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colonialism in africa introduction
colonialism and its effects on africa
colonialism and its effects on africa
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Third World History
When someone mentions the state of Africa the first thoughts that enter your mind is poverty, poor government structure, and hungry people. But that has not always been the case. This was a rich, resourceful and beautiful country. The picture of pre-colonial Africa is much different than our ideals of it today. We see it as a land stricken with poverty. The colonists saw it as a land with unlimited resources full of people that did not take, what they thought was full advantage of it's treasures. Europeans used agricultural and religious differences to create a gulf between them and the Africans. Using such differences Europe colonized Africa for the ever growing European market. The depletion of the African resources forced the people into a food crises. The only hope exists is the organization from within the rural class. Such organizations are fighting for basic human rights and others are coming together to make labor sharing possible.
Pre-colonial Africa was full of resourceful and time honored farmers that knew the land that their ancestors have given them. They had the ability to know exactly which seeds and what soil to use under various planting conditions to produce not just enough food to keep their tribes alive, but produce a substantial surplus in event of a natural caused or political drought. Bill Rau states " The ability of African people to feed themselves was based on a intimate knowledge of the resources needed for agricultural production. (p 22) " He is trying to say that these people knew their land. A land that has it's uncertainty.
Weather that has an ability to wipe out tribes, and unpredictable political structure were all hurdles that these gifted farmers has to endure. As Europe was going through an industrial boom, their markets started to expand. Capitalists saw that it became harder maintain the profit at the current level. Outside resources and raw materials that were used for production were needed. Africa was the answer. Bill Rau writes " The increasing demand and competition for both resources and markets among Europe's capitalist economies led them to carve out territories in Africa that offered the prospect of vast mineral and agricultural wealth.(p 29)" What Bill Rau is saying is that, for the capitalist to survive he must maintain a high profit.
Africa was known for its land of richness, full of its right elements to have the right resources, education, and state of order. European nations looked for and wanted raw materials, and saw Africa as the perfect foundation. Then the European nations have decided to colonize and attack parts of Africa then divide it with each other. After ruling and taking charge of these areas they have not stopped, but rather their greed for more is just starting. Africans have tried more than once to stop these attacks, but nothing changed. In the end, after all of these attacks the Africans lost their freedom and land. This is a very obvious case of unfairness where the European nations decided to rule a land and take all their resources that do not belong to them in the first
Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.
Africa is a land of riches like no other, so as expected, European countries would have some sort of desire to conquer properties in whatever way they did. As stated in African Colonies and their Exports Chart, countless of natural resources are found in different areas in Africa. Not only does the data show plenty of resources, but also a variety (Doc D). This confirms that Africa is a wealthy land that Europeans grew fond of and hoped to take over. Specified in Imports and Exports Graph, following the 1900’s, after the conference to divide up Africa was held, Britain decided to use Africa’s natural resources and specialize in many industries. The imports doubled from 4 million pounds, while the exports boosted from 2.5 million all the way to 21 million pounds (Doc. E). With this lucrative increase in trading and selling, it is fair to conclude that not only were resources a factor of beginning imperialism in Africa, but also a successful result.
Economic ways started in the nineteenth century, still have a hold on the countries of the sub-Sahara today. These countries are all impoverished and have seen horrific civil wars, however, the general consensus is that they are making slow improvements in their economy. The starvation, overpopulation and health problems are still very evident. Perhaps continued assistance coupled with education and protection will keep them on the road to stability and more rewarding lives for their citizens.
With Europe in control, “the policies of the governing powers redirected all African trade to the international export market. Thus today, there is little in the way of inter-African trade, and the pattern of economic dependence continues.” Europeans exported most of the resources in Africa cheaply and sold them costly, which benefited them, but many Africans worked overtime and were not treated with care.
The ‘scramble for Africa’ was a phenomenon in the world between the years 1880-1914. The ‘dark continent’ was relatively untouched by Europeans up until this point, with few ports of control on the coasts in the west, which were remnants of the slave trade, and in the south, Britain held the Cape, taken from the Dutch during the French Revolutionary Wars. So, during a period of 30 years, it came to pass that almost the whole of Africa was taken by Europeans. (Except Liberia a colony for freed American slaves, and Abyssinia managed to hold out against Italian aggression). It will be my objective in this essay to analyse the economic factors which resulted in the almost complete colonisation and takeover of Africa, and also to determine to what extent the scramble actually happened due to these factors. I am of the opinion that the scramble happened in different places for different reasons, some economic, some not, therefore each area of Africa will have to be analysed to be able to examine the extent of economic factors in the scramble.
