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A essay of the scramble for africa
The impact of colonialism in africa
The impact of colonialism in africa
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What was the scramble for Africa and how did it impact the continent of Africa? The scramble for Africa was a result of European countries trying to colonize Africa. The goal of many European countries was to attain as much land on the continent of Africa as possible. They wanted the land to further benefit European countries economically, culturally, and politically. In the process, the people of Africa were forgotten and not taken into consideration.
A majority of Africa experienced imperialism. Imperialism is the practice of a country increasing its own power by gaining control of other land around the world. European countries struggled to gain control of Africa. Their mission was to partition Africa and take its natural resources. European countries wanted to successfully partition Africa and co-exist with each other. European countries wanted Africa for reasons such as imperialism and trade.
The main reason for the colonization of Africa was to gain additional land. Europeans wanted the land because with land came various opportunities. Europeans wanted to spread the beliefs of Christianity. They also wanted to get slaves and free labor from the people of Africa. Another reason was to build resting ports to make trade to Asia easier and more efficient. European countries wanted to conquer Africa in order to meet the high demand for valuables such as gold and diamonds. They also desired a place to send criminals and the mentally challenged. Military and Naval bases were needed as well. As a result of various countries trying to colonize Africa many benefits followed suit, however, many problems arose as well.
Along with the partition of Africa, came many complications. For example, weather patterns were ...
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... were forced to plant cash crops. Also, many good aspects came with the partition of Africa. The Europeans provided the people of Africa with railroads between towns and villages. When European cultures brought Christianity to Africa, they taught Africans math, science, and European languages. Although the partition of Africa caused a numerous amount of problems for Africa, it also brought wonderful technological advancements that modernized Africa.
There were many driving forces behind the scramble for Africa, European imperialism being one of them. The partition of Africa resulted in many changes to the continent of Africa. Economically, European countries colonized for trade purposes and natural resources. Culturally, they wanted to spread the beliefs of Christianity and portray a sense of national pride. Politically, they also wanted more land.
The takeover of Europeans in all of Africa is the European Scramble. The treatment of Africans was sacrificed for the materials and goods needed by the Europeans. The mistreatment caused Africans to rebel even though sometimes their battles were not won. In thirty years European troops colonized Africa in search for natural resources due to the impact of the Industrial Revolution. As a response Africans were enraged that their loved ones had to suffer, while others hoped for change and surrendered.
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.
When the Age of Imperialism began in 1875, it effected Africa in many ways. Nowhere was the competition for colonies more intense than in Africa. Europeans went after North and South Africa splitting up the continent. Egypt and Sudan were taken over by Britain to obtain the Suez Canal. Imperialism helped to develop Africa’s economy and turned it into a continent of colonies.
The colonization of Africa gave the Europeans more workers and workspace that boost them economically and financially. According to Document D, many African colonies exports very many resources such as cotton for fabrics and various foods for processing and meals. The help of African colonies was very beneficial to Europe. The economical growth can be proven with Document E, where the amount of exports from Africa grew from less than 5 million British pounds in 1854 to over 20 million in 1900. So the most beneficial part of the African colonies was the boost they gave Europe in economical
The Scramble for Africa occurred because as the slave trade ended, capitalists saw Africa as a continent that they could now exploit through legitimate trade. European capitalists have found new ways to make money off the continent. With greater exploration of the continent, even more valuable resources were found. The encouragement of legitimate trade in Africa brought Europeans flocking to colonize Africa. Africa lost their independence, and along with it, their control over their natural resources.
A major cause regarding Africa being colonized by Europe is the need to have a powerful country and economy. According to the Partition of Africa Map, Africa has no major independence except a small piece of land below the Sahara Desert. The
During the late 19th century and the early 20th century many of the European nations began their scramble for Africa which caused Many Africans to suffer from violence like wars, slavery and inequality. Although the Europeans felt power as though they were doing a great cause in the African continent during the Scramble for Africa; Africans had many reactions and actions including factors as rebellion for freedom, against the white settlers and violent resistance.
As the 20th century approached, more and more countries grew desperate for land, resulting in an imperialistic activity known as the Scramble for Africa. The European imperialists were motivated by three main factors; economic, political, and social. These factors made countries compete for power and eventually led to the scramble for African territory. Although economic expansion at times was a positive outcome of European imperialism in Africa, these positive effects are outweighed by negative outcomes such as loss of culture and independence.
