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Contribution of europeans to africa and their disadvantage
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Throughout history, Africa has been a vulnerable player in the eyes of the rest of the world. From the slave trade to various civil right injustices that have taken place over in every century, from what we have studied in this class, we have been able to see the lasting impact on the continent as a ramification of certain events occurring. Using various sources from the text, which serve as evidence, and help prove how the western world exercised its power in order to capitalize on the African continent and exploit the African people and land. Before the Western world had an influence on them, Africa, like the other continents had stable systems that differed, but resembled other civilizations around the world. Ibn, Battuta, Visit from Mombasa …show more content…
It was the essence of removing people from their homelands, and taking them across oceans to “work” and live in “better” conditions than their current state. However, it is vital to note that slavery existed in Africa long before Europeans arrived. Although in the 1400s, Europeans introduced a form of slavery that shook the African life and society. The slaves had no way of buying their freedom, families were separated, and the Europeans did not enslave the natives in their homeland, where they could still preserve their culture and identity, but were instead transported to the Western World. To advance this argument, we will be looking at Nzinga Mbemba, Letters to the King of Portugal (1526). Slavery greatly expanded its grip on many African societies, and in many cases, dismantled the social and political order. Kongo was under the rule of Nzinga Mbemba when he realized how detrimental the situation was to his nation, he began to voice his sentiment with the pursuit of the slaves in his …show more content…
The choice of words immensely resonates with his audience, leaving a bad aftertaste. His piece was titled “The Black Man’s Burden”, with the intention of, what seems to be, educating the rest of the western world about what their greed and thirst for Africa had led to. Calling his own people invaders, speaks to the point of how now that the slave trade had failed, by which they had to find an alternative way to assert their dominance in the region. Morel also speaks to this by stating, “what even the oversea slave trade failed to do, the power of modern capitalist exploitation, assisted by modern engines of destruction, may yet succeed in accomplishing.” The use of the word “modern”, speaks about the new ways in which the Western powers were exercising, in able to continue being present, ways in which the slave trade failed to do so. Morel argues against colonialism, and European presence in Africa, through which his arguments create a viewpoint of his distaste in his nations involvement in the continent, and how they are entering without invitation, upsetting the dynamics of a country, rather than contributing to its success and growth, therefore making it worse off. “It attacks Africa from... destroyed his natural pursuits and
Every year, more and more money is donated to Africa to promote democracy in order to get rid of the powerful coups in many countries through out the continent. While the coups are declining and democratic governments are being established, the economic growth and development of Africa is not anywhere it should be considering the abundant natural resources and coastline that the continent possesses. Even though countries, like the United States of America, donate millions of dollars they are a large reason why Africa is underdeveloped economically. The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade is the most devastating event in the history of the world. Nearly 14,000,000 men, women, and children were displaced, sold into slavery, and killed by the trade routes.(
In this course we have been understanding and realizing on the way of how Europeans expanded into the African nation gain from them within the political and economical region. With the Europeans expansion happening in the 19th century it has been well benefited. Some of those benefits have included were with the forming of a more formal government, the African people becoming more civilized and the introduction of the Christian religion. This benefitted with the Europeans expanding into Africa because of all the great accomplishments which took place in the 19th Century. These were many reasons as to why the Europeans benefited from expansion even though they were fully aware of the what they will gain from the expansion. In the book The African
“I know no national boundary where the Negro is concerned. The whole world is my province until Africa is free” (Garvey). These words by Marcus Garvey perfectly illustrate the spirit of unification that characterized the attitude of many people of African Descent as a direct result of the callous treatment that Africa as a whole suffered at the hands of Europeans. Europe not only ravished Africa of a significant resource in the millions of lives that it stole and enslaved. Europe also pillaged the continent with the brutal institution of colonization. The manacles of colonization inspired great suffering in the lands and lives of Africans examples include Land exploitation, labor exploitation and most significantly exploiting the minds and spirits of Africans through inhumane treatment. The disabling affliction imposed upon Africa by the White race was the driving force behind the idea of a Pan-African awareness.
every continent is a descendant of the African origin. This essay will explain African's isolation to the rest of the world and some of the famous contributions and some of Africa's contributions to our world.
Black Slaves were considered the answer to the need of labor in North America because the supply of African slaves and their displacement in new land. Firstly, African tribes often fought and the winning tribe would claim all of the remaining enemy’s as property. Then, the tribes will sell them to slave merchants who will ship the slaves. Additionally, African slavery was very common in other parts of the world. Secondly, since Africa's did know where they were, they could not succeed at escaping or forming a proper rebellion due to their lack of knowledge of the land geographically. Compare this to the native Americans who were enslaved at one point. They had successfully ran from their owners and fought back due to their knowledge.