For most of the Africans they change they wanted to see after independence were economic. The problem is the economy that the Europeans left behind. Europeans left Africa in worse shape when it comes to the economy then before they came. The European abused the Africans they tricked them into thinking they were there to help, but that was not the case. They used their resources for their own benefit. But the worse thing the Europeans did was put the African in dept. African leader inherited economies that were reliant on on the international market. Agricultural crops and mineral due to colonialism limited colonies to production of just those raw materials. Therefore each colony on exported a few different goods so they were subject to a rise in prices. According to Watson “most goods that newly independent countries exported earned less than the goods they imported. This imbalance- paying more for imports than a country earns in exports-drove many African countries into dept.”(Watson). By the European not caring about the better good of Africa they drove them right into dept... Going back to education, the new African leaders had no idea how to properly deal with a felling economy. The European powers made each African colony dependent on the production of only a handful of goods. Which in the end made European grate profits. So now that African leaders are in charge they have all this dept. on their hands. As stated in the article “Colonization and Independence in Africa”, “Africans were at grate disadvantage in this trade, because prices for raw material were significantly lower than the prices of manufactured goods”(Colonization). The money that was coming in was less than the money going out. Africa was left with an economic unbalance. Also the population went up but not enough jobs. Therefor Africa had to work harder to work
Problems began for Africa when there was the “scramble for Africa. Africa was extremely divided throughout the continent. There was no nation intact. Even though they were divided into colonies, they still had no sovereignty. Since they had no form of nationalism it made it impossible to succeed as a nation. This really hurt Africa economically. If they would have been able to come together as a nation they could have pulled all of their assets together and exploit them in order to make money. By not doing this it allowed the government to exploit the people. This is why there are starving people in Africa on television. The states of Africa were created in order to make money by exporting all the various resources, whether it was slaves, minerals, or agriculture. There was much to gain by owning a chunk of land in Africa. This reason being because Africa is so rich in their resources for trade. After the race was over it left Africa severely divided.
Just like the government, the farming in Africa is affected by colonization. Africa has many different forms of farming, one of them is Subsistence farming. Subsistence farming is when one farms for just for his family or village. Another type of farming is Commercial farming, or organized farming as a business. There is also Shift farming, which is when a farmer moves every one to three years to find better soil. Only two-fifths of Africa has arable land. Many farmers go hungry or bankrupt because they become dependent on one cash crop.
The Scramble for Africa, named for the speed at which Africa was partitioned and colonized, began with King Leopold II 's conquest of the Congo. However, it did not end with the Belgian occupation of the Congo. Just as Leopold 's Congo was demarcated by the vast extraction of raw materials, most notably rubber, other European powers used African colonies as resource markets. However, economic motivations were not the sole stimulus for colonial expansion into Africa during the late 19th century. The causalities of the Scramble for Africa, and subsequent partition, are the result of a complex interplay between social, political, and economic forces both within Africa and within Europe. The colonization of Africa could not have been as extensive
...'s colonization play book: oppress, squash any uprising, horde capital from the rural peasantry, and refuse to contribute to social services. To be frank, Europe left Africa in a state of disarray, and the fact that they did not help them to gradual self-rule was done on purpose: to continue a state of neocolonialism. When one looks at the political, social and economic factors, it becomes obvious that the state of Africa today is due to nearly a century of direct rule. While the rest of the world experienced the Industrial Revolution, Africa is just beginning to experience the modern technologies and amenities that have been a staple of the western world for a very long time. Crippling debt, famine, and oppressive military characterizes the continent today, and as Donald Wright aptly titled his paper on postcolonial Gambia, “Independence, or In Dependance?”
The Europeans saw Africa as being a great place to obtain all types of resources from labor to natural materials. Items such as cotton, coal, rubber, copper, tin, gold, and other metals were considered very valuable and readily available in Africa (Nardo). The industrial revolution had already become a strong influence on the countries that attended the Conference. They had spent the past...
Underdevelopment in Africa is a problem that has been plaguing the countries all over the continent for a very long time. It has so many negative effects on Africans. It has brought about so many consequences, but of all, the economy is the most affected sector because the economic sector controls all other aspect of the society. Underdevelopment in Africa is as a result of many contributing factors which include poverty, illiteracy, very large extended families, corruption and lack of accountability.
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney, was one of the most controversial books in the world at the time of its release. The book seeks to argue that European exploitation and involvement in Africa throughout history. This is the cause of current African underdevelopment, and the true path to the development is for Africa to completely sever her ties with the international capitalist economy. Rodney describes his goal in writing the book in the preface: “this book derives from a concern with the contemporary African situation. It delves into the past only because otherwise it would be impossible to understand how the present came into being and what the trends are for the near future” (vii). Rodney writes from a distinctly Marxist perspective by arguing that the inequalities inherent in European capitalism and required exploitation of certain countries in order to sustain capitalism.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.