3-4 Sentence Response to Question
2-3 Reply to ONE student
Do you think that trading salt for gold in West Africa was fair or unfair back then? Why or why not?
3-4 Sentence Response to Question 2-3 Reply to ONE student
46 Comments
Spencer.c
2/6/2017 07:51:59 am
I think it was fair because they needed it to survive. They needed it because it helped the food not go to waste and make a jerky kind of thing, it also seasoned the food to make it taste a lot better.
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Austin B.
2/6/2017 07:51:59 am
I think It was a good trade, and also not so good of one. This is because, gold... wan't very valuable in Africa, mostly because there was a lot of gold. Not just a small amount, A LOT. Enough to travel to neighboring civilizations, and hand it out FOR FREE. So gold wasn't to valuable to them, and salt was. So overall it was a good trade... but, gold is very valuable now, therefore also a bad trade.
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Spencer.C
2/6/2017 07:54:06 am
I agree with you in their situation its a lot more important than gold.
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Anita B.
2/6/2017 07:55:43 am
I agree with you because salt could be very valuable and gold was not really needed, because it was a very flimsy metal and what would you use it for besides vanity? So I agree with you Austin.
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Erin M.
2/6/2017 07:58:22 am
I agree because so many people had the gold and then they had so much they had to just simply give it out. I mean today people would hoard their gold and pay it in to get a LOT of money.
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Brendan O.
2/6/2017 07:58:59 am
I agree with you gold was not very valuable to them. Salt was obviously much more valuable and therefore this was a good trade.
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Jamie D.
2/7/2017 02:07:17 pm
I agree! Salt was more important in their case because they needed it for survival. Also, they had so much gold that it was basically useless to them.
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Angela C.
2/8/2017 07:32:22 am
I agree, I can see it go both ways. Based on their value back then, it was an equal trade. Yet now, gold is more valuable then salt.
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Catherine S
2/8/2017 07:40:40 am
I agree with Spencer. I agree with him because really only in their situation it would be a good trade. It mostly worked because of the abundance of gold. So they had all of this gold that they could not even use for weapons or tools. It is kind of like when you spend money for gas at one place, but then if you keep driving you could find gas for like 5 cents cheaper. So it was mainly because they had so much gold and they really needed salt to survive. They needed to preserve meat of animals that they hunted. Especially in the desert heat salt was crucial to keeping the meat from spoiling. They also used it for flavor and nutrients. So this is why I agree with Spencer.
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Austin B.
2/12/2017 02:55:55 pm
As Catherine said, Gold wasn't very useful. Besides giving it out to many different civilizations and bankrupting the Egyptians and almost yourself. They just needed to find out what to do with all this gold, that they couldn't use. So they traded it for salt which to them was more useful than gold so at the end it evens out to be a fair trade, they just need to try to find something more useful and essential for survival.
Anita B.
2/6/2017 07:52:21 am
I believe the gold for salt trade was fair because the people of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai didn't really need it, sure it made them rich but it was a flimsy metal, they only thing you can do with it is make stuff for vanity or accessories. Salt, on the other hand was very useful, since they needed for preserving food, since they didn't have fridges back then and they also could you it to flavor bland food.
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Zoie J
2/6/2017 07:58:51 am
I agree with Anita because, how were the people of west Africa going to use gold other than for riches. Other civilisations needed more money and Africans needed salt
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jack w
2/6/2017 07:52:31 am
I think the gold and salt trade back then was fair they needed this stuff to live and survive. Some of the things they used salt for was it can be eaten and give nutrients to the body. It can also be used for preserving food. it is also used for taste and it can make food taste better.
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Ryan R
2/6/2017 07:58:10 am
I agree with you Jack, but what if it wasn't a fair trade? Maybe the Africans should've charged more salt for gold. The reason I say this is because the Europeans had salt and other ways of keeping food from spoiling. The Africans could've just tried to bump up the salt that they had to give for the gold, and they would've had more salt. Meaning that they would be able to thrive longer, and grow their empire bigger.
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Wilson M.
2/8/2017 07:44:04 am
I agree with you Ryan because the Africans really needed the salt. They could have bumped the amount of salt up a little bit just to survive a little longer. But still the was pretty fair.
Marie H.
2/6/2017 07:52:39 am
I think trading gold for salt back then was fair. I think this because the Africans needed salt to survive. Salt preserved their food so it wouldn't go bad after having it out in the heat. It also gave their food flavor. Meat without some sort of flavoring is bland and not very appealing. Trading gold for salt would've been a fair trade back then.
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Miah V
2/6/2017 07:56:57 am
I agree trading gold for salt was fair because people needed salt to keep their food preserved. If the food got rotten then you cant eat I also agree salt adds flavoring to the meat and is bland without it.
