African American Imperialism Research Paper

Since there were many nations involved, there were many attributes that led up to imperialism. Firstly, the Europeans wanted economic expansion. Since the industrial revolution had taken place, the Europeans were in need of more natural resources. They also wanted new markets for the sake of selling industrial products. To achieve this they had to look for more places outside of Europe and colonize it.

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.

Imperialism began during the 1870’s, it was a process in which states, companies, and people exercised their dominance over the rest of the world. Some characteristics of imperialism are: a system of dominance rather than exchange, the investment of wealth brought in alternated the whole infrastructure, lastly it is based on treating other class divisions poorly just to benefit from their work. Imperialism came into power through the disproportionate European power, the unparalleled domestic support, the non-western power vacuum, and lastly due to divide and conquer tactics in which local leaders would support the imperialist dominating.

The concept of imperialism is one that has pervaded nearly every major society or empire throughout human history. It seems to be a natural consequence of societies growing in size, power, and knowledge. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries vast changes occurred in Western Europe (and soon spread elsewhere) that spurred a new round of imperialism the likes of which had not been seen before. The changes were the industrial revolution that was taking place. Countries were rapidly advancing to industrial societies producing much greater quantities of goods at much lower costs. The goods produced ranged everywhere from cotton textiles to military machinery, all of which would play important roles in rounds of imperialistic expansion that

Europeans sought out lands that provided new sources of raw materials, cheap labor, markets, areas of investment, and military boosters. As European nations became competitive with one another, there was an increased pressure to practice Imperialism to maintain power. New Imperialism was motivated greatly by the Industrial Revolution and its advancements, and efficiency of manufacturing and supplying products. European nations also focused on opening trade routes that would give them places to sell their goods. Also significant was the Europeans desire to Christianize and “civilize” other nations through missionary work and the enforcement of European cultures and beliefs. The new Imperialism brought on social changes as well. Many people urged the taking up of the “White Man’s Burden”, bringing the European version of civilization to the rest of the world, regardless whether they wanted it or not.

Economic forces such as the desire for more resources, capitalism, a new consumer market, and a cheap labor were most responsible for the new imperialism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It played a big role in Europe's nation. Like in document 1, "The makers of cotton and iron goods have been very much interested in imperialism", which shows that they desired more resources. Like in document 5, William L. Langer says "The economic side....must not be allowed to obscure the other factors. Phychologically speaking,...evolutionary teaching was perhaps most crucial", meaning that the economy shouldn't be allowed to hide other things.

They would go get new raw materials, so they would be able to sell to a new market of people. Secondly, both the Americans and Europeans were both strong in nationalism, which led to competition between countries which made the people of these countries go out and look for areas that they can conquer. Racism was also a factor in Imperialism. Americans and the Europeans and their white race felt they were the best in the world and thought what they stood for was the best, so they wanted

Between 1870 and 1920, the European nations took the use of imperialism due to economic, political, and social forces to control the less-developed locations of the world. Economical forces used the need for raw materials for a reason to take locations. Social forces such as racism, thinking that themselves, the Europeans were better than whomever they were taking over. Political forces used militarism more often than not to take the less-developed locations of the world. The use of economical, political, and social forces were all important during the rise of imperialism during the 1870s through 1920s due to the humanitarianism (used in both political and social forces), racism, and the market through world trade with the need for militarism.

Despite the fact that many believe that imperialism only had negative effects, there were several positive aspects of the European takeover. One of the main pros is the introduction of trade. This helped them obtain desired goods, and in some cases necessities that couldn't be accessed. Some of the other positives from the colonization are improved education and a new religious and administrative system.

These countries wanted their most worthy citizens to be part of their imperial desires, which lead to a philosophy of their ideals, religion and morals being developed. They meant that they could justify the colonies and labor based on the superiority of their culture, and the need to spread it to other cultures. When doing this, local cultures often destroyed, and people lost a sense of their identity. (Doc

Due to this, countires in Europe wanted to get out and gain territory, to prove that they were stronger politically too. The three main factors for imperialism during this time, were economic, military, and political motives. Countries in Europe were interested in the supplies and economic opportunities in Africa. Thanks to advances in technology and the industrial revolution,it was key for European countries to gain and with the resources needed. For instance, cotton and rubber were needed the textiles which were a popular in Europe (Document C).

Imperialism is when a strong country seizes a weaker country and takes control of their economy, politics, and culture. Countries Imperialize each other because they desire more power, control over one another, and want to be superior. Europe Imperialized Africa because of three main reasons: social, political, and economic. Due to Europe going through Industrialization they went to Africa which was not very developed, so the Europeans took whatever they want because they weren’t stopped. They also began spreading christianity in Africa because of how big it was in Europe.

Imperialism influenced the Europeans in many ways, for example they advanced in technology, they took over African colonies and their imports and exports. Europeans traded for slaves, gold, and ivory along the west coast of Africa. In the 1800’s it all changed when the European explorers advanced their way to the interiors of central and western Africa resulting to be under full attack as the European nations fought with one another for control. The Europeans expanded for power and resources such as rubber, slaves, ivory, and any goods Africa held. Technology and imperialism took a big part in Africa.

Colonization By: Hansika Sangaraju Colonization was a time of adventure and hardships. Imagine you are in a small crooked shack which was supposed to be your home. Men working hard, while women were cleaning and doing housework. Colonies came up with what know today as government, they used different strategies and laws to keep order. Children were very different at that time, they entertained themselves in different ways with the resources they had, and were allowed to access.

Colonization was a tool used by European capitalist to monopolize the trade industry. Their plan was to take advantage of the cheap labor and exports. (Amin, Sair) Africa was diverse and considered unstable because the citizens were in constant war; the slave trades fueled anarchy. British and the French colonizers actually persuaded Africans to accept European rule as beneficial. Compared to Africans, Europeans were seen as extremely wealthy and their high standards of living were desirable.