The Positive And Negative Effects Of European Imperialism In Africa

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In 1850, only a small chunk of Africa was governed by foreign rulers. By 1914, almost all African land was owned by European powers. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were a huge competition for land as European countries such as Britain, Germany, France, and Belgium competed to claim African land, and thus power and resources. After abolishing the slave trade, European countries continued to trade with Africa for various exotic resources. European businesses would often create treaties with African leaders to gain exclusive trading rights in a region. Eventually, foreign governments began attempting to gain control over these regions. Over time, disputes over land between European powers occurred, leading up to the Berlin Conference …show more content…

Most European nations practiced either indirect or direct rule. Direct rule is when a foreign power replaces the government of a group of people with their own government, directly ruling the population. Indirect rule is similar, but instead of overthrowing the current government, the foreign government uses “puppet” traditional leaders in place of foreign leaders so as to effectively rule the population without alienating them. Both types of rule are equally limiting and leave the native populations without any real political power although indirect rule gives natives a false sense of political representation. According to an article by The Gold Coast Leader from July 12, 1902, the governor of Ghana at the time was reported saying, “I will allow no one to sit on a stool if I know him to be disloyal, and I will remove any one from his stool who behaves badly to the Government. So long as they behave well, I will support the power of the native chiefs” (Imperialism 18). The Governor is stating that as long as a traditional leader supports and agrees with the foreign power, they are allowed to rule. This greatly limits the political power of African leaders as they don’t have the power to disagree or fight against European rule even in places where Africans have a sliver of political power. Since the European powers (in the case of indirect rule) have complete control over which African

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