European Imperialism In Nigeria

Ever heard the saying big bank take little bank ? That’s basically what imperialism is. Imperialism is a policy which a strong nation take complete control over other countries . This is exactly what the Europeans did in several different parts of Africa . Not only did the Europeans divided and colonized Africa but they took everything away ,from their culture to their independence. Why take all this away ? It’s simple , the Europeans nations was competing against each other and they thought they were superior. They noticed Africa had many raw materials and resources they could use and benefit from. The driving force for imperialism in Africa was economics , competition , and politics.

The Europeans colonized colonized many parts of the world but the most colonized was the continent Africa. The European explorers started imperializing Africa after exploring into the interior of Africa and finding the resources that African countries had. What is imperialism? Imperialism is the policy of taking control of another country. There were three main reasons for European imperialism in Africa: Political reasons, technology, and economic reasons.

During the European Scramble for Africa, in the early 20th century, Africans had a peaceful reaction with anti-imperialistic sentiments (docs. 2, 3, 4, and 7), peaceful actions through the approach of diplomacy (docs.1, 2, and 3) and also a rebellious anti-imperialistic reaction (docs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) towards the Scramble for Africa.

When one country takes over and colonizes another, it is inevitable for cultural exchanges to occur. A lot of African people, including the Nigerians, had picked up quite a few British customs. The influence of Great

Nigeria is one of the most densely populated countries in all of Africa. However, according to Freedom House, Nigeria is only partly free. This is for several reasons. Firstly, from a historical point of view, colonialism had a very bad effect on Africa. Many will argue that colonialism left Africa with only one practical skill and that is education. Other than education, colonialism left Africa with no other practical skills because it left them independent on others for survival. They had no opportunity to advance because they never had the tools. According to Walter Rodney, the author of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, European capitalists failed to create a working class and to spread industrial skills throughout Africa (Rodney, 1997). European colonists failed to teach practical skills to Africans to keep them subservient. This is evident when Walter Rodney states, “the vast majority of Africans went into colonialism with a hoe and came out with a hoe” (Rodney, 1997, p. 591). Nigeria also has a few social factors that are an impediment to their political progress. In the recent decades, the rise of terrorism has been threatening their way of life. The dominant terrorist group in Nigeria is Boko Haram. Boko Haram has been an ongoing threat to the government and people they believe should be persecuted. According to Freedom House, they are trying to implement Sharia law and an anti-western ideology throughout the country (Freedom House, 2015). This law restricts women’s

Prior to the movement of European Imperialism in Africa, a major law was passed. In 1807, the British government banned the Transatlantic slave trade. As a result, in 1833, slavery as a whole was completely demolished. Slavery was a very profitable trade for not only Britain, but many other European powers. Without the slave trade, many European nations were looking for a new way to expand their power of others. Therefore, many European nations switched their focus and claimed their share of the African continent, in order to continue their economic and social dominance (Document A).

As Europe’s economy and standard of living rose, the need for more land flourished as well. Europe sought to split the various parts of Africa during the Berlin conference (without the approval of the Africans, of course). Eventually, Europe successfully stole most of Africa from its rightful owners. The greedy Europeans showed pretentiousness towards the colonies in Africa and wanted to seize territory in order to utilize their available resources while displaying supremacy over the other races.

European powers shamelessly exploited the people and resources of Africa in the 19th century. They often tried to justify their actions by using ideology, religion and moralism. After the end of the African slave trade, the development of steam power, and medical discovery, European nations started exploring not only the coast but also the unmapped interior of the continent. In this essay, I will explain the main driving forces behind African Imperialism. The Western europeans countries all competed for land and resources because of their self interest. They sought natural resources, and technology gave them the ability to exploit them. The philosophy of national pride however, was the primary reason. (Main document) (Doc C, D & B)

Imperialism is when a strong country seizes a weaker country and takes control of their economy, politics, and culture. Countries Imperialize each other because they desire more power, control over one another, and want to be superior. Europe Imperialized Africa because of three main reasons: social, political, and economic. Due to Europe going through Industrialization they went to Africa which was not very developed, so the Europeans took whatever they want because they weren’t stopped. They also began spreading christianity in Africa because of how big it was in Europe.

Africa was imperialized in the 1880s. Before imperialism, African countries socially had thousands of different tribes, nations, cultures and languages. Africa was also economically active before imperialism by having complex trade. Europeans imperialized Africa to spread Christianity, abolition of slavery, their beliefs in cultural and racial superiority and to open new markets. Europeans also wanted Africa’s natural resources like their ivory, gold, rubber, diamonds, fruit minerals, palm oil and others.

Africa was a country on the rise of becoming a full-functioning country. Africa was on the road to success with its large amounts of ethnicity, religion, and shared power. However, this was prevented by the European countries who imperialised in Africa. What is imperialism exactly? Imperialism is the basic act of taking total control over another country.

Teachings of Christianity entered Africa long before the full swing of the slave trade. Christianity first entered the African continent in the early AD, around the first to third century from Israel through Egypt. This “first wave” had minimal effects on the region, and hardly spread into the southern regions. It wasn’t until the “Age of Discovery” (15th to 18th Century) when the Europeans made contact with Africans that Christianity took a hold in Africa. African nations took on Christian Monarchy as leadership, and began converting their populaces. The spread of Christianity in Africa, however, was not a full coverage of the continent. Not only did Christianity experience barriers in conversion due to an already present

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

During the New Imperialism, many regions in Africa were colonized by European nations. In 1885, European powers, such as Portugal, France, Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Belgium, gathered altogether at the Berlin Conference, deciding on who gets what African colony. One of the regions was Nigeria. Without consulting the natives, the British took over Nigeria during the Scramble for Africa. Indeed, Nigeria did not wanted to be colonized, so they demanded for independence by creating a constitution legislated by the British and by electing a prime minister and a governor-general to lead their country. They elected Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, from the National Population Commission of Nigeria, as prime minister, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, from the National

Not only were Europeans interested in the cash value of Africans, but they also wanted their souls. Missionaries, unlike traders, did not just stick to port towns, rail and river lines or commercial centers. They went out of their way to penetrate the most remote parts of Nigeria’s interior. Catholic Missionaries arrived in Benin, a bordering country of Nigeria, in 1516 and were there until 1688 but their initial efforts failed to make a lasting impression. In 1841 missionaries tried again and eventually