European Colonization Of Africa

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

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.

African civilizations prior to initial contact with Europeans in the mid-15th century were scientifically, politically, and economically advanced. Although many scholars claim that Africa was ahistoric until Europeans “saved” them, both Ancient Egypt and Ancient Ghana empires show that Africans had created sophisticated civilizations without European influence.

Splash! The water rocked the boat back and forth. That was the third boat that was on its way to Africa since the Europeans have colonized the continent. That boat would soon be filled with many African people taken as slaves and some of Africa’s natural resources as well. There are many reasons why Europeans colonized Africa. There were some reasons for this like Europeans wanted slaves and they also had economic reasons for colonizing Africa too. However, these also caused many different problems in Africa like, many African people were mistreated and this also caused the population in Africa to decrease. This also affected Africa because Europeans used too many of Africa’s resources, causing anyone who still lived in Africa without many raw materials to use.

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.

In the 19th century, Europe’s materials were beginning to run low. They first noticed the the opportunities for free labor in the form of slaves (until the slave trade was abolished in 1807), and then the huge number of resources that Africa had. After those discoveries, Europeans wanted to try and colonize, or takeover Africa. For a long time, Europeans were kept out of Africa due to their strong armies, unknown rivers, and different diseases. However, at a certain point Europeans were able to finally break down the barriers when they had taken enough able-bodied men from Africa, invented new technologies such as a steamboat, and found cures to different diseases that had heavily hurt Europeans in the past.

In the 19th century Europeans wanted to improve their country. Many countries looked up to african sources. Parts of Africa were colonized by European power. Yes european acquisition of african were motivated by african colonies. Without African colonies european wouldn't be strong as it is. European acquisition was motivated religiously, economically, and politically due to the industrial revolution in 1840 and imperialism. During imperialism Europeans states started big empires in africa, but also asia, and the middle east.

Under the British Empire, Kenya was affected negatively, because it had a large impact on its and culture. In Document 5, it shows individuals who lead Kenya, including the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta and Tom Mboya, Independence activist wearing suits similar to clothings that Europeans wore. It made Kenyans feel that what they were wearing was unfashionable and bizarre so they changed how they dressed. Colonization had a huge impact on Kenya’s culture. European Colonization influenced Kenya negatively different way, by making people convert their religion.

The founding of the New World fascinated many Europeans because of the possibilities of the economic, political, and social growth. Europeans packed their belongings and boarded the boat to new beginnings. Arriving in the Americas was not what they had expected. Already pre-occupied in the land, were the Native Americans. The Native Americans refused the Europeans colonization in the America’s, but not all colonies in the Europe just wanted to colonize with the Natives. The intentions of the Europeans colonies were all different, as the Dutch solely came for business transactions. The Dutch business transactions resulted in the change of economic, political, and social movements, changing the lives of the Native’s.

African society before the era of Triangular Trade thrived in many instances, and was incredibly successful in comparison to notable European societies that came into existence later. Egypt, for instance, excelled in the fields of science, mathematics, medicinal techniques, technological advances, and the fine arts; this progressive society preceded Rome, an ancient civilization traditionally held in high regard. Within African civilization, a gentler form of slavery than that of chattel slavery existed. This once localized system, however, grew rapidly upon the expansion of capitalism and cash crops like sugar. The pursuit of profit drove slavery to grow massively overseas in a relatively short time frame, during which Triangular Trade was

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.

Africa and the Americas became the first areas of the world to experience significant consequences from European expansion. Both experienced demographic and biological changes, political confusions, and the introduction of new trade patterns, religions, and technologies. (site). However the depth and extent of the European impact was also totally different for each region. It is said that African was affected and the Americas were transformed.

The Portuguese conquests in Africa in the 15th and 16th century has expanded our knowledge of the world around us and was extremely important to Portuguese operations. What made this truly remarkable was the sheer scale of the land that they had taken, as it was twenty-three times bigger than Portugal itself but the importance of trade was the most distinguishing feature in Portuguese colonial cities as the Portuguese created a huge trade complex to centralise their African trade, and the sheer scale of operations identified the focus on the trading possibilities of African colonial cities. Another feature of the Portuguese colonial cities in Africa was the importance of religion and spreading the Christian faith across the globe, just like the Spanish in South America. However, trade should be considered the most important feature of these colonial cities as it provided the Portuguese with the necessary commodities needed to become a major power in Europe and allowed the Portuguese to gain a foothold in the New World through these resources.

Christopher Columbus had been sailing for years learning the different patterns of the ocean, the way the wind moved and the current of the ocean. Christopher had thought that finding a shorter route to Asia would help the trade in European colonization’s. He began to seek for financial support and eventually he set sailed. In Europe, they believed that trade was how to make them wealthier, and to gain power in their nations. When Europe and Asia traded goods, there was other countries in the way blocking direct trade between them. This wasn’t the only reason why Europeans began exploring, a period of time the Europeans lived through the renaissances. They wanted to know how the world worked and what was out there. When the Europeans arrived in the “new world” they all tried to colonize it differently. “The French worked out a complex series of military, commercial, and diplomatic connections, the most enduring alliances between Indians and settlers in colonial North America. They neither appropriated substantial amounts of Indian land, like the English, nor conquered native inhabit­ ants militarily and set them to forced labor, like the Spanish.” (Foner, 32) In the quote above it shows how when the Europeans came to the “new land” they wanted to control the Indians as if they were there first, they didn’t care about the Indians. The Spanish Europeans treated the Indians as if they were their slaves and had them do labor for them. They made them mine for gold and