Europeans In The 1800s

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.

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.

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.

During 1884-1885 the Berlin conference occurred, three decades after the Berlin conference European authority controlled Africa. This, later on, caused negative and positive actions and reactions towards European scramble for Africa. Some Africans surrendered due to European powers, and some Africans would battle against Europeans. Overall AfricanAfricaactions and reactions, in Response to European scramble for Africa, were violent; however, African actions and reaction were sometimes peaceful.

The Europeans divided the continent amongst each other in a peaceful manner when Otto von Bismarck proposed a conference in Berlin in 1884 and 1885. Technology grew from over the years, for example the repeating rifle, maximum gun, Bessemer process, electric telegraph, and the steam engine (Document C). All this technology help them deprive Africa of its resources, every machine took a certain role to devastate the continent such as manufacturing steel, producing rails, bridges, and tall buildings. This proves how technology took a big part as the Europeans took apart Africa and how imperialism affected it along its way by being divided among different European nations.

In the Mid-1800s the Europeans Imperialised Africa for three main reasons. Those reasons being Cultural, Political, and Economic. The Europeans were encouraged by all the resources, and a way to find a peaceful way to divide Africa up. What motive did the Europeans have about taking over Africa? The best motive for the Europeans was economic because they needed the natural resources for the benefits.

European Imperialism heavily impacted the African continent through culturally, economic, and political ideas. This era of history is heavily drenched in the aspect of ethnocentrism, which is the belief that one’s own culture is superior that of another. The Europeans colonized Africa believing that they could bring civilization, but they were often ignorant of Africa’s very complex societies. The European powers divided up the continent of Africa among themselves, without any consent from the people who actually lived there. The tribal stratification was changed to a caste system where racial, ethnic, and religious differences were of utmost importance, as delegated by European rule. The structure and business of the African economy was

Before the Europeans began to explore Africa, little was known about the continent. However, after some initial exploration of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, European countries had only small colonies in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the resources in the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African regions and assume control. This led to “ the race” and ultimately, the partition of Africa. There were many motives for the Europeans to imperialize Africa. There were humanitarian and religious goals, political goals, military goals, and most importantly, there were economic interests. During the Berlin conference, The European powers decided that they were going to spread the three C’s (Christianity, Commerce, and Civilization) in Africa. To do this, the conference had three aims “ Ensure free trade for all nations throughout the Congo, to ensure free navigation for all countries on the Niger River of West Africa, and agree to set rules by which the Europeans could proceed to divide the rest of the continent.” (Part II: The European Conquest, Pg 11). Later in the document it states that not one African representative was present at the Berlin Conference to discuss Africa's future. The European people tricked themselves into thinking that what they were doing

The Berlin Conference was were 14 nations, during 1884-1885, came together and discussed the rules for all the divisions in Africa. They came together because all these countries had in visioned war stirring among themselves. Any of these European countries could claim apart of Africa if they had told the other nations about it first and showing that that country could keep it in control. The Europeans completely disregarded how the African ethnic and linguistic groups were divided and divided themselves among the all of Africa without any thought of these African groups. The conference sealed Africa's fate even though no African leader was invited to the meetings. The only nations that were free from Europeans control in 1914 was Liberia

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.

At the point when the Period of Dominion started in 1875, it affected Africa from multiple points of view. No place was the opposition for provinces more extraordinary than in Africa. Europeans followed North and South Africa part up the mainland. Egypt and Sudan were assumed control by England to acquire the Suez Trench. Colonialism added to Africa's economy and transformed it into a landmass of provinces.

Africa is home to countless cultures that all have their own unique ideas and customs. During the past couple of centuries, these cultures were threatened to the point where they almost ceased to exist. The Berlin Conference was a very important occurrence in Africa and Europe's history. It legitimized what the European powers, mainly France and Britain, had been doing for the past hundred years, without the approval of any African country. During the late nineteenth century, France and Britain began imperialistic ventures into Africa, which eventually led Leopold II to conquer the Congo. It was Leopold's II presence in Africa that to led the Berlin Conference.

For much of the 19th century, Europeans occupied African port cities and relied on African locals and trade networks to bring goods and raw materials to the coast. The most valuable elements of this trade included slaves. But the English abolished the slave trade in the mid-eighteen hundreds the United States abolished the import of slaves although some smuggling of slaves from Africa continued. European attention in African materials expanded to include items like palm oil, rubber and copper. European countries negotiated a partitioning of African regions among themselves at the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885. The European countries proceeded to their claims of land and moved up the rivers and trade

The mechanics of colonialism were designed to facilitate extraction. This is the point made in Alemazung 's assessment of how the functions of colonialism are still operating in a post-colonial Africa. The relationship between Africa and the West being described as "asymmetrical" (2010, p. 62) is an example of the nature of Imperialism and that the exchange between Africa and the West was not one of balance. The end of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade meant that the countries in Europe had one less avenue where wealth was streaming in from. This led to the exploration of Africa, which was as much a political expedition as it was geographical. The Berlin Conference in 1884 was organised so that the European countries could settle what areas of Africa were designated between them without going to war.

The Atlantic slave trade was abolished by the British parliament in 1807. This caused great problems for West African slave traders who had witnessed a period of vast growth in the industry towards the end of the eighteenth century. They now had to focus on more lawful, legitimate means of trading. The types of industry that often replaced the slave trade were produce based, agricultural goods such as palm oil. The potential problems faced by traders were ‘exacerbated by the fact that it coincided with other problems for West Africa’s external trade.’ This refers to the Anglo-French wars which made the demand for West African exports very unreliable. The rise of the palm oil industry however, softened the blow for West Africa. Prior to