Wassoulou Empire · 1882-1898

Samori Toure: resistance to French conquest

For sixteen years Samori Toure fought French armies in West Africa, buying modern rifles, making his own and even moving his whole state east. Students weigh the strategy and the costs of one of Africa's longest resistance wars.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1880 to AD 1914
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

For sixteen years Samori Toure fought French armies in West Africa, buying modern rifles, making his own and even moving his whole state east. Students weigh the strategy and the costs of one of Africa's longest resistance wars.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Samori's first empire on the upper Niger and his second empire further east.
  • Explain how Samori built a strong army and why he moved his state.
  • Weigh Samori's record as a resistance hero against the suffering his wars caused.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1880

Samori's first empire

Open the map in 1880 and find the Wassoulou Empire on the upper Niger. Which French colony lies to its north-west?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1900

An empire on the move

Move the slider to 1900. The map shows a First and a Second Samori Empire. Where is the second one compared with the first?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Samori bought rifles from traders in Freetown and had his smiths copy and repair them. Why was making your own weapons so important?
  2. He signed treaties with France and then went back to war. Why do you think the treaties did not last?
  3. Samori moved his whole state east and burned the land behind him. What did this cost, and who paid the price?
  4. Samori is a hero of resistance to many West Africans, but his wars also enslaved and harmed many people. How should we judge him?
  5. Samori held out against France for about sixteen years. What does that tell us about the European conquest of Africa?
4

Game round

9 min

No ruler of the 1890s is in Rule History. Play one round as Abraham Lincoln, the closest ruler in time, then compare with Samori Toure: how did Samori use speed, supplies and retreat against a stronger enemy?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.