How Did European Imperialism Lead To The Transformation Of Africa

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.

Power and Control. These are the two big factors for imperialism.At the time period one of the most formidable empires in the world (The British empire/European empire),still wanted more ‘power’. Whether that power came from having more land,much more resources,and simply “bragging” rights,it’s very apparent that power was main influence. Europe enacted imperialism on Africa for resources,land,and power.

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.

The European powers that were in much need for resources during the 1500s through 1800s were Great Britain, France and Germany. During 1500 and 1800 Africa seemed like an impossible feat to conquer because of malaria but this wouldn’t stop the persistence of the leaders of France and Great Britain. The idea of exploring and conquering new land meant more to these leaders because of the motivation to keep their national security strong and keep their economy stronger. These countries would use their remaining resources to look for more disposable ones so that their empires could grow considerably. Great Britain would be dug in the

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries European imperialism caused its countries to divide up the rest of the world, each country claiming bits as its own. Due to its large amounts of resources, Africa was one of the main areas European nations invaded in the cause if imperialism. In Africa, there were positive and negative effects towards the Africans and the invaders. Some positive effects on Africans were that they were provided with security by their rulers and new technology was introduced to them. Some of the negative effects were that the Africans lost their natural rights such as freedom, the beginning of slavery, and the loss of their land and

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

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

“In imperialism nothing fails like success. If the conqueror oppresses his subjects, they will become fanatical patriots, and sooner or later have their revenge; if he treats them well, and governs them for their good, they will multiply faster than their rulers, till they claim their independence,” William Ralph Inge. It was not a good beginning for European imperialism in Africa. Between the 1500s and 1800s, european slavers and traders did not travel far from the african coast. The west coast of Africa was known as “the white man's grave.”

European imperialism in Asia and Africa has certainly left a lasting legacy in the modern world. Some former colonies like Hong Kong and Singapore have fared quite well. It is the opposite case for some other countries, mainly those of the sub-Saharan part of Africa- Congo for instance. Many of the European nations sought out to colonize places like India and Democratic Republic for the benefits of industrialization. Colonization provided wealth and natural resources that were conveniently helpful to the Europeans, while at the same time systematically exploited the natives of these regions. One of the most significant similarities of these imperial legacies how most of them involve cases of slavery, where natives are mistreated and brutally

The indigenous people of Africa suffered many setbacks, when the Europeans arrived. When the Europeans arrived in Africa they made the indigenous people feel inferior, lack self-confidence, and be stripped of their responsibility. As shown by Document 2, when it says, “...convince us that our civilization was nothing less than savagery, thus giving us complexes which led to our being branded as irresponsible and lacking in self-confidence.” Some people may agree, that this seems like something out of a genocide. Originally the indigenous people of Africa were supposed to be cheap labor. However, this soon changed when the Europeans enslaved the African people. This is portrayed in Document 6, when it says, “...Beneath the noonday sun, My brother was strong…” By doing this they stole all of the human rights from the Africans, who had done nothing wrong. This is shown in Document 3, when it says, “Whereas fundamental human rights...are denied to Africans.” During this extremely horrific time in African history men were worked to death, and women were raped. This is found in Document 6, when it says,”The White Man killed my father,My father was proud, The White Man seduced my mother, My mother was beautiful.” This shows the negative effects are much worse for the Africans, than for the Europeans. But, there are some positives in this dark hour. When the Europeans arrived in Africa, they provided the

Africa during imperialism became crippled by the economically advances western societies. Imperialism had no focus on government productivity, excluding political growth as the society grew, but rather on economic growth of said society. Europe was only interested in Africa for one reason. Wealth. After Europe was infected with imperialism, greed took over causing them to gain control over the Africans by brute force and infesting the country with this new perk.

In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Europeans invaded Africa, colonizing every country except Liberia and Ethiopia. Some African nations attempted to fight back, but the European’s superior weapon easily suppressed the resistance. Then, the Europeans extracted natural resources and utilized the force labor of Africans. European imperialism and colonization in Africa clearly invoked more harm than the benefits to Africans. The Europeans crippled the Africans by extracting natural resources, forcing Africans to work for them, and leaving Africa unprepared with independence.

In Africa, the French, British and German had direct jurisdiction over their colonies, but some colonies were owned by private companies. Later public outcry led to the nationalization of these companies, thus putting Africa in the direct hands of the great powers. Despite the great resources available in Africa, the colonies in Africa were more often regarded as important pieces in a geopolitical power struggle than flagship economic colonies. Because of the compartively primitive nature of the colonies in Africa, racial bias grew, and once again, Africans were regarded as subservient to Europeans. The partitioning of Africa and relatively Primitive technology and way of life amongst the native populace only served to strengthen and reinforce these biases. In South Africa, in fact, the native people were relegated to reservations, and given no rights. The Scramble for Africa had the unfortunate side effect of tarnishing the reputation of African people and reinforcing racial

There was a very small group of European administrators that governed all over Africa. Due the this fact, European ruler did not want African people to gain anymore knowledge that would allow them to rise up against foreign settlers. Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, a colonial governor, was among a few who supported the development of education for African people, pointed out a few reasons why European settlers were against this idea. He restated critics’ thought on why African people should not be getting a better education, “The African is not capable of exercise those qualities that will be conferred on him by higher education.” This show that European settlers did not want African people to gain any knowledge, by refusing to believe that these African people are capable of applying all the knowledge if they were given a chance to learn. Furthermore, the denial of Education for African people was away to control them from rising up in social status with their newly acquired knowledge. European settlers hoped that the African people would remain as second class citizens which make them easy targets for exploitation as well as avoided the risk of educated African tried to invoke revolutions against the White rulers. European settlers were well aware that Africa is a vast land that was the origin of many great civilizations in human history. It is necessary for

During the 1870’s Europeans started colonizing countries in Africa.Europrans did this because they needed all of Africa's valuable resources.Africa was a big target because they were not very modernized in technology so it was easier for the Europeans to sieze control. The Europeans controlled Africa in two ways direct and indirect rule. Direct rule is when the country in charge rules strictly over the country and they try to civilize the people they are ruling. Indirect ruling is when the country in charge is ruling from far away and they usually rule through a native leader. Imperialism negatively affected the lives of the Africans in the 19th and 20th century because the education the Europeans provided for the Africans was of poor quality,