African American Imperialism Dbq Essay

Imperialism in Africa began in the late 19th century. It began when King Leopold II began the Scramble for Africa. All of the major colonial powers went after Africa. Their goal was to gain the most wealth and to have the most territory. Having more territory and claiming valuable parts of the continent was a symbol of power. Imperialism in Africa had negative and positive consequences on both the Europeans and Africans, these can be shown through human rights issues, new industry and advancements, and wealth and influence.

As European violence increased, the Africans began to seek ways to take action against them. Yaa Asantewi, Ashanti queen mother, gave a speech to chiefs stating that if the men did not begin to take action against the European violence soon, the women would begin the fight the White Man themselves. This is quite significant because women were considered second class citizens, weak people who did nothing but the simple tasks in life. The Herero people also were compelled to take up arms against the Germans invading South-West Africa. In a letter he wrote “Let us die fighting rather than die as a result of maltreatment, imprisonment, or some other calamity. Tell all the chiefs down there to rise and do battle”(Doc 7). Finally, artwork can be analyzed from the uprisings against Europeans such as the Italians. Document 5

To illustrate, the map of Africa drastically changed from 1891 to 1914. In 1891, Europeans had only colonized the coast of Africa. But by 1914, all of Africa except Ethiopia and Liberia had been colonized (Doc A). This shows how quickly Europeans took over Africa. Each European country was in a race with the other countries to get as much African land as possible.

Some Africans opposed imperialism in a peaceful manner. For example, in document 2, the Ashanti leader denied the offer that the British gave them because the leader wants Ashanti to remain in its ancient ways but still be friendly with Great Britain, therefore approaching the situation in a peaceful manner because the whereabouts of his kingdom was important to him. Also the emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik

Right after Menelik signed the treaty with Italy in 1889, he figured out there were differences in what they believed the treaty was about due to the wording in Italian and the Ethiopian languages. Menelik declared war to protect Ethiopia from Italian forces that were going into northern Ethiopia. In 1896, one of the greatest battles in African history began, the Battle of Adowa. Ethiopian fighters defeated Italy and Ethiopia was kept independent. Menelik had successfully played Italians, French, and the British against each other, all of which wanted to bring Ethiopia into their spheres of influence. Menelik won the war and kept building up a large arsenal. An arsenal is a collection of weapons and military equipment that is stored safely. He used the arsenal to store the weapons that the French and Russians gave him. He did this in case another situation arose when a foreign power wanted Ethiopia and they would need to fight for their liberty. Thousands of resistance fighters were being killed during these battles. So Ethiopia’s win was unusual. Unsuccessful resistance attempts included military resistance and resistance through religious movements. The spiritual belief that magic water, called maji-maji, sprinkled on their bodies would turn German bullets into water. This

In Basil Davidson’s video “Different but Equal,” he outlines the European perception of Africa upon their discovery of the continent. Claims that the Europeans were making about African culture, however, were far fetched and did not depict Africa in a positive manner. History according to pre-European Africa was rich and diverse, but once Europeans saw for themselves how different their continent was from Africa, they began to make up their own version of African history.

The Europeans colonized colonized many parts of the world but the most colonized was the continent Africa. The European explorers started imperializing Africa after exploring into the interior of Africa and finding the resources that African countries had. What is imperialism? Imperialism is the policy of taking control of another country. There were three main reasons for European imperialism in Africa: Political reasons, technology, and economic reasons.

In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the

diplomacy or military force. In the 20th century many European countries attempted to colonize the great continent of Africa. Europeans saw Africa as an area they would be able to profit from, as it had a great climate, good size, and some phenomenal natural resources. While the Europeans divided the continent of Africa they failed to see the possible negative effects on themselves, and the indigenous people of Africa. Their foresight was limited to only the positive outcomes.

Between 1870 and 1914, European countries ceased about ninety percent of Africa. Native Africans faced political, military, and imperialism pressure from various European countries. After the end of the profitable slave trade in Africa, due to abolishing of slavery, Europeans explored for new guaranteed markets, and heavily profitable investments. In addition, European countries were under industrialization, the demand for raw materials heavily increased. Europeans as well faced power struggles with one another and competition for political influence in Africa. European power struggle ultimately lead to the “Scramble for Africa.” Europeans undertook the process of imperialism in Africa in the late 19th century by exercising political, economic, and military power on their African colonies. Some African leaders and societies welcomed Europeans in hopes to protect and develop their native land. Some African leaders and societies responded to European occupation by gathering resistance groups in attempt to fight off foreign imperialists.

Africans reaction and actions were to not interfere with the war because they potentially could have been murder and they Europeans were much more powerful than them so they came to a decision to not interfere without sanctions of the Royal Niger company so they can be protected. Another reason African actions and reactions was not to be violent and surrender peacefully because Ashanti would remain friendly with the Europeans and not have a dispute between them because of Europeans weapons and their authority of Africans. (Document two Prempeh I, Ashanti leader). Ashanti is the leader and wants to be friendly with the Europeans rather being hostile toward them because of their quest for Africa. He considered and committed that he should not accept the poly that the Brist offered of Protectorate

Going back to the 1860s, Africa was an unknown continent to many Europeans. Most Europeans only had colonies on the coastline, such as current day Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal etc. The only people to go into the interior of Africa was missionaries, reporters and traders. As people of Europe discover more about Africa, discoveries will begin the Scramble of Africa, an event in which very rapidly, Europe was able conquer most if not all of Africa. They did this with technological and medical advances, economic reasons, and the motivation of prestige and White Man’s Burden.

The European colonization of Africa, also known as the Scramble for Africa, Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, occurred between the 1870s and 1900s, and was the invasion, occupation, colonization, and annexation of African territory by European powers during a period of New Imperialism. European control of the continent increased from 10 percent (1870) to 90 percent (1914), with only three territories, Saguia el-Hamra, which was later integrated into Spanish Sahara, Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent of Europe’s control. There were many reasons for the European colonization of Africa, including economic and political motives, with the Berlin Conference serving as a catalyst. Africans resisted the European invasions of their lands, with the two main methods of opposition were guerilla warfare and direct military engagement. European influence on Africa still remains today, though these influences are generally negative and hurt Africa’s overall development.

Imperialism is defined as one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imperialism was present and growing. The main countries involved in the imperialism in Africa were the French, German, and Great Britain. The French’s empire was mainly in North and West Africa while Britain’s colonies were scattered throughout the continent. Germany ruled over such countries as Tanganyika, Togoland, and Cameroon, until their defeat in World War I.

The scramble for Africa represents the most thorough and systematic process of colonialism in world history. The European colonial powers managed to conquer and control almost the entire continent of Africa in a short, twenty-five year period from about 1875 to 1900. Some of the European states involved were already well-established global powers; the others were up and coming nations that desired to emulate and compete with the dominant imperial states. Various factors allowed for and contributed to the conquering of the whole of Africa by European states. The slow, but ever-growing European presence on the perimeter and the completion for dominance between the major European states acted as the platform for the inevitable quest for