Broader Impact Of Colonization On African Continent Essay

The years between the 1870’s and 1910’s brought a tremendous amount of change to Africa. This time period, known as the Scramble for Africa, was when Europeans invaded and colonized the African continent. Europeans at the time were much more technologically advanced than the natives because of the many revolutions that took place in Europe. Thus, they were for the most part very successful in their colonization; they were able to take over the entire continent, save Ethiopia. During and after this period of colonization, Europeans were as present and powerful as they’d ever been, thus inflicting their unfamiliar practices and ideas on societies in Africa. Even though Europe brought over their foreign knowledge and technology (like guns), they

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.

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 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.

People of the early African kingdoms were able to create successful trade routes with Europe and Asia, become very wealthy from conquering and gaining land, and were able to have a strong central government. All of this was done before the Europeans had reached Africa. Trade flourished on the East African coast, especially when trading was established with India and Arabia. African kingdoms were prosperous, because of their success with not only trading but also with their ability to conquer land. A governmental structure is key to allowing any kingdom to thrive, and the African people were able to achieve this.

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

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.

How should we evaluate colonialism? The colonial era lasted for 50-80 years in most African countries and left a lasting legacy. But many years pass before the definitive balance of its legacy can be properly struck. On the one hand, it is easy to see the destructive forces that were set loose; on the other hand, there was also a record of high-minded devotion and desire to serve the interest of the people who had come under foreign rule.

A lot of countries were experienced of political legacy of colonialism. This essay will focus on concept colonialism and its reasons. This notion could be defined in different ways. Colonialism is a situation of some territory which ruled by another country. Colonialism is a political-economic phenomenon whereby various European nations explored, conquered, settled, and exploited large areas of the world. Colonialism developed from imperialism, which can be reffered to as the highest stage of capitalism. In nineteenth century colonialism was motivated by a number of factors including a nation's desire for political and cultural domination and economic exploitation. One example of this period

Upon the discovery of new lands all over the world, the European countries sought after ways to capitalize on the colonies and the indigenous people living in the newly conquered lands. The earliest Atlantic slave trades are dated to the 15th century, when the first major European world powers the Portuguese and Spanish empires who forcibly transported slaves from Africa to America for cheaper and easier controllable labors1. The slave trade culminated during the 18th Century with millions of Africans being shipped when the rest of the European naval powers such as Britain and France invested in the slave trade.

Colonization is when a country moves from its shores to set up settlements in areas already inhabited by a certain group of people and where resistance is of least concern in terms of war. This paper will first discus the colonization of Africa as well as how and why the Europeans came to Africa. It will then look at common problems that occurred due to the colonization and will specifically look into the colonization of Kenya under British rule and its outcomes that made the country worse. Even though colonization in some cases had positive impacts, such as the creation of infrastructure, it was more of a negative impact on African countries, such as Kenya, because of loss of sovereignty and culture, exploitation of resources and rights. It is also important to consider that despite the positive impacts such as better infrastructure, it was meant to benefit the European powers as opposed to helping the native peoples in the regions.

Our research study will focus more on the effect of colonialism in Western part Africa by examining the social, economic, political and institutional effect of the system of government adopted by the colonial countries on the colonists. These will be done by comparing the effects

Colonialism is a structure that controlled much of our world in the not so distant past. As time has gone by, the understanding of the effects of colonialism have become more apparent. Poverty, crime, inequality, depleting resources and cultural breakdown are all examples of the effects of colonialism. Colonialism is defined as “The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically” (Dictionary.com). This system of control can eat away at both the economic and social infrastructure of a nation. This practice has touched almost every corner of the planet. From the U.S and Mexico to Vietnam and China, colonialism has made its impacts both positive and negative in almost every aspect. A look into the specific effects of the lack of economic development and of the social/ cultural breakdown will show that these effects can be attributed to colonialism.