STEP 3

Formulating the Thesis and Outline

See here for more discussion of thesis statements in general.

In Step 2, the student author decided that the region's strategic location on trade routes that account for its prosperity because rulers were able to tax trade between the desert and forest regions of Africa. A thesis needs to encapsulate the author's argument as a whole, even if it leaves out details for development later in the paper. More than just a point of view (e.g. “squirrels in New York are fat”), a thesis explains “how” and “why” that point of view makes sense (e.g., "squirrels in New York are fatter than suburban squirrels because they eat the garbage that is available to them at every street corner and on every park lawn."). A thesis is the expression of your opinion as a reasoned argument, and in being so provides a guide for your reader as to how the paper will be structured.

The student author, accordingly, decides that thesis needs to explain how and why West African rulers were able to benefit from their location; the distinct ways in which such leaders were able to do so, then, will become separate sections of a paper structured around the thesis.

The student's thesis:

Reading Al-Bakri and the map closely, it is clear that it was the ability of the region’s inhabitants to take advantage of their unique geographic position in two ways that gave rise to its wealth at this time. First, located midway between the salt sources of the northern desert and the gold fields of the southern Savannah woodlands, West African kingdoms like Ghana were able to tax the trade in these and other goods that passed through their strategically located territory. Second, access to the gold fields in the southwest enabled the region’s prosperity.

I. Intro (necessary background info)

A. Limited direct written requires use of travelers accounts
B. Al-Bakri most famous of such accounts
C. Thesis: Unique location allowed Kingdoms to:

1. Tax trade (addressed in II below)

2. Gain access to gold fields (addressed in III below)

II. Unique Location

A. Claim: location allowed rulers to tax products passing between the desert and forest regions, in particular salt and gold

B. Evidence: King of Ghana “levied one gold dinar” on each “donkey-load of salt” that entered the country, and two “when it [was] sent out.” “Other goods taxed as well, including copper

C. Warrant: that goods were taxed both leaving and entering the kingdom demonstrates tax was on the trade passing through kingdom from the ecological regions bordering West Africa (desert to the north, forest to the south), not specifically imports to the kingdom itself

 

III. Access to Gold Fields

A. Claim: Gold fields brought wealth to rulers able to control them
B. Evidence: ruler “reserved” the “nuggets found in all the mines” of Ghana for himself, leaving only the dust for his people
C. Warrant: king could field field “200,000 men,” including 40,000 archers from wealth

 

IV Conclusion