African Colonialism And Its Effects On Africa

“African Perspectives on Colonialism” is a book written by A. Adu Boahen. This book classifies the African responses to European colonialism in the 19th century. Boahen begins with the status of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century and follows through the first years of African independence. This book deals with a twenty year time period between 1880 and 1900. Boahen talks about when Africa was seized and occupied by the Imperial Powers of Europe. Eurocentric points of view dominated the study of this era but Boahen gives us the African perspective. There are always two sides of the story and Boehen tells us the side less talked about informing us of what he knows.

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.

Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.

Around the year 1897 Edward Morel noticed something that would change the way the modern world viewed the colonization of Africa and the supposed “humanitarian” work there forever (Hochschild 1). Morel worked for an English shipping company that was responsible for cargo going between the Congo Free State and Belgium. What Morel noticed was that ships from Africa were filled with rich, exotic goods like rubber and ivory, but the ships headed to Africa from Belgium were filled with military members and various firearms and ammunition (Hochschild 2). Morel made the conclusion that the cause of this odd “trade” between Europe and Africa was slave labor. European colonization of Africa was a slow, arduous process resulting in the deaths of

Amidst the thriving chaos of the Industrial Revolution and subsequent to the politically volatile French Revolution, Europe in the 1800s was an ever-changing realm of new systems, machines, methods of transportation, ideas, and leaders. Those leaders faced a plethora of challenges both internally and externally, as both their subjects and other countries were angry with them for various reasons. One of the problems these rulers faced was the matter of imperial power on other continents. So, the more relevant European leaders met at the Berlin Conference to decide what each country was allowed to colonize. In doing so, the rulers they legalized the Scramble for Africa, therefore allowing colonization

Colonialism impacted North Africa in numerous ways. Its history is forever changed and the people of North Africa are still struggling because of the effects it had on its society. The Europeans that invaded North Africa thought of their European culture as high class and elite and looked down upon the Arab culture. Because of this, the Europeans started to build newer cities and created businesses that accommodated the European lifestyle. Building on lands that weren’t theirs to claim pushed tribes into the mountains and caused the dislocation of tribal life. Poverty was an outcome of tribe disruption because many families lost their homes, and if families had already come from poverty, then they would live around the cities in bidonvilles as well as the people coming from the cities into the bidonvilles. Because of the dislocation of families when leaving their hometown, the sense of community was also broken because families no longer lived next to each other and their neighbors might not even speak in the same dialect, making it very difficult for them to communicate with one another. This dislocation is what began to break down the cultural identity and belonging of many young Arabs, even after returning to their hometowns after independence, there was still a disconnection because the original culture had faded because of the hybridization of the two cultures.

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.

During the 1870’s Europeans started colonizing countries in Africa. Europeans did this because they needed all of Africa's valuable resources.Africa was a big target because they were not very modernized in technology so it was easier for the Europeans to seize control. The Europeans were able to enter Africa through ships and scare the Africans with their guns. The Europeans controlled Africa in two ways direct and indirect rule. Direct rule is when the country in charge rules strictly over the country and they try to civilize the people they are ruling. For example in Algeria the French had direct rule. The French were in Algeria and gave Algerians their needs but no rights. Indirect ruling is when the country in charge is ruling from far

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.

With the increase in Europeans moving to East Africa, natives lost their land and were put into reserved camps. New boundaries were drawn and defined in East Africa without respect of the tribes which led to disunity of Africans. The colonies doing the mother country's hard work did not civilize the smaller colonies. They were put to work as cheap labor. They had no freedom, had to do what the mother country said since it has so much towering power over them, they were exploited and were taken advantage

With the beginning of the end of the slave trade fast approaching in Europe and Africa, and too little room for expansion within Europe, powerful advancements by European powers such as Germany, France, Britain, and Belgium were made to expand the empires of each country and develop places of trade and commerce through colonies, and a build in world prestige for each European power. The leaders of these European powers would meet in Berlin from 1884-85 in order to partition and agree upon the division of Africa to each nation, creating spheres of influence to be administered by each nation, and only that nation. This form of forced imperialism would lead to exploitation and atrocity of truly epic proportions in the soon-to-be-developed Congo

Africa was like the Tiramisu of the late 1800’s. Every European world leader wanted to get their hands on a decadent, fattening piece of African territory. The richness of the cake represented all of Africa’s natural resources that Europeans wanted, which would provide markets for their products and raw materials to be used in factories. The cake was dished out during the Berlin Conference when Otto von Bismarck split it and gave portions to the European guests. Most guests had no reservations and joyfully indulged in the cake as they thought that they were helping the Africans improve their cultures. However, no rulers asked any of the Africans how they felt about this and completely disregarded their opinions. Unlike imperialism in Asia,

Between the 1870’s and the 1900’s as African societies put up various forms of resistance against the attempt to colonize their countries and impose foreign domination, European imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and eventual conquest and colonization. By the early twentieth century, except for Ethiopia and Liberia, most of Africa, had been colonized by European powers. In the nineteenth century, following its abolition and suppression, the collapse of the profitable slave trade, and the expansion of the European capitalist Industrial Revolution, along with the motivation of economic, social, and political success, the European imperialists moved into Africa. The laws of capitalist industrialization-including

Modern African states have several problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. The effects of colonialism have been offered as a starting point for much of the analysis on African states, but the question of why African states are particularly dysfunctional needs to be examined, given the extent to which they have lagged behind other former European colonies in many aspects. In the first section, I will consider the problems with African states from the level of the state. That is, the nature of the states' inceptions and the underlying flaws may explain some of the issues that have been associated with African states today. Next I examine the development of, or lack of, civil