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Imperialism In Africa

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The Harms of Imperialism in Africa It is the year 1870, the start of imperialism in Africa and many other regions. Imperialism is when a country acquires power through domination of others. The Europeans took control of Africa with their steam engines, advanced medicine, and superior weaponry. Imperialism harmed Africa because imperialist governments created laws that treated Africans cruelly and unfairly, Europeans changed how the tribes of Africa lived, and the Europeans used treaties to control Africans. Imperialism harmed Africa economically because imperialist governments created laws that treated Africans unfairly and they forced labor on the Africans. For example, Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the congo said during his independence day speech, “the law was not the same for a white and for a black, accommodating for the first, cruel and inhuman for the other (2).” This proves that Imperialism was harmful because the laws made the Europeans make more money than the Africans. This is important because money equals power; the Europeans had more power than the Africans. This changed how much the Africans were paid. This was unjust for the Africans because the Africans and the Europeans deserve to be paid equally. In addition, Ndansi Kumalo, a Ndebele chief, described the events that took place in Zimbabwe between 1893 and 1896 as, “...We were treated like slaves. They came and were overbearing and we were ordered to carry their clothes and bundles (6).”

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