Positive And Negative Effects Of Colonialism In Africa

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

Africa had been the target of colonialism and slavery for many years. The colonies that European’s developed during fifteenth and sixteenth century were the main reason that started slave trade in Africa.

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.

For centuries, European nations had been trading slaves, gold, ivory, and more with the west coast of Africa. Throughout the early 1800s, Europeans barely knew anything about the rest of the country of Africa. This quickly changed as Europe grew a sudden interest in exploring the rest of the country and taking advantage of their many valuable resources. Many wonder what motivated Europeans to Imperialize Africa, or extend their country’s power throughout Africa. The driving forces behind European Imperialism in Africa were the strive for ultimate power in Africa between competing countries, the need for money and technological advancements in European civilizations, and the constant attempt for Europeans to spread their cultures throughout

Between the period from 1880 to 1914, European powers went after overseas empires in Africa. The governments and political leaders of the European powers believed that this colonization of the African empires was necessary to maintain their global influence. A second group of people supposed that African colonization was the result of the greedy Capitalists who \only cared for new resources and markets. The third group of people claimed it to be their job to enlighten and educate the uncivilized people of Africa. Although the political leaders of European powers encouraged colonization of African empires to advance their nation’s global influence, others argued that it was only for the profiteering of the Capitalists who sought new

European Imperialism was a period of colonial expansion by European powers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The continents of Africa and Asia were two of the most imperialized areas in the world, and that greatly affected the people living there. The European Imperialism methods had a tremendous effect on the indigenous people of those areas through culture and conflicts.

Africa nowadays is viewed as a pretty poor continent, but if it were not for a single event, it wouldn’t be in the shape it is today. This event is best known as the scramble for Africa. The European powers had begun taking land after King Léopold the second claimed that initial piece of land. European powers gathered in 1884 to discuss which part of Africa were theirs to avoid fighting, however this was done between European countries, and the thought of even inviting a spokesperson from Africa was beyond them. The people of Africa were enslaved and forced to work the land for natural resources such as rubber and diamond. After the European powers claimed all that they could, two independent countries remained. These two countries were Liberia and Ethiopia. The “Eurocentric” perspective that the European powers had at the time allowed for them to commit these horrible acts and see nothing wrong with what they had

For centuries Africa has been sought after and colonized by European powers for political, social and economic gain. Europeans needed Africa’s rich resources to fund their industrial revolution. European countries were strategically trying to one up another for the best resources so that their country would come out on top, while completely disregarding African people. Many European countries came to the conclusion that it was well within their rights to colonize Africa in order to protect their commercial interests. They simply decided to lay claim to territories in Africa, treating the continent as if it was theirs to take. In this essay I will argue that to the Europeans, Africa was just a commodity to be fought over and colonized and I

Imperialism in Africa began in the late 19th century. It began when King Leopold II began the Scramble for Africa. All of the major colonial powers went after Africa. Their goal was to gain the most wealth and to have the most territory. Having more territory and claiming valuable parts of the continent was a symbol of power. Imperialism in Africa had negative and positive consequences on both the Europeans and Africans, these can be shown through human rights issues, new industry and advancements, and wealth and influence.

Africa’s persistent poverty interrogates the continent’s past through institutions, government, demography, economics, colonialism, and the impact of the trading. The colonial era affected the variety of Africa’s historical development for it was quite the game changer since it put a halt to the continuous drain of scarce labor and paved the way for the expansion of land concentrated forms of agriculture, and engaging smallholders, estates, and communal farms. The establishment of the colonial rule over the African interior reinforced African commodity growth in export. The colonial control facilitated the construction induced significant inflows of European

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.

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.

Imperialism is the process by which a more powerful nations are seeking to control a less developed country through diplomacy or military force. The age of imperialism could be considered as one of the most revolutionary time period in the history of the world. Around the late nineteenth century, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, etc. was beginning to expand its territory in an attempt to enlarge its economy and culture further throughout the world by taking over Africa. Africa was an easy target because it had unique soil which would enable Europe to produce millions of miles of cash crops. In addition, Africa didn't have the technological advancement to defend against europe’s superpowers invasion, so force was not a major factor in taking

First, Africa was finally given a place in the international community because of New Imperialism. For hundreds of years, an entire fifth of the inhabited Earth was excluded from the world’s most important decisions. But because of New Imperialism, they were able to

But after colonialism, groups that could not get along were forced to live with each other or were pinned against each other in order for Europeans to snatch all the resources and colonize those people to use them for labor. We also know that from Africa extended one of the greatest, if not the greatest civilization of all time. Through countless historians and archaeological science and the pyramids testify to the fact that “the Pharaonic civilization of ancient Egypt is one of the world’s oldest and longest-lasting civilizations.” (as cited in Boyes, 2013). One of the oldest, most advanced and long lasting civilizations in human history was in Africa. In fact, some say that was the cradle of all other great civilizations. How is it that so rich a history and legacy of one civilization, let alone all the other empires and kingdoms that aren’t mentioned in history. Coming from that type of intellectualism and exceptionalism, Africa should not be doing as bad as it is. The terror and horror we see every single day as people almost seems like it far outweighs the glory of the past. The most interesting fact is that Africa has a wealth of resources, “the continent has the largest reserves of precious metals with over 40% of the gold reserves, over 60% of the cobalt, and 90% of the platinum reserves.” (as cited in Boyes, 2013). Surely with resources such as these and so innumerous the people should be benefitting from the fact