other parts of West Africa. The Senegal River was a hotspot for their new plans -
Senegal River is Colonized
The Senegal River is a crazy spot for the Eurooean countries. Many of the competing countries are racing for the Senegal River, and the French reached it first. This colonization of the coast sparks dominance amongst other coastal colonies. The French become the most powerful throughout the coast. This means that the other European countries such as, Britain and Portugal, were forced to move inland. Although they are forced to more inland, they won't forget about Northwestern Africa. -
British Colonization In Africa
Since the French dominated the West African Coast, the British went and colonized settlements among the settlement. The British settled in Sierra Leon in a town called, Freetown. Freetown is a town for the runaway and freed slaves that have escaped and need a place to stay. The British also pushed up inland to The Niger River, to replace economic values to replace slavery. This helped British involvement within the African Trade Market, and with the decline of slavery. -
De Gaulle's Offer
In September of 1959, French President Charles De Gaulle offered the country of Algeria 3 choices, they could either fully integrate themselves into French rule and become a colony. An association with France, or complete independence. In January 1960 there were barricades in the streets of Algiers in an uprising which lasted ten days until the army, loyal to de Gaulle, brought it to an end. In April of the coming year, the 4 senior general sos De Gaulle had had enough. -
The OAS Revolt
In response to the choice that De Gaulle gave to the people of North Africa, two the top French generals, who hated the fact that they could lose the rich countries in Africa by the names of Raoul Salan and Edmond Jouhad started the OAS, a secret anti-North African independence terrorist group that started organizing attacks against the countries within the region. They had started this group in February of 1961 with to win this war. Their first attack was to assassinate the French President. -
A Free Africa
In April of 1962, Raoul Salan is finally captured and arrested in Algeria, ending the terror of the OAS is North Africa. During the early summer of that year, 75% of the French population had left the region and had gone back to France. This left only 250,000 French colonists in the countries within North Africa. On July 5th, a voting was held in in Algeria, and nearly 6 million people had voted for independence. This meant that North Africa was officially free of any and all French rule.