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Gianna S
2/6/2017 07:57:41 am
I agree with Marie because back then when you did not have a fridge your food would go bad so you needed salt to preserve your food.When you had food without salt it would taste plain and a little dry, it was a fair trade back then.
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Gianna S
2/6/2017 07:53:31 am
I think that it was fair because you needed salt to keep your food fresh.When you got gold you where considered wealthy, you could use the gold to pay for things you needed.Now it does not seem like a good trade because gold is worth a lot more than salt.
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Ryan R
2/6/2017 07:53:53 am
I think that the salt/gold trade was fair. This is because people had to use salt in order to keep their food preserved so that they could have a meal to eat when they wanted it. People in Africa didn't have refrigerators back then. Heck, most of Africa still doesn't have refrigerators. So, people had to use salt in order to keep the food tasty, safe, and nutritious. Remember kids, mold is not good to eat, now you know, and knowing is half the battle. :)
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jack w
2/6/2017 12:57:25 pm
i agree with you ryan and i think that it was fair. Salt was a need not just a want they needed it to survive in the African plains.
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Erin M.
2/6/2017 07:55:51 am
I believe it WAS fair because well so many people needed the salt because it helped their food not go to waste and spoil. And because so many people needed it they paid a lot of gold for it just to get the amount to help their families causing the person who was selling the salt will get rich really fast.
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Callie K.
2/6/2017 07:58:29 am
I agree with Erin. Food and meat would spoil without salt. Without salt, they might not live a very long life! Africa had a huge supply of gold, and people who traded salt wanted gold.
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kelby m
2/8/2017 07:43:24 am
i agree with Callie because they need salt to survive, but they don't need gold, so what do you do? take the nesecity(salt) and let them have gold. This way their food is preserved and you can live longer to get more gold
Callie K.
2/6/2017 07:56:04 am
Back then, yes it was a fair trade. Africa had a lot of gold. They needed salt. Since other people wanted gold, it worked out perfectly!
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Claudia M.
2/8/2017 07:39:26 am
I agree with you Callie, aslo the salt kept there food tasting good, and not going bad quickly.
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Xavier L.
2/6/2017 07:56:36 am
I think that the trade was acceptable back then. It ad many uses that were important to the people of Africa, like preserving food and other stuff. And the gold did not have much use to them anyway, well, at least in combat.
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Olivia S
2/7/2017 05:16:45 pm
I agree with Xavier because the trade was fair. Back then they needed salt for food and more trading.
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Zoie J
2/6/2017 07:57:11 am
I believe that back then the Gold&Salt trade was fair because, Africans needed salt to preserve food and add taste. Then the people trading with Africans need gold to help their empire thrive. So if the trade wasn't equal none one would be happy.
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Jamie D.
2/6/2017 07:57:34 am
I believe that the trade was fair because if the west African empires didn't have the salt, they wouldn't have been able to survive! They needed the salt to put on meat so that it wouldn't become rotten in the hot temperatures of Africa. Also, it seemed fair because they had so much gold, it was basically useless. They were able to get lots of gold because of the gold mines in the rainforest. The groups that they traded with got the salt from the Sahara desert. The west African empires mainly did the trading with silent barters. They would put some gold out and then another tribe would come and put salt out. Then, the first tribe would come back and take the salt if they accepted it, or leave it there if they didn't. Then, the other tribe would come and see what happened and respond accordingly.
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Brisy F.
2/13/2017 02:28:34 pm
I TOTALLT agree with you! Salt was a necessity for the Africans. And yes, having a LOT of gold s basically useless. Good thing salt was around then, so they didn't wast the gold on.. phones and...I'm in modern times aren't I? At least thats why I agree with you.
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Kelby m.
2/6/2017 07:57:56 am
I think its fair,think of it like this..... you need gold and have salt,well hey! I have gold and need salt lets trade! and both people are happy and content.
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Lillie P.
2/6/2017 07:59:27 am
I think it was fair to trade salt for gold because people in ghana didn't really need it but it made them rich just off of metal.but you could make stuff out off gold.Salt you can make food out of so if you trade either one off them you can make stuff out of it and you can trade that for something you need.
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Xavier L.
2/8/2017 07:40:53 am
I agree Lillie, Ghana didn't really need it. It was too soft to make weapons with the gold, and it was pretty useless to them, and they needed salt when other people needed the gold, so it makes sense.
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Olivia S
2/6/2017 07:59:51 am
I think trading salt for gold back then was fair because back then some people in Africa didn't have salt but needed it. People of west Africa needed salt because of how hot it was in Africa so when they killed food thy had to leave it out so they could clean and skin it but the food would rot in the hot sun so thats where salt would preserve the food in the sun so they wont get sick from eating bad meat.