The location and vast array of natural resources in Africa have led it to settled and exploited by many Asian and European countries in the past. The events in Africa’s past have greatly influenced its political, social, and economic well being today. Africa is situated below the continent of Europe and is west of the continent of Asia. It is boarded on its north coast by the Mediterranean sea and lies in between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Because Africa is almost completely surrounded by water and near large trading areas like the Mediterranean, it became very susceptible to colonialism from European and Asian countries. Colonialism and the discovery of natural resources in Africa’s past have caused the volatile political climates, social inequality and economic opportunities, that are seen throughout Africa today.
Africa's history has been a rocky one, plagued by various forms of exploitation and imperialism. These blights had a strong negative effect on the development of Africa. While different methods such as slavery, unequal trade and forced ideals were utilised to manipulate Africa and to simplify its imperialism, the end result was the same When the Europeans exploited Africa it experienced a period of terror and imperialism that still echoes within it today.
We are told in schools that the colonists settled in New England and encountered Native Americans. Little is discussed about the enslavement and selling of Native American Indians nor was the subject of slavery mentioned as well. Like every other state in the colonies, Massachusetts played a role in the production of slave labor and the selling and purchasing of African American people as discussed in a lecture held by dean Gerzina in March. (2017) In fairness to the understanding of urban development this section will discuss the role of slave labor or indentured servants in the valley. This practice contributed to urban development and became an alternative labor force the colonists came to depend on. Such examples of slave records have
Slavery, as defined as the “condition in which one human being is owned by another” in Webster’s dictionary, was a heinous crime against humanity that was legal and considered a normality in America from 1619 to 1865. In 1865 the union won the civil war against the confederates and declared that African American slaves be emancipated. Before their emancipation, African American families were split up, never to see each other again. Their rights of political and social freedoms were also stripped away from them, and they were “reduced to a bare life [,] stripped of every right by virtue of the fact that anyone can kill him [or her] without committing homicide… and yet he [or she] is in a continuous relationship with the power that is banished
All over the globe in first world countries almost everyone is talking, texting, typing, or taking pictures with modern technology. Many people wear diamonds or other precious gems around their necks, wrists, or on their hands. Where does the world get the resources to have all of this, and how? The answer is found in the hands of slaves crouched deep within the mines of some of the poorest countries in the world. Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and many others are home to some of the biggest human trafficking rings in the world. The world’s demand for the ever-changing modern technology of today is helping to fuel the distress of slavery in African countries.
In the 1800’s, there was a high interest in the continent of Africa from European powers, due to its rich amount of resources and potential for new markets to be established. Because of this, the continent of Africa came u...
Africa is an “in development continent” with a very deep background about colonization, that is why is so hard to define it. With fifty four countries, some of them are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, among others, scientists says that the limits of Africa goes farther than their boundaries. In the lecture “Africa in World History and Anthropology: perceptions and misperceptions” (2012), Maiko argues that people have different perceptions and misperceptions about Africa, and with the lecture he intends to clarify some points, so people will understand and respect more this continent that suffered a lot with its explorers.
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.
By altering the perspectives of West Africans, it created two major problems. The indigenous man believes he is behind the rest of the world and must assimilate, and the colonizer becomes the ultimate goal of the colonized man. This is an imagined state of inferiority. Europeans have to power to influence one another and the one’s they colonize. Europeans provided a “need” for industrialization that was not relevant to African life. In order to legitimize industrialization, Europeans played on the ego’s of the ambitious. Marketing an ideal that Africans could be just as successful as the Europeans. Aimé Cesaire says, “No human contact, but relations of domination and submission which turn the colonizing man into a classroom monitor, an army sergeant, a prison guard, a slave driver, and the indigenous man into an instrument of production”. (Cesaire, 50) The colonized man no longer needs the colonizer, he must perpetrate their principles. Some West Africans will now take on the role as exploiters in order to gain approval. This type of Laborer becomes the sub-oppressor. West African citizens are split into bourgeoisie and impoverished. The bourgeoisie believe that they have reach success by becoming educated in Europe and must come back and help their homeland, when in actuality they begin to harm their home rather than help. By believing that the colonizer has better schooling, opportunity or knowledge, they devalue those
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.