foreign we interrupt this series on American history to bring you the latest news from Mansa musa's pilgrimage okay maybe not the latest news it was 700 years ago between 1312 and 1337 CE a ruler named Mansa Musa ruled over West Africa's Mali Empire during his Reign he expanded the reach of the Empire to control massive deposits of salt and gold this made Mansa Musa very very very wealthy you think Jeff Bezos is wealthy imagine an infinite number of Jeff bezos's Bayside ah whatever it's not important Musa was also a devout Muslim so in 1324c Musa completed the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca and his journey became the stuff of Legend he brought with him the riches of his Empire and an entire Entourage upon his return musa's beliefs impacted the way he ordered his rule for example Islam requires its followers to care for the poor so Musa became widely known for his generosity and charity in Egypt he gave away so much gold that it even disrupted the Egyptian economy his wealth and power amazed Europeans and led to centuries of fascination with the city of Timbuktu you may be wondering why we're starting this episode in Africa and not say America well American history isn't just limited to the American continents just like it doesn't begin at Lexington and Concord so far we've explored the histories of indigenous societies Across America and like the hohokum and ancestral problems in the South are Algonquian in the north those societies existed across modern day borders and National boundaries the cultures we're going to talk about in this episode are similar in that aspect but we're going way outside of the U.S boundaries for this one that's right we're going across the pond to explore West Africa and Western Europe in the 15th century I'm Dr Danielle Bainbridge and this is study hall U.S history to 1865. [Music] foreign European African and indigenous cultures have been contributing to what we call American culture for as long as all three have been on the continent and West Africa and Western Europe the regions will be focusing on today actually had quite a bit in common with one another and while in the 14th and 15th century Africans and Europeans lived in a very different world than us we'll see here the ways that both contributed to creating a distinctly unique American culture Believe It or Not 15th century Western Europe and 15th century West Africa actually had quite a bit in common living conditions were awful I mean really awful people had to fend off War disease malnutrition violence back-breaking labor and all kinds of accidents throughout the 14th century Europe was devastated by the Bubonic plague which killed somewhere between 30 and 60 percent of the entire European population or in scientific terms too many people in both Europe and Africa childbirth was highly risky in fact most parents can expect to see many of their children die before the age of two and many of the children who did survive grew up without at least one parent and probably never met any of their grandparents there was even overlap and belief systems between the continents that's because both regions were home to Major monotheistic religions monotheism refers to a religious belief in only one God in Western Europe Christianity was the dominant monotheistic religion and West Africa Islam was popular evidenced by Mansa musa's pilgrimage to Mecca both 15th century Western Europe and West Africa also boasted great diversity in languages and cultures the Igbo people were different from Mansa musa's Malian Empire which was also different from the song High Empire which stretched from the Atlantic coast Inland along the Niger River for instance Mansa Musa would likely have spoken a monding language on the other hand Songhai ruler Askia Muhammad likely spoke a language from the aniha family in Western Europe there were languages still taught in American high schools today Latin French English Spanish in German and if you go to a really cool high school Portuguese and Flemish social classes were also familiar in both West Africa and Western Europe the populations had their fair share of the super rich and poor but the kingdoms of these regions would not have resembled modern day countries or nations for example in 15th century Timbuktu or London citizens might be under greater control since those cities were the kingdom Center the goals of these kingdoms were simple to expand geographically build wealth and accumulate power and that's where Warfare came in mali's Mansa Musa and Francis Charles VII both established regular standing armies in Europe the Hundred Years War Between 1337 and 1453 made it necessary to have an army ready at all times just in case of conflict and for those keeping score at home the Hundred Years War was indeed 116 years not 100. close enough and in West Africa standing armies were necessary to protect trade networks which were crucial to the West African economy but despite these commonalities Western Europe and western Africa were very different places so let's break down each region individually in Western Europe monarchy ruled at the top were kings and queens the monarchs in the middle you had lesser Nobles who were given tracks of land by the king and queen they had fancy titles like Duke Baron Countess and Earl also in the middle were Knights and members of the clergy which until the 1500s was mainly the Catholic church and to be clear one didn't just work their way up to become a bishop or Knight members of this class were usually already upper class but not first born meaning they were unlikely to inherit much and way down at the bottom were peasants peasants worked the land for dukes and Barons and had little to no shot at climbing the social ladder but for the king and queen more Nobles meant less power that's because power was generally measured by wealth and land ownership and if you're running the country like Oprah where you get a parcel of land and you get a parcel land then you're gonna run out of power real quick so in order to stay wealthy and by extension keeps their power kings and queens needed to make money and that meant raising taxes and sometimes taxes can lead to Big bloody problems like England's peasants Revolt at the end of The 14th Century taxation causing problems for England rings a bell a Liberty Bell so to get around the taxation problem monarchs were always looking for alternative ways to build their wealth and around the same time European Sailors got much better at their craft figuring out how to use the Atlantic Ocean's currents to travel farther and farther from home in the 15th century Spanish and Portuguese sailors and soldiers began to colonize the Canary Islands and build large plantations dedicated to Growing sugarcane The Invasion and colonization decimated the Island's indigenous population known as the guanch after the Canary Islands Europeans rode the currents to Africa and eventually the Americas and while it's a mistake to assign any one motive it's not hard to imagine that in these quote new lands European monarchs saw colonization as a way to grow their own riches in a way that didn't involve taxing its people and more money meant more power for the monarchy and more power meant the ability to finance further Colonial efforts which meant more money and more power it was a devastating cycle like Western Europe Western Africa featured many different kingdoms of varying sizes and the form of government in these kingdoms varied as well some kingdoms like the Mali Empire probably looked a lot like a European monarchy in fact the word Mansa as in Mansa Musa is often translated into king or Emperor but in other societies like the Hasa who lived in modern day Nigeria power was spread out across a group of city-states Each of which had its own ruler and unlike Western Europe wealth in West Africa wasn't measured in land ownership instead it was measured by the ownership of Labor slave labor to be exact the way this looked varied between Societies in some like the West African madinka enslaved persons could not be bought or sold outside of one's respective Village after a few Generations in other areas like the Hasa city of Zaza trading enslaved persons for resources like horses and Firearms was common in other cases slaves were themselves wealthy and powerful military commanders for example might be enslaved but much more common were enslaved persons making up a Kingdom's primary labor force in the song High Empire for example enslaved persons farmed land providing food for the kingdom greater control over labor meant greater power and Prestige for a Kingdom's ruling class and the easiest way to increase the forced labor Supply was through War captured prisoners of War often became enslaved persons European slave Traders would later take advantage of this pre-existing slave system tapping into these networks across West Africa with the help of African rulers in both Western Europe and West Africa rulers were constantly looking for ways to increase their power and Africa it meant increasing the forced labor Supply in Europe it meant finding alternative ways to increase Financial wealth and land control and this drive would transform Africa Europe and the Americas it led to colonization and the creation of the slave trade so far we've only really examined those regions before they collided and the societies that existed in those places were complex molded by each distinct geography free climate and culture and these societies were also focused on increasing their own power or limiting the power of others over them we may think of them as unrecognizable from each other or ourselves today but understanding the history of these societies is crucial to understanding the worlds and cultures they would help create and shape in America it's almost like history is just as much about the present as it is the past sounds familiar thanks for watching study hall U.S history to 1865 which is part of the study hall project a partnership between ASU and crash course if you like this video and want to keep learning with us be sure to subscribe you can learn more about study hall and the videos produced by crash course and ASU in the links in the description see you next time