European Imperialism in Africa European imperialism has been a critical part throughout history and has affected many nations. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the continent of Africa faced imperialism from European powers. Although Africa’s terrain naturally protects it from invaders, European nations were able to imperialize a majority of the African continent. African nations lacked the technology and weaponry to defend themselves from European nations which had advanced weaponry. Europeans used advanced technology like guns and powerful armies to advance through Africa, despite its terrain. The gap between the European powers and African nations in technology allowed Europeans to imperialise Africa. European imperialism in Africa had a long …show more content…
For example, Belgium imperialised land in the Congo because they wanted wood. This drive for resources stripped Africa of its resources, negatively impacting the economy. Doc 4 is a speech called “On French Colonial Expansion,” which was given by Jules Ferry, who was the prime minister of France for some years in the 1880s. In the speech, Ferry expressed his drive to imperialise Africa in order to “civilize” them. Ferry talks about how having land in other nations and power around the world is important for getting more resources and having power. Although he doesn’t directly state it, the drive to imperialize places around the world will benefit their economy and mostly harm the other nation’s economy. Taking over the land of an African nation and using it to trade would make it so that the African nation would struggle in trade and damage the economy. Doc 5 is a political cartoon called “The Rhodes Colossus: Striding from Cape Town to Cairo.” It shows a political figure, Rhodes, towering over a map of Africa connecting it with telegraph lines. The cartoon shows how European nations are using Africa for their resources and ignoring the people in
Imperialism in Africa by European nations was warranted beginning in the 19th century because imperialism was inevitable as it came on the “coattails of the Industrial Revolution” (Document D). Imperializing African nations also helped European nations gain more money from trade and helped develop African nations (Documents A & D). Imperialism was warranted in Africa; it was unavoidable with the end of slave trade and the industrial revolution bringing many new life changing inventions that required many resources that could be found in Africa (Document C & D). Imperialism was also beneficial to Africa in that the European nations that took over the land felt the need to colonize it by the rule of occupation; stating that land owned by a
Another reason why the British owned the most land was because they held the strongest cultural and political influences and structure over Africa. However, trade and markets are more important reasons for European imperialism in Africa than others like politics, nationalism, or technology. This is because trade and markets have the largest impacts on the economy and can affect a country’s needs to survive. After the trans-Atlantic slave trade was outlawed, the only British colony in Africa was the Cape Colony, which sharpened Europe’s interest in African exploration. Although, as late as 1870, only 10% of Africa was under European control- mostly around the edges.
Africa DBQ Africa is an extremely large continent filled with 54 countries. European occupation of Africa has shaped the very structure and function of many of these diverse countries. Socially and economically, European influence is very obvious through imperialism, the act of one country extending power and rule over another, as well as colonization, the act of establishing a colony in another country. The effects of European imperialism and colonization have greatly damaged Africa in many different aspects of life. European imperialism as well as colonization worked to control much of Africa.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, imperialism in Africa had significant causes and effects. Driven by economic, political, and social factors, European powers sought to establish colonies and exploit resources on the continent. This essay explores the complex motivations behind imperialism and its enduring impact on African societies. Using Document B, imperialism in Africa brought about significant economic and social changes for both the imperialists and the African people. European powers, acting as imperialists, commonly established ownership of African mines, large plantations, and factories.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries European imperialism caused its countries to divide up the rest of the world, each country claiming bits as its own. Due to its large amounts of resources, Africa was one of the main areas European nations invaded in the cause if imperialism. In Africa, there were positive and negative effects towards the Africans and the invaders. Some positive effects on Africans were that they were provided with security by their rulers and new technology was introduced to them. Some of the negative effects were that the Africans lost their natural rights such as freedom, the beginning of slavery, and the loss of their land and
There are many reasons why European decided to take over africa. One being is their power and believing that they can do anything they want because they were powerful and unstoppable. Due to the Europe's national pride and civilized nation, they feel obligated to civilize africa. Imperialism means a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. That's one of the driving forces.
In the 1800’s Imperialism, an action by a strong nation to take control of another country, became prominent in Europe towards Africa. The driving forces of Imperialism in Africa were competition for land, economics, and the need for power. The “Partition of Africa, 1884-85” map demonstrates the competition related to the colonization of European colonies in Africa. There were a total of 7 European countries that imperialized Africa, but the main countries were France and Britain. The only non-colonized countries were Ethiopia and Liberia; this was because they had an established strong government.
The time period of Imperialism in Africa began in the 1870s and ended in the 1910s. It involved a group of European countries that wanted to expand and gain new territories and the materials found in those territories. As the definition of imperialism implies, the powerful nations wanted to control the political, economic, and cultural affairs of another nation or region. They divided the territory during the Berlin Conference and began the process of attempting to colonize the new additions to their nations. The imperialist powers were Europe, the United States, and Japan with the affected regions of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America.
In an attempt of Europe expanding its borders in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they created imperialism in Africa to grow economically. In the 1800s European countries conquered western and central parts of Africa to take rule. Africa tried to put a stop to many of the European nations, but because the nations had a more advanced army, Europe succeeded and took charge of most of the continent. The driving force behind European imperialism was technological advances, need for land, and more money. The drive for more technology advances came from rubber, gold, and coal.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries European powers spread their empire throughout the African territories. European countries had previously colonized the Americas, and all over the Eastern Hemisphere. They had accumulated land all throughout the world, but soon they ran out of land to conquer and moved to a more unsettling concept, imperialization. Imperialism is, “the policy or practice of extending a state's rule over other territories” (Collins). Imperializing is different than colonizing because the territory to be conquered has already been occupied, but said country will be taking over ruling the citizens.
European imperialism in Africa took place in the late 1880’s. The main driving force behind European imperialism in Africa, however, was their technological developments. First of all, the Europeans couldn’t have taken over so much of Africa if they didn’t have the cure for malaria. This was so important because malaria was easily caught by Europeans that went their, so it could be easier to settle their and conquer more land. The technology that allowed them to cure malaria, and other diseases, was the discovery of Cinchona quinine bark which opens up airways and cleans red blood cells.
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.
Africa, which Europeans called the “dark continent” because its interior was still virtually unknown to them, was colonized by conquest from one end of the continent to the other. European Imperialism was caused by the loss of American colonies during 1700 and 1800s, As a result, France, Britain, Portugal, Spain, Germany fought for African territory to replace their lost American work force and source of raw materials. Africa became more Dependant on an industrialized economy. Africa was “disputed territory” that was needed for exploration,trade,and settlement. Conference divided Africa into sections,which were controlled by European Nations.
In the late 1800s, European influence started to snake its way into almost every part of the world (Spielvogel and McTighe 226). The African continent was no exception to this new wave of imperialism. For years prior, Europeans only ruled over small parts of the continent, working with African merchants and rulers to meet their interests. However, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Europeans would scramble to exert their influence over as much of Africa as possible. By 1914, there would only be 2 independent African nations left (Spielvogel and McTighe 231). As this imperialist invasion swept across Africa, centuries old institutions and nations would be crushed under the weight of European gun and cannon. Europeans then realized
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