Preview

european scramble for africa

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
681 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
european scramble for africa
After the Berlin conference in 1884, imperialism was introduced. European countries conquered areas of Africa, and then took advantage of its people and land. All but two countries were colonized. The colonized countries of Africa each reacted differently to European actions during the scramble for Africa. African countries began to counter-claim these threats with violent, non-violent, and diplomatic tactics. African leaders advanced their methods of violence in conjunction with the African people who were encouraged to rebel against those who had cost them suffering and many casualties (doc. 4, 5, 7, 9). An African veteran, Ndansi Kumalo, explains his account of the Ndebele Rebellion in d0cument 4 (POV). The account explains his point of view as he experiences feelings of resentment toward the British advances that treated them as if they were inferior. Ndansi Kumalo attempts to convince others not to agree with the British because blood had already been shed in order to stop them. A painting, done by a victorious Ethiopian, depicts the battle of Adowa. The image interprets the Ethiopian army as very strong while the Italian troops are portrayed as weak (doc 5). In 1904, Samuel Maherero, the leader of the Herero people, wrote a letter to another African leader and pointed out his intentions of battling against the German forces. Samuel Maherero asked his allies to join him in the fight (doc 7). In 1907, Mojimba (African chief) described a battle, which took place on the Congo River (1877), to a German missionary. His tone reflects feelings of bitterness as he described the actions that the British and Americans took against his people. He also explained how the white men were the enemy and killed innocent people in their pursuit to divide Africa (doc 9). Although some leaders were opposed to European rule, they chose not to use violent methods and remained peaceful (doc. 2,6,8). The Ashanti leader rejects the British offer to lower the Ashanti rank

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Misrepresentation of Africa 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.…

    • 893 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    GKE1 task 3

    • 808 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A. The rise of new imperialism of the 19th and early 20th century involved Europe going into Africa. The causes of imperialism in Africa were partly due to the decolonization in America. The European powers were out political and economic gain by the United States gaining their independence. In 1876 European powers especially King Leopold II of Belgium, agreed in the Berlin Conference to split up the land in Africa, no longer invading to colonize but to gain political, military and economic power. The methods to imperialism of the African land were done differently, by each European power. The British who imperialized the cape of Africa used laws and indirect methods to gain power, however King Leopold II used extreme force to gain control of the Congo. The Congo was then ruled with strict political control and military force.…

    • 808 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism In Africa

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.”…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    2009 Dbq Ap World

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Not everywhere the Europeans went did they encounter this obedience and complacency. Many places people fought the invaders. The emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II, wrote a letter to Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia in 1891 telling them he would not just sit by and watch if they continues parcelling off Africa [doc. 3]. Ndansi Kumalo tells how, after trying to live…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the Europeans scrambled to colonize Africa, the reactions of the natives was progressively more apprehensive. At first the natives found that they could be peaceful with this strange new white man. Soon after, though, they found that these new men mistreated and cheated them greatly, and had superior military technology. Given these new conditions of the relationship the Africans decided it was in their best interest to take up arms against the Europeans and try to rid themselves of the harmful White Man.…

    • 759 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Africa Imperialism DBQ

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Africa Imperialism- DBQ 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.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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,…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In one case specifically, Ethiopia had been hoarding European weapons for decades and were well supplied enough so that they could reppel Europe’s advances, for a short time. Document five shows one of the only equal battled between Europeans and Africans; however, most other African nations were not as well supplied and had never encountered Europe’s newest military machinery (Doc 5). After the failure of the Ndebele rebellion, Kumalo recounts that they would have been successful if it had not been for the “White man’s machine guns” (Doc 4). Because he was then forced into slave like conditions afterwards, Kumalo will always react to Europeans with violence. Many Africans also shared Kumalo’s reaction to European advancement into Africa. There were several rebellions and battles against European control. Survivors were not treated well under Europeans, who took African land, possessions, and plundered villages (Doc 9). Many Europeans were not expecting such resentment from Africans. They truly believed they were superior to Africans and were helping civilise them, also know as the White man’s burden. A German military officer recounts that a African chief had to deceive his troops with a magical medical solution that made them impervious to bullets (Doc 8). The Europeans reacted to the mass of charging African warriors by shooting…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Ethiopian painting of the Battle of Adowa in 1896 where Ethiopians were victorious over Italian troops is also not clear on why the Ethiopians fought back (doc.5). Another document on why the Ethiopians fought back so vigorously would be more helpful. In a lette On the other r written from an African leader to another African leader, he describes how German invaders killed on the Congo River in 1877, Mojimba, an Africna chief, describes how the British had overcame Africans with guns n a lette On the other r written from an African leader to another African leader, he describes how German invaders killed one of his men everyday and it is obvious that change ropean 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 why these Africans gave in would reveal if they saw the European threat as a to their…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    DBQ Scramble For Africa

    • 712 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Document 3 (Letter to Europe from the Leader of Ethiopia) and Document 8 (Account of the Maji Rebellion in Germany from a German Officer) explain the role of religion in The Colonization of Africa. Due to the Berlin Conference, the Continent of Africa was being divided. Many felt like they had been saved in previous crises as a result of their god's doing. African Nations believed that they maintained…

    • 712 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dbq Essay

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages

    DBQ ESSSAY The Berlin Conference of 1986-1985 was Africa's undoing in many ways. During the conference, European Nations decided which lands in Africa they would take over. However, this was done without the presence of an African representative. The race of these European powers to colonize and occupy Africa is termed, the “Scramble for Africa”. Africa’s inhabitants responded with anger and violence as is shown in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth document. On the other hand, some tried to come to an agreement or to keep peace with the Europeans, which is seen in the second and third document; and the first document shows the Europeans attempted to gain control without conflict. Due to the Africans lack of modern weapons, they were often defeated.…

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays