Imperialism In Africa Essay

Imperialism in Africa took root in the late 19th century when European nations divided up the continent for their own benefit. Each nation practiced a certain type of rule over the Africans of which they conquered. For example, the Germans, the Dutch, and the French used the practice of Direct Rule over their colonies in Africa. This system is characterized by the colonizers need for the colonized to become assimilated into their culture. The purpose of this was to make the African people “civilized” and act like Europeans. The governing administrations forced on the native inhabitants by the colonial power were meant to undermine those institutions set in place by the indigenous people. By taking over the community’s government on all levels,

This system of government is organized at multiple levels, rather than at one centralized level like in direct rule. At the head of the decentralized government were indigenous people that acted under British command. This gave the illusion that African’s were in total power; however, they still remained inferior to the British in some areas. For example, the indigenous would be in charge of the day-today affairs within the colonies, but would lose power when it came to any external affairs, including taxation and forced labor. These Africans in power were not necessarily a major part of their societies pre-colonization. The British often gave power to people who often never held power previously and thereby created ethnic divisions within society. Instead of the end-goal being to “fix” the indigenous population to make them more European, in indirect rule, the colonial power used the natives as means to an end. Meaning that they would treat the Africans as tools and use them to further their business endeavors. The purpose of indirect rule was said to preserve the indigenous culture, however, it was less expensive than direct rule, and it allowed the British to maximize their colonial profits. Lord Lugard first experimented with indirect rule in Northern Nigeria with the Hausa-Fulani where it succeeded, but when he instilled that rule on other African states, it failed. In places like Nigeria where