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Jan 1, 1230
Fall of Ghana
Suffering from frequent attacks and a cut-off from the world-wide salt and gold trade, the ancient empire of Ghana declines and the empire of Mali reigns on. Ghana’s location also had an immensely large impact on why it fell. It suffered from a large amount of droughts due to the fact that they did not have easy access to water. Mali was definitely placed much better, which is why it lasted much longer. With Ghana gone, Islam was able to come into Africa more freely. -
Jan 1, 1300
Spread of Islam
Islam begins to spread quickly in West Africa. This makes a very big impact on African society, changing a lot of customs and traditions that the African people had. Mosques started popping up all over the region, their politics and morals were modified to match Islamic ideals. This also had a big impact on African art of the time. Many Africans began to fabricate amulets with ideals from the Qur’an. Islam also gave Africans a fascination for Geometric design, which can also be found in these an -
Jan 1, 1350
Mali reaches its peak
Mali reaches its peak. It is agriculturally rich due to its location and becomes one of the largest empires in the world. At its peak, Mali was home to three states, Mali, Memo, and Wagdou. Among these three states, it also had 12 smaller provinces. Over 20 million people lived in these states and provinces, which made Mali the second largest empire in the world, only being slightly beaten by the Mongol Empire in China. -
Jan 1, 1464
The fall of Mali
The decline of Mali begins. After the death of their leader, Mali’s size begins to shrink faster and faster. The states that Mali had conquered were claiming independence from the empire, and Songhai begins to assert their independence. Songhai was a very important trade city in the center of Mali, so when they had broken off, the empire greatly suffered. Soon, Songhai rose up and finally defeated what was left of Mali, ending one of the greatest eras in African History. -
Jan 1, 1493
Expansion of the Songhai Empire
Muslim general askia muhammad takes power and begins expanding the songhai empire.He is met with mixed results achieving many victories conquering what is now niger among other places.However he failed to stop the revolt of the area known as kabi.
He was also had a talent for his administation and his empire's economy prospered as a result.It should also be noted that he was very devoted to islam and based his government around it -
Jan 1, 1510
The Songhai Capital receives a visitor
The songhai capital of Gao is visited by famous spanish/moroccan writer Leo Africanus, who would also later visit Timbuktu. He is extremely impressed with the wealth of their ruling class and also the amount of educated people such as doctors and judges. He also noted the health of the merchants which they gained from trading cloth gold and slaves. He also made note of their currency which consisted of small unmarked gold coins and sometimes seashells. -
The fall of the Songhai Empire
The decline of the songhai empire began with a civil war in the late 16th century.
This was followed by several environmental changes which lead to famine droughts and diseases. The moroccans took this as an opportunity to turn on their neighbors and gain control of the sub saharan gold trade. The were able to take the songhai by surprise and defeat them with superior weapons. after conquering them the moroccans lost. -
The first legislative elections
The first legislative elections were carried out in the Gold Coast. People from West Africa picked their nation’s primary person to be in charge of all of the government issues and political arguments. These elections were not done lightly, there was often a lot of planning and discussing. Others trying to win the spot but eventually did not succeed. People in West Africa had to look at what would that person help them with, what could they change? -
Police Fire at anti-colonial demonstration
February 28th, 1948 Police fire at anti-colonial demonstration killing 29 people and hundreds wounded. Veterans from WWII came together to form peace between each other and to march and sign a petition for no more wars. As they were crossing the Christiansborg Castle in West Africa the police told them to go back as they where they came from. When they did not listen, all broke loose and police started shooting people down. -
Ghana gains independence
Ghana gained independence. Ghana gained their independence from Britain. The nation’s first Prime Minister helped gain their independence, free education for everyone, and the ability to believe in whatever religion they were obliged to be in. The Ghana flag contains red, gold, and green with a black star, The red represents the blood that was shed for Ghana’s Independence. The gold represent how well things on it is, the green represents the wealthy agriculture that Ghana has. -
Riot at a Football game
Riot in football game leads to police overreacting and killing 126 people. This riot progressed after police started shooting gas bombs around the stadium. People believe that the police shooting tear gas is what led to more of the rampage and fighting of both Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Ashanti Kotoko, leaving some killed and injured.The Ghana Football Association team declared that there should have been an easier way to deal with this instead of shooting gas bombs. -
Ghana celebrates independence
Ghana celebrates 50 years of independence. From all over the world more than thousands of people are coming to Ghana to celebrate the 50 years of independence, there are flags outside people's windows, on their rooftops, on flag poles, and on car doors. In order to get to the place that the people in Ghana are at now, they have to risk their lives, protest, and fight for their freedom. So on this day they take the time to celebrate how long they have had their freedom.
