European Imperialism In Africa
Prior to 1880, European rule in the African continent had mostly been restricted to the coast, extending a short distance inland along major rivers due to their economic interests being primarily limited to the slave trade. The start of the 1880’s saw massive increase of European nations seeking territory in Africa. Europeans seeking rights to land, resources, and trading routes in Africa had to compete with other nations, corporations, and African natives. In order to gain these rights from the native people, Europeans would make unfair treaties and contracts with African tribes that took advantage of their, land, resources, and people.
The title of the source, “Controlling Africa-The Standard Treaty” implies that this contract was used as …show more content…
The European explorers “seldom had men of their own race with them, and they often found their African hosts strange and unpredictable, and feared their hostility.” 1 The Europeans felt like they had to gain control over the African people in order to maintain power. This sometimes had positive effects such as the introduction of modern transportation such as railroads. They also shared their knowledge of nutrition and medicine which increased the health and life span of the Africans. According to Chamberlain’s book, “The Scramble for Africa”, imperialism was good for Africa because it brought the African natives’ lives up to the standards of western civilization. 2 This is true in some aspects however, I believe the social relationships of the natives and their cultural traditions were negatively altered causing them to change their way of life solely because the European’s ethnocentric way of thinking. Their controlling of the indigenous people had many other negative impacts on Africa because of how the Europeans treated the Africans as inferiors and sometimes even harshly with no ethnic or cultural respect. Railroad companies and miners used local populations as a source of labor for dangerous jobs where the indigenous people worked in harsh conditions, sometimes risking their lives, for little pay. The scramble for Africa started in 1870 and by 1890 most of Africa was under European rule with only Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent. 3 European Imperialism most likely caused the tribal warfare that occurred later in
The title of the source, “Controlling Africa-The Standard Treaty” implies that this contract was used as …show more content…
The European explorers “seldom had men of their own race with them, and they often found their African hosts strange and unpredictable, and feared their hostility.” 1 The Europeans felt like they had to gain control over the African people in order to maintain power. This sometimes had positive effects such as the introduction of modern transportation such as railroads. They also shared their knowledge of nutrition and medicine which increased the health and life span of the Africans. According to Chamberlain’s book, “The Scramble for Africa”, imperialism was good for Africa because it brought the African natives’ lives up to the standards of western civilization. 2 This is true in some aspects however, I believe the social relationships of the natives and their cultural traditions were negatively altered causing them to change their way of life solely because the European’s ethnocentric way of thinking. Their controlling of the indigenous people had many other negative impacts on Africa because of how the Europeans treated the Africans as inferiors and sometimes even harshly with no ethnic or cultural respect. Railroad companies and miners used local populations as a source of labor for dangerous jobs where the indigenous people worked in harsh conditions, sometimes risking their lives, for little pay. The scramble for Africa started in 1870 and by 1890 most of Africa was under European rule with only Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent. 3 European Imperialism most likely caused the tribal warfare that occurred later in