Maps And Its Impact On The Borders, Conflicts Over Territories, Citizens And Resources

The ‘scramble for Africa’ was a phenomenon in the world between the years 1880-1914. The ‘dark continent’ was relatively untouched by Europeans up until this point, with few ports of control on the coasts in the west, which were remnants of the slave trade, and in the south, Britain held the Cape, taken from the Dutch during the French Revolutionary Wars. So, during a period of 30 years, it came to pass that almost the whole of Africa was taken by Europeans. (Except Liberia a colony for freed American slaves, and Abyssinia managed to hold out against Italian aggression). It will be my objective in this essay to analyse the economic factors which resulted in the almost complete colonisation and takeover of Africa, and also to determine to

In the 17th Century, the Dutch (the Netherlands) became a power.  Golden Age.  It fought 3 great Anglo-Dutch naval battles.  The Dutch Republic became a leading colonial power, with by far its greatest activity in the East Indies.

He also quotes from Ondaatje p.37 to develop his idea about maps “whose portraits have nothing to do with surface.” This coupled with his narrative about the explorers in the Age of Colonialism

“The partition of Africa map” presents the competition of powers between the seven european countries that were competing for land, and their land victories thus far. (Document A) The land victories lead to discoveries in the industrial revolution that benefitted European imperialism. A technological development, such as the steam engine gave a stronger pull of power towards europeans due to it’s “forceful source of power” on it’s “ships or horse drawn carriages”. (Document C) Technological developments weakened African territories and simplified colonization for

National competition played an important role in imperialism in Africa. Africa has a lot of valuable natural resources the Europe couldn’t wait to get their hands on. Document A (Partition of Africa) the map shows the competition in Africa over the different territories. Many things encouraged this competition including the drive to obtain natural resources so that they could make money. Whereas in Document B it explains the importance of obtaining new land and exhibits the belief that the more land you have the more influence and power you have over everyone else.

Notably, the Dutch and British had developed effective shipbuilding technologies that allowed them to travel to far-away lands. Therefore, this allowed them to seize lands in the West Indies, Africa and Asia that had abundant natural resources and a lot of agricultural potential. Additionally, these resources helped the three imperial powers to modernize due to the industrial revolution, leading to the production of large amounts of goods. Thus, France, The Netherlands and Great Britain established strong companies in foreign lands, which amassed a lot of fortunes from exploration. For instance, the British India Company gave Great Britain a lot of control in the Indian and Pacific oceans in the 19th century (Hodge, 2008). Similarly, collaborations between France, Britain and Egypt allowed the two European powers to gain more control over global

Be able to describe the East African trading centers PRIOR to the arrival of the Portuguese.

In Ted Binnema’s “How does a Map Mean?” the author describes how maps are used as a way of understanding how a particular society functions. In Old Swan’s map, it is evident that it was done by groups of individuals and not just one particular person given there are places on the map that Old Swan was unaware of. Therefore, maps are a portrayal of an entire community’s knowledge of their land and not just one individual. Given this, it appears that it is not about what a map means but how it is used to establish meaning for those who wrote it. Each map is created in a different way and it is useless to try to understand it without first placing ourselves in the mindset of the cartographer(s) who wrote it. Furthermore, some indigenous maps are created using many others and to completely appreciate them, it is best to assume that they were created to be understood by the people at the time and hence, this can be why they seem puzzling to modern readers. For instance, in trying to understand Fidler’s map, because Arrowsmith was completely consumed with modern cartography, he was unable to decipher the cartographic style of Old Swan’s map (which Fidler based his maps on as well as others (five maps total) ).

The work of the Portuguese in Africa was far from complete. They continued setting up trading stations spanning across the west coast of Africa, still with the intention of finding gold.

diplomacy or military force. In the 20th century many European countries attempted to colonize the great continent of Africa. Europeans saw Africa as an area they would be able to profit from, as it had a great climate, good size, and some phenomenal natural resources. While the Europeans divided the continent of Africa they failed to see the possible negative effects on themselves, and the indigenous people of Africa. Their foresight was limited to only the positive outcomes.

Focusing specifically on the Dutch, this nation was able to expand and conquer heavily in South and South East Asia. As discussed in class, the European powers of this time held a gendered notion these Asian lands as if they were an untouched woman with endless resources and uses that were destined to be used by the white man for profit and glory. The Dutch starting in the 1500s were no different in their motives. By setting up the Dutch East India Company, and creating a trade monopoly on eastern goods, the Dutch were able to quickly gain power in South East Asia and specifically Indonesia on past the 1600s. These colonial efforts however began not as pushes for political power but simply for monetary gain.

The Dutch republic managed to become largely influential and powerful through trade. As previously mentioned, competitiveness was and still is a characteristic of Western Europe. Since the Dutch focused on ship building to support the trade they were beginning to be a part of.

Over a century and a half later, the 1650s, the Dutch nation lead an expedition to the southwest African coast and settled further inland from the Portuguese’s settlement. Several decades later the American, British, and French Whalers and Sealers Companies visited the Namibian coast and erected trading posts. The new European settlers and sailors began trading merchandise with the native tribes; Ovambo and Herero black African tribes.

Only a small portion of the African coast had been colonized by the late 1870s, French Algeria and Senegal, Portuguese Angola and Mozambique, and British and Dutch South Africa were the only significant settlement holdings. The interior had yet to be conquered, however some information had been gathered by a handful of explorers. Dr. Livingstone had explored the interior in the interest of missionary work. Henry Stanley had collected geographical information on his journalistic quest to find the at large Dr. Livingston. Burton and Speke were like the Lewis and Clark of Africa on their quest to find the source of the Nile. With the colonial resistance all over the world, acquisition of new territory and the desire for new territory would beget one another as components of a compulsive cycle.

To begin with, the rise in oceanic trading during this time period had a direct and profound impact on Africa. Though this was not the first time in history that the world’s oceans were used to trade with Africa, there was seen a tremendous rise in both the trade’s significance and volume. Note that this increase in trade was not as prevalent on Africa’s interior as it was on coastal Africa, which includes the coastlines of the continent that touch the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. (Getz, 25) The use of the Mediterranean Sea was the main catalyst for the “cosmopolitanization” of Mediterranean Africa for many