One of the main reasons Europeans colonized Africa was for their useful resources. There are countless assets in the African landscape that are wanted by other nations. The European countries had access to some of the world's most needed resources such as cotton, oils, coal, gold, and diamonds because they controlled Africa. This is shown on a chart of African colonies and their exports. " Selected African Colonies and Their Exports" (269).
Imperialism is the domination by one country of political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region and occurred during the 1800’s in Africa. Imperialism in Africa was caused by four factors in Europe: economy, politics/military, humanitarian/religion, and Social Darwinism (Ellis). The Industrial Revolution in Europe caused the need for oversea expansion because the manufacturers needed things like: rubber, petroleum, and palm oil all of which Africa had. Europe moving into Africa was also caused by nationalism, when France went into Africa so did Britain (Ellis). The difference between France and Britain was the way of rule they used. There are four different methods of imperialism: direct, indirect, protectorate, and sphere of influence. The most popular were direct and indirect. The French used direct, they sent officials and soldiers from France to administer their colonies and their purpose was to inflict French culture on their colonies and make them into French provinces (Ellis). The British, however, used indirect, they used chiefs to oversee their colonies and encouraged the children in the colonies to get education in Britain. The British “Westernized” their colonies and only used military force when threatened (Ellis).
Throughout history, imperialism has led countries to extend their rule over weaker countries and then colonized those countries to expand their own power. Imperialism allows the ruling countries to use the weaker countries for their resources. Colonizing other countries would then lead to growth and a better reputation for the dominating country. There are many examples of imperialism throughout European history. When many European countries “scrambled” for Africa, it seemed as though Africa had no say in anything. During the 19th century, Europe found a way to use Africa for their own growth and power. Using Africa for their resources, the Europeans colonized Africa without a second thought. European imperialism in Africa had a negative impact because of social disarray, cultural loss, and death it caused.
The Web. November 22, 2010 http://web.ebscohost.com>. Hargreaves, John. The. “The Scramble for Africa.”
One of the main reasons was that the Europeans believed that the more territory a country was able to control, the more powerful it could become and the more powerful it would be seen as by other countries. Other reasons for the desire to control African land included the many natural resources that could only be found in Africa, such as diamonds, gold, and as time progressed, rubber. It also provided new markets in surrounding places so that manufactured goods could be sold for a larger profit. The Europeans had many motives for imperialism in Africa. Yet the true motives were often shielded as they tried to present themselves as humanitarians when in reality they were making Africa a terrible place to live with brutality and harsh treatment of the African natives.
The Scramble for Africa was a period of time where major European countries fought over and colonized land in Africa, stretching from South Africa to Egypt. The scramble for Africa began shortly after the slave trade, and ended at WW1, and is a strong representation of the ‘New Imperialism’. The first country to act was Belgium, who colonized Congo at 1885, but soon, other countries such as Portugal and Great Britain joined in in order to not miss out. Firstly, the European could not colonize Africa easily, due to Africa’s giant land mass and the diseases that spread throughout the land. But then, came the Steam train, Maxim guns and new cures for diseases that paved the way for the Europeans to control Africa. Since one of the reasons Europeans wanted to colonize Africa was that they wanted to ‘civilize’ the people, the leader of Germany, Otto Von Bismarck, decide that they have a conference to split the land and not fight each other. Soon, in 1914, nearly all African countries were colonized by Europeans except for Ethiopia and Liberia. Different countries had different styles of colonization. For example, France was less eager to let the African chiefs take control of their colonies than Britain, who set up a African Government to their colonies. Basically, the scramble for Africa was a period of time when European countries colonized Africa.
In order to properly understand the effects of colonization, one must look at its history. Most of Africa was relatively isolated from Europe throughout early world history, but this changed during the 17th to the 20th centuries. Colonization efforts reached their peak between the 1870s and 1900 in the “Scramble for Africa” which left the continent resembling a jigsaw puzzle Various European powers managed to colonize Africa including Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, and Spain. This intense imperialist aggression had three major causes. The primary reason was simply for economic gain. Africa is refuge to vast, unexplored natural resources. European powers saw their opportunity and took it. Another motive was to spread the Christian religion to the non-Christian natives. The last major incentive was to demonstrate power between competing European nations. African societies did try to resist the colonial takeover either through guerilla warfare or direct military engagement. Their efforts were in vain, however, as by the turn of the century, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained not colonized. European powers colonized Africa according to the guidelines established by the Berlin Act (1885). Many of the colonized nations were ruled indirectly through appointed governor...