Mysterious Africa Essay example

Africa, like many other continents, was a very tremendous and a very diverse civilization that is very complicated to introduce due to all its wonderful but also diverse features and beliefs. From the differences between its society and language to its religion and politics, Africa always had the reputation that its empires, cities, and kingdoms never progressed in the developments and achievements for their civilization. Many people believed that the Europeans were actually the cause of Africa’s achievements and advanced developments for their civilizations. However, this is further than the whole truth. Before the arrival of the Europeans between the 15th and 16th century, African kingdoms, empires, and cities had many achievements and accomplishments

It is generally accepted by scholars and scientists today that Africa is the original home of man. One of the most tragic misconceptions of historical thought has been the belief that Black Africa had no history before European colonization. Whites foster the image of Africa as a barbarous and savage continent torn by tribal warfare for centuries. It was a common assumption of nineteenth-century European and American Whites - promoted by the deliberate cultivation of pseudoscientific racism - that Africans were inferior to Whites and were devoid of any trace of civilization or culture.

West Africa is know for its rich trading empire, natural landmarks, for their beautifully designed cloth, and jewelry.

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.

Africa was once a thriving and wonderful continent filled with luxurious and wealthy kingdoms, but that had all changed when a new and appalling type of slavery was introduced. Around the 18th century, Africa became an ideal place for Europeans to trade and buy slaves from. The slave trade in Africa seemed to be manageable and somewhat peaceful before the Europeans brought in a new type of slavery. When the Europeans bought slaves from Africans, they kept them as slaves for life which were very different from how long slaves were kept in Africa. Europeans kept slaves in extremely poor conditions and treated them as if they were less than human. These actions caused a great spike in the slave trade all over the world and many

Although Europe may have encountered a series of obstacles along the way, European countries collectively imperialized the entire country of Africa for many reasons. European countries seized land by utilizing technological advancements to their advantage, to gain power and rise above competing other European countries, and to spread their own culture and religion throughout Africa. European countries did technically compete with each other to conquer African land, but altogether each country eventually came together to take over the entire country. All of these reasons share one common factor: they only benefit the Europeans. From the way Europeans treated Africans and forcefully took over their country, it is clear that Europeans would destroy any other countries without hesitation to gain as much power as

Africa accomplished great feats, but some of the most historical ones are from the trade throughout Africa, Political Status, and culture in Africa. Trade in Africa thrived in the Kingdom of Aksum, known as Ethiopia today, as African traders used their nautical skills to reach nearby lands to trade goods and ideas. The Kingdom of Aksum was located in a unique location where it thrived in multiple trade routes. This unique location of, “Aksum reached its height between 325 and 360 A.D.” (Doc 1).

In the 19th and 20th centuries Europe was thriving and wealthy while most of their colonies in Africa were suffering under their rule. The Europeans all wanted a piece of Africa’s land with its plentiful resources and free labor. Around this time, Europe was going through the industrial revolution and because business was booming the European countries need more resources than they already had. The Africans had the land the Europeans wanted to use to continue having booming businesses, they also had African slaves and workers that they can use so they don’t have to pay for labor. In the 19th century leader of the Europeans countries want to discuss how they will divide Africa without the leaders of Africa knowing. The Europeans then started to invade Africa and take control over the citizens. As the Europeans got more powerful, the Africans become more miserable. Unable to match the guns Europe had, African countries began getting claimed, one by one with the exception of two. The Europeans ruled in a cruel way that left many Africans dead or suffering. Many countries tried and successfully broke away from Europeans after many years under colonization. The Europeans had a negative impact on the lives of many Africans in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially with racism and assimilation. People were taught to be a human they had to be like a European which led to many racist views on African people and culture and is why some nations like France used assimilation to make

It was only a little later when people became more and more interested in Africa. Originally, Africa and Europe had no interests in each other until Europe saw opportunity in Africa. The upper class in Africa wanted to help themselves out so they were open to trade within their nation. Africa was seen as the most important region for a source of slaves because they were gullible and could do nothing about it. Africans were seen as workers because they “were better and more reliable workers”(Doc 6).

Europe played a big part in Africa during the late 1800s and early 1900s. When Europe discovered Africa, they took the people as slaves, but when slavery was banned it became a scramble for land. Soon after the countries were competing against each other for the land of Africa because it contained many natural resources that they could sell. However, some countries had different intentions, some wanted to help people in Africa by feeding them or building schools. The main driving forces behind European imperialism in Africa, are, helping the natives, nationalism, and natural resources.

As shown in a chart showing some of Africa’s exports, Africa had an abundance of many resources including cotton, coffee, rubber, and different oils, as well as many others (Doc D). Europe then used these resources to make needed things such as fabric, soap, candles, insulation, etc. Instead of trading for these resources and only getting a limited amount, colonizing Africa was so much more beneficial. By colonizing them, they got as many of Africa’s resources as they wanted and they didn’t have to trade for them. As shown in a chart detailing imports and exports between Great Britain and South Saharan Africa in 1854 and 1900, Great Britain went from making around £2.5 million in exports to South Saharan Africa in 1854 to making around £21 million 46 years later in 1900.

Ancient Africa held many treasures like gold and salt that could be used to build a large empire. A few men did exactly that. African empires were wealthy and great before men from Europe came onto the scene. Before the arrival of the Europeans, African civilizations from 300 to 1400 CE were wealthy, flourished in trade, and encouraged things like education, the arts, and security.

In West Africa, the savanna provided a long distance trade site before the use of Atlantic slave trade. Its surplus of gold makes Africa rich and rivaling with Europe's power

Before the Europeans began to explore Africa, little was known about the continent. However, after some initial exploration of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, European countries had only small colonies in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the resources in the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African regions and assume control. This led to “ the race” and ultimately, the partition of Africa. There were many motives for the Europeans to imperialize Africa. There were humanitarian and religious goals, political goals, military goals, and most importantly, there were economic interests. During the Berlin conference, The European powers decided that they were going to spread the three C’s (Christianity, Commerce, and Civilization) in Africa. To do this, the conference had three aims “ Ensure free trade for all nations throughout the Congo, to ensure free navigation for all countries on the Niger River of West Africa, and agree to set rules by which the Europeans could proceed to divide the rest of the continent.” (Part II: The European Conquest, Pg 11). Later in the document it states that not one African representative was present at the Berlin Conference to discuss Africa's future. The European people tricked themselves into thinking that what they were doing

     Africa has more than 800 languages native to its continent. African cultures are so diverse that they are different from any other culture of the world. African cultures contain many different languages. African languages range from common French to languages unheard of to most people such as Swahili. African arts are much different than American arts. Their art involves much more creative pottery, masks, and paintings. Africa has a very interesting culture. Reasons being the people are very creative and like to express their individuality. The most diverse cultures in the world belong to Africa.