British Colonies And Its Impact On South Africa

Between 1500 and 1800, Europeans nations traded for slaves, gold, and ivory along the west coast of Africa. In the 1800s European explorers pushed away into the interiors of western and central Africa. By the 1800s Africa was under full assault as European nations competed with one another for control of the continent.

In the second half of the 19th century, most African countries faced the aggression of the European imperialism. All African countries were colonized except for Ethiopia and Liberia. South Africa was one of the main countries that faced imperialism. The Boers, also known as the Dutch descendents or Dutch farmers, were the first to colonize South Africa in 1652. Later on, the British came and took Cape Colony from the Dutch in 1795. The British at first mainly wanted to colonize South Africa as it helps her to trade with India by its route. South Africa’s temperate climate, natural resources, and massive minerals attracted Europeans to take it over. Also, South Africa has a strategic geographical location as it’s located at the center of the

Between the period from 1880 to 1914, European powers went after overseas empires in Africa. The governments and political leaders of the European powers believed that this colonization of the African empires was necessary to maintain their global influence. A second group of people supposed that African colonization was the result of the greedy Capitalists who \only cared for new resources and markets. The third group of people claimed it to be their job to enlighten and educate the uncivilized people of Africa. Although the political leaders of European powers encouraged colonization of African empires to advance their nation’s global influence, others argued that it was only for the profiteering of the Capitalists who sought new

Since the beginning of modern civilization, man has had a burning desire for land. European nations in particular are well known for being those of imperialists, the act of extending a nation’s power or economy through the process of acquiring land. The strive for power in Africa can be seen dating back to the late 18th century, and continued throughout the early 20th. Europeans practiced imperialism in Africa for several centuries for reasons including economic opportunities, national pride, and the interpreted moral responsibilities.

The study of British colonialism is a rather new field with much to discuss and a lot more to debate. The recent recognition of new nation-states that were once under the control of Britain was a growing phenomenon and one that continues to play a large role in today’s global politics. Since the rather recent period of these new nations, new study’s have been done into the history of a) the peoples that inhabited the land before Britain, b) the way Britain occupied and control and land, and now c) post-Britain. This is a growing topic in the historical field because seventy-five years ago there was no thought that Britain would relieve control of India or Nigeria. That is why post-British colonialism is important to today, because it is a

Assess the significance of strategic factors in bringing about change in relation to expansion and dismantling of the British Empire in Africa in the period c1870 – c1981

The Berlin Conference divided up Africa in 1884 between the European countries to prevent conflict between the parent countries. Borders were drawn on

In some parts of Africa the Europeans rule which means they ruled through government officials in the area. Some Europeans, however, abused that power. In an article by The Golden Coast Leader they define indirect ruling as a “System by which the political officer can drive the wedge of divide-and-rule through any tendency on the part of the people to come together to develop political ideas” (Document 10). Here, The Golden Coast Leader is showing how the indirect ruling system is not a great idea because it leads to Africans being unstable in running their own government. After having the Europeans run their country for so long the Africans of that nation most likely would not know how to do it for themselves. The Africans have only watched others rule, so they have no experience for themselves. Africans have no freedom in their own home, Nnamdi Azikiwe a young leader in Nigeria's fight for independence, who later became the first president of Nigeria stated, “We demand the right to be free to make mistakes and learn from our experience” (Document 8). Africans wanted to be able to make decisions for themselves and even if they do not make the best choice it’s okay because they can learn from that. Imperialism took that away from them, Africans never got to decide s for themselves. Learning from mistakes would make them grow as a nation, but the Europeans did it

For 300 years, roughly 1500 and 1800, European nations had an unquestionable presence on the west coast of Africa with the main focus on trade, specifically for slaves, gold, and ivory. However, their explorations were limited. This quickly changed as the 1800's came into full swing. European explorers quickly took advantage of the situation, and made their way into the interiors of western and central Africa. By the 1880's Europeans were in a struggle with neighboring countries for control of the continent. This problem was deemed one that needed a solution, and one quickly arose. The solution came in the form of the Berlin Conference. The Berlin Conference was a conference held in Berlin to divide up Africa in a peaceful manner, in order

