The 19th century was one of the most important time periods that helped shape the world into what it is today. Western European powers, such as Great Britain, Germany, and France, strongly believed in the notion that in order to gain more dominant global power, they would have to conquer new lands across the globe and exploit the territories’ resources. Throughout the early and mid 1800s, the nations of Western Europe upheld imperialism, conquering and exploiting foreign lands in Asia and South America. Unfortunately, one major problem remained in the way of global imperialism; Africa, a continent rich in resources, could not be infiltrated because of strong resistance by the natives, foreign disease, and difficult terrain. Nevertheless, in the 1880s, Western Europe became more advanced and had the capability of conquering Africa; the scramble for Africa was on. In 1884-85, the Berlin Conference was held in Germany; this was a diplomatic meeting where the nations of Western Europe divided Africa among themselves. Each nation was given separate holdings in Africa, and the issue of land in Africa was solved. However, a major problem overlooked by the Europeans was that Africa had no say in the Berlin Conference. This resulted in many problems that would terrorize Africa for years to come; because Africans had no say in the dividing of their land, religious and political strife arose, and places such as the Congo faced detrimental and uninvited changes.…
How has the scramble for Africa affected Africans? Europeans have always been known to take over many territories. For example, the British have expanded their empire to Australia, Asia, and even the Americas. Although these changes have made what the world is today, nothing has changed more than Africa. Before Colonialism occurred, Africa traded with other parts of the world for centuries (RP #1). In the nineteenth century, the Europeans started to notice that Africa could be a “gold mine” for their own economy. As more Europeans started to invade Africa, much of Imperialism took place. The two main reasons for Imperialism and Colonialism in Africa were for trade and territorial control.…
Each country wanted to be the most powerful, which included having a surplus of raw materials. For these raw materials countries mainly had to have colonies. Africa, being majority undiscovered and uncolonized, a prime area for imperialism. The Berlin conference was held to device Africa between the Europeans countries. Document A shows how Africa was divided, with only 2 independent countries left. Nationalism also played a part in the European imperialism in Africa. Citizens of these countries wanted more power from their country. Document B shows this for Britain when John Ruskin gave a lecture stating that “[England] must found colonies as fast and as far as she is able.”…
In the beginning of the European- African relationship we see much evidence of civil exchanges, though the Africans seem to be apprehensive of complete European rule. From Document1 we see that the African rulers signed contracts with the Royal Niger company, allowing the British government to utilize the Niger river delta. This agreement upheld that the British could utilize this land for their economic needs, as long as the African rulers received a portion of the riches acquired. There was an original willingness to compromise with the White Man, but soon after, the Europeans began to get greedy. We see this when the ruler of Ashanti wrote the Queen of England, declining her offer to add the clan to her empire, though they would like to remain friendly with them ( Doc 2). This wish for peace with the Europeans did not last long after this document was written. We see other evidence of European greed for land when Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia sent a letter to Great Britian, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia (Doc 3). He stated that the Europeans simply could not split Africa because that would upset the strong Christian values of the region, and that the rule of the land must be seated in Africa. Though strongly worded, this letter remained civil with the Europeans and showed no signs of violence towards them. This was soon to change, though.…
For years after the Berlin Conference, various European powers raced to occupy and colonize land in Africa. It was a time of growth for Europe, but what was it for Africa? Africa’s fate was being decided for it by the European invaders. Not all AFricans just stood by and watcher, however. There was a wide range of actions and reactions to the Scramble for Africa from the Africans themselves, from giving in peacefully to attempting to fighting back with all of their might.…
The Age of Imperialism was a time of great wealth in the mother countries. European countries went everywhere to find places to conquer in order to get their natural resources and raw materials. The increase in colonies led to an increase in nationalism, wealth, and power. One of the key places that European wanted between 1880 and 1914 was Africa. In 1878, Africa was basically free except for some parts of south, which were controlled by Britain, and some Portuguese. By 1914, almost the entire continent was controlled by a European nation. Almost all Europeans had a good attitude toward the European acquisition of African countries because it increased nationalism, wealth, and power, however, some disagreed with it because they felt that there were problems in Europe that needed to be dealt with.…
