Essay on Resistance to Colonial Rule in Africa

The years between the 1870’s and 1910’s brought a tremendous amount of change to Africa. This time period, known as the Scramble for Africa, was when Europeans invaded and colonized the African continent. Europeans at the time were much more technologically advanced than the natives because of the many revolutions that took place in Europe. Thus, they were for the most part very successful in their colonization; they were able to take over the entire continent, save Ethiopia. During and after this period of colonization, Europeans were as present and powerful as they’d ever been, thus inflicting their unfamiliar practices and ideas on societies in Africa. Even though Europe brought over their foreign knowledge and technology (like guns), they

Africa became known as the “dark continent” through the Europeans eyes. Not only from the skin color of its inhabitants but also from the vast lands still undiscovered. Due to the Europeans’ view that Africa had a backward sense, they believed it was their responsibility to help. Conflict arose from the creation of a new society resulting in ethnic feuds and imperialism. European imperialistic powers subjugated Africa to strengthen their own economy. Africa’s rich supply of resources such as a large population had extremely detrimental to its economy. Slavery Sentence. The welfare of Africa’s people weakened rapidly from the poor management of the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria. Africa is the least developed part of the world, given the impact of European imperialism, slavery, and an inability to deal with major diseases.

Culture and Religions were commonly pressed into the colonists to adopt their religions of Christianity. The younger colonists took into Western culture and denied their own. These actions will result in the loss of heritage and diverse races in the African communities (Gaynor & Esler, 2007 p.292). The colonists will even sell their neighboring tribes just so they can defend themselves with the money they gained. This also contributed to the loss of many African races, culture, and heritage. The colonists were unsure of how to exactly respond since they believed the European powers were extremely powerful so they could not do much but submit or try and adapt.

As time passed, European domination drastically altered the African landscape – both physically and culturally. Traditional roles, practices, and beliefs were either completely subverted or modified to fall in line with European cultural ideals. Doubtlessly, this process of subjugation worked to the detriment of native populations throughout the continent. Even though all members of indigenous communities have suffered under this system, African women remain especially vulnerable to its harmful effects. As Mary Kolawole points out in her comprehensive work, Womanism and African Consciousness, these women must confront a set of oppressions unique to their position as both black Africans and women. During her discussion of African women’s current struggle for recognition, Kolawole argues that, although colonialism displaced many African traditions, the patriarchal social structure remained. In many ways, she holds, European colonization widened the rift between African men and women even further (Kolawole 34). Although African and European traditions share in the elevation of the male over the female, most African cultures offered women a greater position of respect within society, as well as more “positive avenues of self-liberation” than were available to European women

“African Perspectives on Colonialism” is a book written by A. Adu Boahen. This book classifies the African responses to European colonialism in the 19th century. Boahen begins with the status of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century and follows through the first years of African independence. This book deals with a twenty year time period between 1880 and 1900. Boahen talks about when Africa was seized and occupied by the Imperial Powers of Europe. Eurocentric points of view dominated the study of this era but Boahen gives us the African perspective. There are always two sides of the story and Boehen tells us the side less talked about informing us of what he knows.

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.

Most countries during the Colonial Era were ruled by a monarchy claiming only one religion to be true and enforcing that religion on the people under their rule. Some of the first settlers came from Britain, where Catholicism was forced upon each citizen, whether it was what they believed or not. Religious freedom was a rare liberty the settlers longed for, causing them to leave their home country to come to the new world in hopes of gaining the freedom they desired. Yet, even though the Europeans resented having a ruler tell them what religions were “wrong” and what religion they had to be believe, various groups of settlers still came to America and told the Indians their religion was wrong and forcefully attempted to convert the Indians to their own beliefs. It was many years after they arrived that the settlers finally established an official law giving religious freedom to all

The Scramble for Africa took place during the period of time around 1880 until 1914. During this time Africa found itself being split up and divided amongst several European countries. In essence Africa was like a fresh baked pie and everyone wanted a slice.

One of the main ideas of this piece is that King George and the British government simply lack respect of those living in the colonies, and only participate for their benefit. There are a series

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

Consider how Africa’s geography has changed over time. What positive and negative effects would these changes have had on human populations on the continent? As their new homes changed they were able to adapt due to their innovative mindset. This can be attributed to the new found organization thanks to language. Allowing Africans to grow and expand throughout the entire continent. Other factors that can be attributed are the change in geography for some parts such as the Sahara drying out and swamps and lakes disappeared.

Imperialism in Africa occurred in the late 1800s due to Europeans wanting to expand to West and Central Africa. Even till this day one can see the damaging effect on the economy. Imperialism is a policy in which a strong nation is to dominate other countries politically, economically, and socially. During European Imperialism , European nations look to Africa as a source of raw materials and market for industrial products. Europeans were able to take over majority of the African colonies because there were more advanced as a civilization and had technology to help navigate their way through Africa. For example, the electric telegraph (for communicating over long distance), and quinine from cinchona tree bark ( a treatment for malaria). Before

In the last 50 years much has been done to combat the entirely false and negative views about the history of Africa and Africans, which were developed in Europe in order to justify the Transatlantic Slave Trade and European colonial rule in Africa that followed it. In the eighteenth century such racist views were summed up by the words of the Scottish philosopher David Hume, who said, ‘I am apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the Whites. There scarcely ever was a civilised nation of that complexion, nor even any individual, eminent either in action or in speculation. No ingenious manufacture among them, no arts, no sciences”. In the nineteenth

Slavery has played a strong role in African society from as early as prehistoric times, continuing to the modern era. Early slavery within Africa was a common practice in many societies, and was very central to the country’s economy. Beginning around the 7th century, two groups of non-African slave traders significantly altered the traditional African forms of slavery that had been practiced in the past. Native Africans were now being forced to leave the country to be used as slaves. The two major slave trades, trans-Saharan and trans-Atlantic, became central to the organization of Africa and its societies until the modern era. Slavery and the slave trade strongly affected African society, and

Whatever the exact nature of the various African ethnogenesis processes, the states gaining independence were populated by groups which had differing loyalties. This scenario would fall foul of many theories of the state, in which the absence of the coherent link between the population and the power structure of the state calls it into question. Ethnic cleavages has been a factor in many of the numerous coups d'etat and armed conflicts throughout Africa, as rival groups see the power of state apparatus as a prize worth fighting for(Warner 2001, p89).