British Imperialism is a monstrous, militarized, and advanced system of oppression. British imperialism in Africa destroyed indigenous peoples lives and land. Once the slave trade became illegal, Britain's economy was in shambles. Therefore, Britain's imperialists went to Africa seeking wealth from its raw materials. The British was able to overthrow an already weakened governments, and put in place settler colonies. They installed authoritarian governments and exploited Africans by forcing them to do strenuous labor for Britain's profit. British imperialism in Africa is important today because it provides an answer as to why an entire continent is suffering for mass poverty, famine , and underdevelopment.

Between the years 1884 and 1885, the nations of Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands had a series of meetings together in Berlin in order to safeguard their commercial interests in Africa. These meetings are referred to as the Berlin Conference. The 4 major players in the conference were Great Britain, France, Portugal, and Belgium. Germany lost handed their colony of German East Africa to Great Britain after losing World War I. African people were now under control of whoever colonized them. Each colony was used for different purposes, and each Colonizer treated their people with a varied degree of harshness. Compare and Contrast how each European country used and treated the people of their respective colonies.

The continents of Africa, South America, and Asia have an abundance of natural resources which attracted Europeans centuries ago. “The Scramble for Africa” began from 1880 to 1900 where rapid European powers began having interests in their resources; due to the end of the Atlantic-Slave Trade, unemployment, poverty, homelessness and social displacement in Europe (Boddy-Evans, 2015). Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain all claimed countries for themselves. They created declarations of exclusive claims to areas of trade, imposition of tariffs, control of waterways and commercial routes in different parts of Africa. The scramble for Africa became so intense that German chancellor Otto von Bismarck held the Berlin Conference to avoid inter-imperialist conflict and war between the countries. As a result, the conference divided the continent without any African participation. Europeans had no regards to the various ethnicities, culture, and tribes within the continent (Iweriebor, 2011). The French, German, Portuguese, and the Dutch used direct rulings to centralize their territories without any attempt to preserve African institutions (Colonialism and Africa's Integration into the Global Economy, n.d.).Africans signed treaties with the European diplomats thinking that they represented commercial friendships while the Europeans believed that the Africans signed over their sovereignties to European powers. This misunderstanding initiated many years of conflict between them. Africa was rich in minerals such as copper, iron, uranium, manganese, gas, gold and oil. These raw minerals were often manufactured and brought wealth back to Europe. Much of the same events happened throughout South America and Asia. Imperialists essentially wanted the land to

Throughout the 18th and 19th century, Europe underwent an Industrial Revolution. People began relying heavily on machines. Various countries required resources for their industrial lifestyle, and thus they enforced a policy of imperialism. Imperialism is when a country politically, economically, and socially stronger takes control over a weaker country and utilizes the resources from that country. However, many countries abused their power during imperialism. European nations are guilty of abuse of power in the Congo, India, and South Africa.

The sources of problems that Africans and their governments have had to face since independence are a result of their prior colonization. Imperialistic policies often promoted ethnic rivalries, unequal distribution of resources and wealth, and creating oppressive governments. After the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885, at which powerful European countries negotiated and formed claims to territories within Africa, marked the beginning of the ‘Scramble for Africa.’ The objective of the Berlin Conference was to reduce the possibility of conflict among European countries over territories in Africa. European’s conquered Africa because they wanted to increase their sphere of influence by acquiring empires. Africa has encountered conquest, colonization,

In the past hundred years, the British colonized over 100 countries including South Africa. Did it leave any positive impact on South Africa? The colonization of South Africa began in the sixteenth century. With around one hundred and seventy years of colonization, the British had taken control of the Cape which brought bad impacts to the South African people ("British Takes Control of the Cape”). These negative impacts affected the South African people socially, politically and economically. These three elements were also the reasons that the South African people suffered greatly during the colonization.