Racism And Social Darwinism : New Imperialism

In the late 19th century the “scramble” or “grab” for Africa was at its pinnacle of the imperialism standpoint. Several European powers were at the starting gate readying for the luxurious riches at the end of the tunnel. These powers’ only mindset was to receive some sort of monetary gain for the advancement of their countries to the continent of Africa. After reading the book The Scramble for Africa by M.E. Chamberlain she makes an inadvertent point of view to the reader about the real savages during this evil imperialistic time period.

The video “Forgotten Ellis Island” was very interesting to watch. It helped me understand the selection process and hear the stories of some of the immigrants who came through there. Most of my great grandparents are Irish and Polish. So as I watched it, I wondered if they went through Ellis Island. Learning about the children in the hospital was interesting. Although it was sad that they had to be separated from their parents, it was nice to know people were trying to care for them and make them happy.

In the reading, Race, Racism, and Darwinism, the author William H. Jeynes argues that Darwinism is one of the main contributors forming the racist nature of the United States. Those same ideas then bleed into the perceptions people have towards people of color. Jeynes shows us how Darwinism is responsible for much of the institutional racism that has been carried out through centuries and has been justified. Darwinist believed that “survival of the fittest” did not only just apply to animals, rather, was also evident in human beings. They believed that some races were superior to others and therefore some races lacked the intellectual capacity of superior races. Jeynes shows us how black people were

In the late 1800’s, European nations only controlled about 10 percent of the continent of Africa, France to the north and Britain to the south (Edgar, 2008). As time goes by, other countries gain conquests, mostly in western areas of Africa. This essay will go over a few key points in history that led to the Age of Imperialism and the British colonization of Southern Africa. The essay will also identify key players in this age. Southern Africa was known for its gold and other valuable items that made it so appealing to Europeans. This and many other reasons led to wars over the areas that had high gold content.

Since it became a necessity in the 19th and 20th century to rule over other nations for economic and political prosperity, the Europeans did the same for the sake of the mother country, which greatly influenced the respective aspects. The European or the new Imperialism is a movement, which brought the worldwide effect of white supremacy. As far as the ideas of historians are concerned, new Imperialism was the product of economic rationale. It is obvious that every nation looks forward to uplift their economic status. Although the new Imperialism was a product of economic rational, it was largely justified for social and political reasons such as “civilizing missions” to help these countries out. While social effects helped to cause the new Imperialism, it was the economic advantages that forced the major plays of Europe into the grand scheme of the new Imperialism.

From the end of 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, saw the annexation and colonisation of vast territories in the African continent by Europeans powers. The period was known as New Imperialism. By the beginning of 20th century, almost 90% of the continents was under European powers, while some other African countries managed to preserve their independence, namely Ethiopia and Liberia. The scramble for Africa was caused by continuous rivalries between the European powers namely Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Belgium which compete for political and economic supremacy without declaring any sort of war among themselves. The process of consolidating power in Africa by this European powers was by military

As the reader goes through the discourse, we can notice his personal battle with colonialism and it changed the very foundation of his world. Cesaire was a product of French colonialism and saw the impact that it had on the planet after the Second World War. He saw the full impact of racism and Social Darwinism, so his response is understandable because he experienced the issues that took place. He was born on June 26, 1913, when France controlled Martinique, so he experienced colonial issues. More importantly, the author saw how Europeans used colonialism against themselves when the Nazi’s exterminated the Jews. On a theoretical level, Cesaire demonstrated how white colonized themselves after the 19th century, but this already occurred before the 15th century. For example, the British colonized the Isles throughout the Middle Ages and brutalized the people, which illustrates that internal colonization needs to occur before a nation can colonize an outside area. Thus, his work reflects his experiences, which makes the piece even stronger because the reader can connect with it.

