The primary sources offered profound insights into governance structures and ideologies spanning different historical epochs: the meeting between the Mali Empire’s King Mansa Musa and the Sultan of Egypt as recorded by Al-Umari in the fourteenth century and the American Constitution ratification in 1787. The textbooks present us with visual information that reveals the power and authority processes and how societies are organized in social modeling. This is how we perceive the variety of ways resources can be governed. This essay presents a scholarly analysis of these two sides of government, showing how they differ and their implications for society, politics, and both the subjects and those who exercise power.
Al-Umari’s tale, in which Mansa Musa goes to Cairo, also provides an outstanding picture of how politics, religion, and economics in medieval Africa and the Islamic world converge. Mansa Musa’s journey to Medina as a pilgrim, with a large delegation and wealth, reflects spiritual devotion inseparable from political power and economic well-being (Masur). In accepting Mansa Musa, the sculpture of diplomacy and hierarchy is shown in the ritualized acts of respect and exchange that reinforce power structures. As opposed, the U.S. Constitution borrows from the rationalism of the Enlightenment in which popular sovereignty, among others, is the underlying principle of the American political system.
The main difference between the two views is how the religious authority and its role in governance are portrayed. The Ulama Al-Umari’s story links the Sultan’s legitimacy to the role of the Sultan as a religious leader, with purity and Islam symbolizing his authority. Mansa Musa’s exhibition of his religious devotion enhances his prestige. It reinforces his position as the country’s ruler, thus showing the closeness of religion and politics in the medieval times of Mali (Masur). However, the American Constitution ensures secular government with the main separation of church and state tenants. This emphasizes the intentionality of creating a state religion exemption and ensures the protection of religious liberty, which is uncommon in medieval societies where religious hierarchies were dominant.
Moreover, Mansa Musa’s journey to Mecca to perform a pilgrimage and extravagant displays of wealth in Cairo testify to the widespread economic network that linked medieval Africa and the Islamic world. Al-Umari states that Musa’s generosity to the residents of Cairo stimulated economic enrichment and subsequent positive impact on trade and commerce. His exchange of gold and other precious metals, inconsistent with traditional economic standards, caused crises in the value of money and goods (Masur). On the other hand, the American Constitution established the schematic rules of economic management, adopted to create stability, uniformity, and interstate commerce. Congress has powers to regulate commerce, coin money, and establish a unified system for weights and measures. This is a shaped attempt to eliminate trade disruptions and foster economic growth.
Further, the meeting between Mansa Musa and the Sultan of Egypt and the kinds of cultural exchange and diplomacy demonstrated in the medieval world are also highlighted in this story. Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca, the subsequent visit to Cairo, and the resulting interactions played a major role in the cross-cultural interactions where people exchanged merchandise, information, and technology between West Africa and the Islamic world (Dobak). The incident of the Sultan’s reception of Mansa Musa points to the cosmopolitan nature of medieval Cairo. This city was a major trading hub and a center for scholarship and religious diversity. Mansa Musa and the Sultan found ways to uphold such communication through diplomatic exchanges and gift rituals, which, in turn, enabled them to bargain and cooperate politically and economically, which defied the established boundaries.
Another major difference between the two perspectives is their government structures and ways of making political representation. In Al-Umari’s narrative, one can see that the government was in the form of a hierarchical system where the seat of power was in the center, and people had to bow down to the Sultan. Pagan’s not bowing before the Sultan shows his agency and autonomy in this hierarchical system and clarifies the challenging issues of power relations in the Middle Ages (Douglass). On the other hand, the United States Constitution promulgates a representative democracy where elected officials represent the masses to deliberate on behalf of them. The Constitution describes the powers and functions of legislative, executive, and judiciary powers to divide power so that no authority is too dominant and all people are held accountable. This interprets an attachment to popular sovereignty and democratic governance, a breakaway from the excellent republican institutions of the medieval era.
Furthermore, both opinions explain how to control the power of governments to save them from abuse. Sharing with us how, according to Al-Umari, one’s audience with the Sultan should be performed properly and formally from his account illustrates the features of monarchical leadership that respect manners and rituals (Masur). On the other hand, the U.S. Constitution represents the system of checks and balances, divided into three branches of government — legislative, executive, and judicial — to protect American citizens from tyranny and guarantee justice (Masur). The Constitution confers on Congress the power to impeach and remove the President and other federal officials, which signifies the value the Constitution accords to the supremacy of law and constitutional system of governance.
Governance systems, after all, have evolved and changed over the centuries, too. The mainstay of the fundamental principles of the U.S. Constitution has held sway, taking the nation through phases of expansion, disruption, and reform (Walker). Exactly, the power and authority dynamics reflected by Al-Umari provide a picture of geopolitical relations and cultural exchange, which is a very wide range. Irrespective of their differences, the perspectives provide insightful knowledge of the referred complexities of governance and the universal quest for justice, liberty, and prosperity.
Finally, the comparison of al-Umari’s account and excerpts from the U.S. Constitution reveals the juxtaposition of the concept of governance. Culture, ideology, and authority are the key agents shaping the power’s nature. Al-Umari’s account emphasizes monarchical control and the fusion of religious and political authority, as opposed to the Constitution’s enshrined principles of popular sovereignty, secularism, and democratic representation. Analyzing these sources allows us to have a better insight into the multiple types of governance that human societies have employed from past to present and can provide useful guides for the current and future times.
Works Cited
Walker, David. ““Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World”(1829, 1830).” Pamphlets of Protest. Routledge, 2013. 90-109.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Random House, Incorporated, 2008.
Dobak, William A. Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867. Vol. 30. Government Printing Office, 2011.
Masur, Louis P. “Let Me Know If We Are Free.” (2010): 670-675.
Alexander . “The Papal Bull Inter Caetera Alexander vi May 4 1493 < before 1600 < Documents < American History from Revolution to Reconstruction and Beyond.” Www.let.rug.nl, 1493, www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/before-1600/the-papal-bull-inter-caetera-alexander-vi-may-4-1493.php.
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