European Imperialism In Africa

During the late 1800’s, Europe was looking for a way to improve themselves as a whole. With growing population and a steady decline in available work, something new had to be done. Countries looked towards Africa to serve as new colonies for the Europeans in order to better their own countries. During the European acquisition of African colonies in the period 1880 to 1914 Europe’s attitude towards Africa was that Africa was the inferior race in comparison to the Europeans. With the help of a strong feeling of nationalism, Europeans were motivated to acquire new lands in order to improve their motherland’s

During the 19th century in 1880, King Leopold of Belgium began the process of European imperialism in Africa. Leopold had acquired 900,000 square miles of Africa, he called this Congo Free State. He began to take out ivory and rubber in order to make money. All while Leopold was exporting those goods, other European leaders held a conference to divide up Africa in a practicable and tranquil manner. What was the main driving force behind the European imperialism in Africa?

European imperialism reigned over Africa and trapped it's citizens from freedom to save their own social graces. Africa was imperialised by European countries for their natural resources, Nationalism, and European leverage. The driving force behind European imperialism in Africa was the natural resources. Africa’s natural resources were desired by European countries.

From 1500 to 1800, the Europeans already had their eyes on Africa, although not for the purpose of imperialism. Over the next century, slavery was abolished and Belgium began by establishing the Free Congo State in order to make money. Soon, many other European leaders began to realize that Africa was rich with natural resources (Background Essay). The main forces driving European Imperialism in Africa were the capabilities of the European countries’ economies and the opportunity for more wealth and money.

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

The Scramble for Africa, was the occupation, division and colonization of the continent of Africa by European powers. This desire to take claim as much territory as possible stemmed from the need for resources and raw materials in order to keep up production after the industrial revolution, as well as the competitiveness of European countries that dates back for centuries. This rapid extraction of recourses would lead, as well as the previously stated completive nature of European countries would transform Africa into the continent we know today; filled with war, starvation, disease, and a lack of clean drinking water. All these modern day issues date back to the mass expansion by European nations nearly 150 years ago.

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.

African’s are forced to be slaves, deprived of their own resources in their own country, just imagine if you took a walk in their shoes for a day. King Leopold II enslaved African people in their own country. Africans were treated inhumanely by King Leopold II and other colonizing rulers. Europe and American countries took Africa’s resources away for their own profit. Africa’s interactions with colonialism have negatively impacted African cultures.

Kipling’s biased viewpoint shows what the social inequality was like based off race and skin color. W.E.B. Du Bois responds European Imperialism by saying, “The Problem of thee 20th century us the problem of the color line... In the metropolis of the modern world, in this closing year of the 19th century...there has been assembled a congress of men and women of African blood, to deliberate solemnly the present situation and outlook of the darker races of mankind.” (Lieblich, Aim: How did anti-imperialists respond to the European and American Imperial Project?, 2015) W.E.B. Du Bois reveals the real reason of imperialism, which is still present today in the form of racism.

Europeans colonized Africa in 1750 for natural resources, land, and slaves. The European countries try to colonize some countries in Africa. They started the Berlin Conference by giving each European country an African country or more. Europeans claimed every country in Africa except Ethiopia and Liberia. This kind of colonization was called imperialism. Imperialism could increase trade such as trading slaves into the Americas. They claimed natural resources to create products. Sometimes imperialism in Africa can cause conflicts with natives and Europeans. It can be used for importing and exporting products.

The cause of imperialism is the control of government the Europeans made. They started trade and realized that Africa was easy for the to take over. This was called Social Darwinism, a tactic where every man for himself (Survival of the fittest) shal come on the African land and take as much as possible. Then the discover of Wealth came to power, and diamonds and jewels were common in Africa. This builded up all of Africa’s economics and the Europeans. Also the Europeans took over all the countries in Africa except for Liberia and Ethiopia. The two countries had to learn fast about Europe and for them in tremendously worked. But imperialism only got worst for them, the effect is they made a new imperialism with more forms of control, new methods of management and managing colonies. The main effect of imperialism is the Sphere of Influence. Is increased trading privileges to other countries to do mainly slave trade. After that, the indirect and direct control were made for slavery, direct was for the owner watching and looking after the slaves, and indirect is hiring someone to look after the slaves for you. Many leader used indirect control because they wanted to conquer a lot of land and they hired other people to do it for them. After Europeans kept trying to control

First, the European Imperialism in Africa is going to be taken into account in order to explain British Colonialism in West Africa. At the beginning of the 20th century, several powers - France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Portugal - were struggling desperately for more land and more control. The aim was to gain power and prestige by acquiring territories in other parts of the world. The interplay of economic, political, military and social factors generated a sparkling interest in African territories. Therefore, the Berlin Conference, in 1884–1885, was held to draw lines on maps and determine European possession of Africa. Thirty years later, most of the African continent was under European control. In order to make this possible,

There are three main factors why European nations have decided to go into Africa. The first is the political factor, the second one is the economic factor, and of course the social factor. After the days when there were slave trades and all those horrific events, today European countries are looking forward for raw materials for profitable markets. There were seven main countries that were fighting among each other for the conquest of Africa. Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain. The social factor was one of the top three reasons of colonization because when the industrialization came to Europe, people were not ready. This led to a high unemployment level, homelessness. The solution that came into mind was to create new colonies and export the population to these new areas. This is a reason that led to the colonization of Africa.

The scramble for Africa represents the most thorough and systematic process of colonialism in world history. The European colonial powers managed to conquer and control almost the entire continent of Africa in a short, twenty-five year period from about 1875 to 1900. Some of the European states involved were already well-established global powers; the others were up and coming nations that desired to emulate and compete with the dominant imperial states. Various factors allowed for and contributed to the conquering of the whole of Africa by European states. The slow, but ever-growing European presence on the perimeter and the completion for dominance between the major European states acted as the platform for the inevitable quest for

European countries has started imperialized Africa in the 1880s-1940s. Before the Europeans imperialized Africa, thousands had tribes, nations cultures and languages, had Kingship, complex trade, and different ethnic groups often in conflict. Europeans imperialized so they could abolish slavery, spread Christianity, get natural resources, and beliefs of cultural and racial superior. The effects were negatively economic and positively social. Negatively economic because of mistreating Africans, losing supplies and natural resources and land, and building expensive railroads. Positively social because they were improving education, spreading religions and abolishing slavery.