African+Government

= = =__African Government (John)__= = = =The governments, or empires, of Africa during the 18th century were similar to those in Europe. A king who possessed almost all of the power governed the empires. The king’s councils, advisers, and legislatures had little power, and the citizens did not have any political and governmental power at all. A government where the king has most of the power was referred to as //centralized states//.= =In addition, there were some important jobs of African Empires identified by historians. The main jobs of African Empires were to expand agricultural production and trade, and the development of technology. These goals were set up to help Africa become a more resourceful and stronger country. However, there were problems with the African Empires during the 18th century; in Africa many strong empires were built, but not many of them were in power for a long period of time. As the empires fell, the leaders also changed. For instance, Ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhai Empires were all strong empires, but all became powerless over time. Due to the frequent changes in leaders of the empires, the country weakened. The kings’ lack of leadership caused a loss of power as a country.= =Since only the monarchs possessed most of the power, many smaller cities and villages could not and therefore were not able to develop much. If the kings of empires focused on the country itself as a whole rather than limiting themselves to look at their own empires, Africa could have been recognized as a more stable, resourceful region by other regions.= = =