NONWESTERN HISTORY FOR TEACHERS
a teaching unit web site
OVERVIEW
The topics on this site revolve around the theme: new methods of transportation affect the accumulation of wealth, religious practices and beliefs. The country to be explored in this particular lesson plan is Africa, focusing mainly from about 300 AD to 1200 AD. I will be focusing on Berber traders, and Ancient Ghana. The theme could also arise in other lessons and would be used to look at trade routes between India and the rest of Asia, in which the spread of Buddhism occurred, and expanding trade in Greek-city-states, in which wealth led to aristocratic power. This theme enables the student to identify that transportation and trade can be a critical factor in a society's development in relation to the accumulation of wealth and changes in religious perspective.
This particular lesson plan will be divided into two weeks. The first week, I will be looking at the introduction of the camel to Africa for trading (third and fourth centuries) to its full blown expansion (fifth century). The second week, will cover the same time period, but will explore how the Soninke utilized this new expanding trade for growth of Ancient Ghana.