During the period of 1885-1905, as Africa was divided into 55 small states, an era of economic tug-of-war between the British and the French known as “The Scramble for Africa” became the target of prosperity. While campaigned to end slavery and all affiliations with the slave trade, this method of colonial rule not only effectively controlled various territories, but also altered the lives of indigenous African people. Through tactics of indirect and direct control performed by the Europeans, land was seized in the midst of turmoil between the opposing parties as imperialism was established in the continent of profitable resources. As a significant and major impairment in the

Colonialism is defined in the dictionary as a policy by which a nation maintains or extends its control over foreign dependencies. African colonization is one example. Africa was oppressed by the European imperial powers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Parker, 2007). Unlike in other parts of the world, African colonization was short lived and the colonial period was over by the 1960s (Parker, 2007). The European ‘scramble’ for territory at the end of 19th century is probably the best-known occurrence in the continent’s history. The involved imperial powers were Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, and Spain (Parker, 2007). These countries were competing for

Imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be summarized well by one event, which was the Berlin Conference. The Conference was held in order to decide which European countries would have control of which sections of Africa. The Africans themselves had no representation due to the fact that Europeans saw them as lesser because their cultures were not modernized. The few good things that those in attendance of the Berlin Conference tried to establish, such as abolishing slave trade, were relatively unsuccessful. The actions and behavior of the representatives and countries at the Berlin Conference not only represented their overt sense of entitlement to new land, but the fact that they saw themselves as superior to less industrialized peoples.

In 1871, a new form of colonisation emerged in Europe and was later differentiated from the Empires of Spain and Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries as New Imperialism. Intelligibly, it is also referred to as ‘the Scramble for Africa’, as a result of the swift rate at which nations clamoured to gain control of weaker regions in deviated areas from the 1600’s. There is much speculation surrounding the reasoning of such accelerated expansion, however, there is a clear correlation of events that have been linked to New Imperialism. I do not attest the popular belief that this colonisation increased tension in Europe and, in this essay, I will endeavour to present a synthesis of this premise.

The years around this trail had some major news surrounding this time period. This is when racism was at an all time high. African American individuals were being place as blame for every little thing according to their race. The author Franklin (2002) that throughout early American history, as Europeans came in contact with people different from themselves (i.e., Native Americans and Africans) they adopted the assumption of cultural superiority (Smedley, 1993). This type of issue was extremely popular back in the mid 1990’s for some reason. I cannot grasp the reason for having high racism, however, this is what individuals were feeling at the time.

For a long time, the presence of Europeans and their activities have been encountered in the African continent. Before the 19th Century, European operations in Africa were strictly confined to the coastal regions. During this period, slave trade and other forms of transactions were facilitated by local middle-men who were familiar with the local trade routes and markets (Osborne and Susan, 93). After the abolishment of the slave trade, there was a need to shift towards legitimate trade. As such, the Europeans who had already made contact with the African continent found it fit to scramble and partition the continent among themselves for economic, political and social reasons (Pakenham, 5). Also, the political rivalry between the European nations such as Germany, France, and Britain contributed to the sudden scramble for the African continent. Another critical factor that drove European countries to scramble for Africa was the need to acquire raw materials for their industrial sectors.

Out of imperialism, notions about culture were classified, reinforced, criticized or rejected” (BBC World Service). The nineteenth century saw massive changes in Africa. Some were driven by famine and disease (BBC World Service). Some changes were the result of the territorial ambitions of African rulers. As the century progressed alliances with merchants and missionaries from Europe began increasingly to have a bearing on how African leaders achieved their goals (BBC World Service).

During the second half of the 19th century, imperialism by Europeans stunted Africa’s growth by forcing Africa and its natives to submit its resources and people for European gain. Europeans already had a foothold on the African coasts because of the slave trade, but after the Berlin conference in 1884 the Western countries divided Africa between themselves for their own needs, without the knowledge or consensus of the native Africans. with different rule for the needs of Europeans . Sir Frederick E. Lugard, an English administrator, stated in 1904 that “the primitive savage in contact with (European) civilization learns the discipline of work, and the result of cooperation.” Lugard, like many Europeans, didn’t believe that Europeans were hurting Africa and its natives through imperialism. They thought they were helping and teaching Africans about hard work through hard labour. Jomo Kenyatta, an African nationalist leader, states that “... Europeans have robbed [the Africans] of the material foundations of his culture, and reduced him [to] an inferior state that goes against human happiness.” This shows that through imperialism, Europeans actually erased African culture by forcing them to do labour and be slaves. Consequently, this submission hurt Africa because by the time most African countries gained their independence, they not only were struggling to adapt to new leadership after years of being controlled by Europeans, but were also drained of their natural resources.