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Lidia K.
2/6/2017 01:47:19 pm
I think that the salt and gold trade was not very fair. I think so because gold was so valuable to the outside world and a pound of salt for a pound of gold is quite a lot. I think that the people of West Africa should have demanded for more the salt, since of the low supply and high demand, maybe it should have been like half a pound of gold for a pound of salt or something like that. Salt is in many places in the world, gold however was in not as many. Gold to the West Africans had no use, besides for trading. Salt was for keeping food preserved, for taste, all sorts of uses.
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Mary P
2/12/2017 08:47:09 pm
I disagree with you Lidia, because West Africans needed salt to survive. They used it as a preserver, flavoring, and as nutrition. as for the gold, it was basically worthless to them, they could not use it to help the survive in any way. When we did the silent barter activity in class, gold was a want for everyone, no one needed it, it was just there for pleasure.
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Kevin R.
2/8/2017 07:34:36 am
I believe it was a good trade because they needed it to survive and to preserve there food for later on in case they don't finish it all and they need it for there proteins
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Angela C.
2/8/2017 07:35:08 am
I think back then, the salt & gold trade was fair trade. It had the same value for both people. For Ghana, Mali, and Songhai salt was a need for survival. In order to preserve food, give nutrition, and add flavor. Gold was valuable to others, it was a way to get salt. So yes, I think this was a fair trade.
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Claudia M.
2/8/2017 07:43:32 am
I think it was a fair trade and if you think about it, the traders needed gold and the people of Mali, Songhai, and Ghana needed the salt for the food to tast good, not going bad really fast, and to keep their heath up.
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Wilson M.
2/8/2017 07:51:17 am
I think the salt for gold was fair because the West Africans were trading something kinda useless to them for something incredibly useful. Gold didn't have any use except wealth because you couldn't make weapons because gold is too soft. Salt was used to preserve the dead carcasses of animals gain nutrients in your body and add flavor to a bland meal.
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Brendan O
2/8/2017 07:54:13 am
I think that the salt for gold trade was a good trade. Gold, though high in value today, was not an essential to any civilization ever. What did the Romans or anyone else really use it for other than to symbolize wealth? Yeah, sure the rich may have built out of it, but the Africans did not need to build anything really fancy. And would you rather die in the richest country in the world because of lack of food, or have food and survive though the place you lived in wasn't as wealthy. Personally I'd want to just live a rough life as long as I was surviving. This is the choice African kingdoms had. They chose the latter and they could preserve their food and add flavor to food. Mansa Musa had so much gold that he threw a lot away. But did he give away salt? No and that is because it was a much more needed resource compared to gold. But, gold still had value to African kingdoms. They could get ivory, slaves, and other goods with gold. It was kind of like our dollars. While they have no natural value, they put value in gold. They put the value in gold at the same value as salt even though gold had again, no value to survival other than to purchase items that actually could help the civilization survive.
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Brendan O
2/8/2017 07:58:02 am
Sorry if this was really long and difficult to read.
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Catherine S
2/8/2017 07:57:34 am
I think that this is a fair trade. I say this because of the dire need of salt in Africa. Also the abundance of gold. They needed salt for preserving, nutrients, and flavor. They really needed it to preserve the meat of the animals that they hunted. They had salt treats and snacks to give nutrients. They also used salt for flavor like we do with food today, is the meal tasted plain they would just add salt. Now about the abundance of gold in Africa. They had lots of gold in the forests of Africa. One civilization called Great Zimbabwe mined gold to give to African traders. They had all of this gold which was only good for trading. They could not make tools or weapons out of gold because it is too weak and flimsy. So, all of because of how bad the Africans needed salt and how much gold they had made this a fair trade. But almost anywhere else in the world they would think this would be a crazy trade. This is why I think the trade was fair.
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Mary P
2/12/2017 08:41:15 pm
I think that the trade was fair because, the Africans need it to survive. They used it for nutrition, flavoring, and as a preserver. In that time the didn't have anything to keep food fresh or as a seasoning. Without salt African communities would not be able to thrive as they did, so the gold equivalent to salt trade was fair.
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Brisy F.
2/13/2017 02:25:49 pm
I do think it was fair because the Africans needed it to survive. I mean look at us, here WE are talking about how it's not fair that some people don't have a phone. We don't NEED a phone. We WANT a phone. The Africans actually needed the salt to survive. They needed salt to preserve their for, aka dead animals. We DON'T need a phone. They NEEDED salt to live!! Now, I want all of you do to something. I wan you guys to look at one time you said " I NEED insert here because I can't live without it. Well, I got news for you. You don't need anything but food, water, shelter, and oxygen. With just those 4 things, you CAN live. You don't need the iPhone 7 of the PS4. Get my point? Hope you do.
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