Before European imperialism reached Africa, the African people lived in villages and had agricultural economies. When the Europeans spread into inland Africa and started colonize the land, the life of natives drastically changed. The Europeans came into Africa, took over the land and began to dictate and deceive the Africans for European gain. The Europeans brought an active and more worldly economy to Africa, but they did not let the natives constructively participate or benefit from this new system. European imperialism was harmful to Africa in several ways, as when the Europeans came over, so came a significant loss of life to natives and famine, and a division of culture that brought conflict into tribes, and a loss of land and resources,…
Africa was imperialized in 1884 at the conference of Berlin. By 1914, Europeans had taken most of Africa. Countries in Africa before imperialism where socially strong because they had a lot of different tribes, cultures and languages. However different ethnic groups were often in conflict. Economically they had complex trade. European countries imperialized Africa because they wanted to spread Christianity and abolish slavery. They also wanted their natural resources. They took advantage of Africa’s conflicts and took over with the cooperation of local leaders and their advanced weapons. The effects of European imperialism were socially negative because the British tried to enforce their beliefs and way of living on Africans by changing their…
Many African kingdoms, who had governed themselves before European colonization, were against the colonization of their lands under other European countries. Based on an African Ashanti queen’s account, in document six, it is clear that the colonizing Europeans had very little respect for monarchies already in place (Doc 6). This alone spurred the subjects of African kingdoms to violence with their colonizers, the Europeans. Another leader of the Herero people, having already allowed German occupation and suffered for it, urges his fellow leaders not to peacefully…
As a whole, Africa was ruined by the Europeans’ greed during the early 1900’s. The European countries were very strong nationalists and they came together and decided to show their superiority by imperializing other continents and countries rather than fight with each other. They chose Africa as the best place to imperialize because of its natural resources and availability. This is what introduced the Berlin Conference. At this meeting, representatives from Great Britain, France, and other strong European players divided up Africa. There was a total disregard of the native people and each country just took what they wanted. The Africans had to work long days with little pay. European imperialism caused the African natives to fall into poverty and the working conditions were horrible. To cover this up, the Europeans educated the people and introduced them to industrial things and instruments. The European imperialism devastated the African people along with their land and tried unsuccessfully to justify it using education and industrialization.…
Between the late 17th century and early 18th century, almost all of Africa was under European rule. This was in great contrast to 1880, when close to none of Africa was under direct rule of the continents. This stark change in power was due to the interest in raw materials, new trade opportunities, political gain over other countries, and Europeans feeling the need to spread Christianity, democracy, and capitalism. (Spielvogel and McTighe 230-233). Although European imperialism helped to "civilize" the people of Africa and develop the continent, this justification is far outweighed by the facts that Africans were treated with immense oppression and a disregard for their culture. After imperialism, African nations were better able to prosper…
The three decades following the Berlin conference were chaotic as European powers competed to occupy and colonize Africa. Europe would be profiting off the resources that they collected from their reaction to far much weaker subordinate African colonies. As Europe’s wealth amassed, Africa’s wealth approached its end. It was soon Eu European intruders as a much stronger force than themselves and lost all their ties to older tradition through fear. In 1886, the British government commissioned and administered the development of the which was signed by many African rulers (doc.1). These Africans gave in but the document does not specify if they gave in because they lost sights of the nation they were once before. Another document of the reason…
Because of the Berlin Conference in Europe, the scramble for African land ended up colonizing inhabited areas in Africa, destroying native nations and their traditional culture. During this time, African natives had many different reactions. Some wanted to cooperate peacefully, others wanted to withstand European pressure, but most of all, most Africans wanted to react violently and rebel against the Europeans.…
Violent Revolutions are more Effective than Non-Violent Revolutions History is filled with examples of violent revolutions accomplishing what non-violent revolutions likely never would have accomplished. Whether it is the French Revolution from 1789 to 1799, the Nazi party’s goal for worldwide dominion, or the struggle in South Africa to shake off the chains of apartheid, violent revolutions have led to profound changes where non-violent civil disobedience probably would have failed. While proponents of non-violent revolutions often cite the likes of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi as examples of freedom fighters who chose brains over brawn, it can be argued that whatever success they may have achieved could have been accomplished more expediently had they been willing to meet their foes with force.…
Although this collection consists of 3 essays titled 'My Home Under Imperial Fire', 'The Empire Fights Back' and 'Today, the Balance of Stories' it should be considered a single body of work or discourse intended to dispel certain flawed notions about African people who are often derogatorily referred to as 'tribes' and automatically assigned a lesser status than their white counterparts.…