The Causes Of Post Colonialism And Post Colonialism In Africa

“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.

European imperialism started as a source for raw materials and a way to gain advantages over their rival countries (Spielvogel and McTighe 226). Yet, the African countries being imperialized were impacted by this settlement in many positive ways (Spielvogel and McTighe 231). Europeans brought ideas of Westernization and influenced the societies that were not yet industrialized and ones that lacked the modern elements many European countries had acquired (Spielvogel and McTighe 235). Through the spread of western ideals and democracy, the people of Africa were inspired to pursue their own self-rule and continuation of the modernization that the European imperialists left behind on the continent. When European nations first imperialized the African

In the 19th century Europe underwent imperialism, Europe wanted to take control of different continents one of which was Africa to gain power, civilize the African people and grow the economy of Europe. With intentions to help, the Europeans moved to Africa in order to get the resources that were grown there forcing the Africans native to those regions to move to North and South America (Document 9). By 1885 the amount of people living in Africa had increased due to the amount of Europeans (Spielvogel and McTighe 234). The Europeans took resources and goods from Africa to sell and increase their capital. These reasons changed the way of life for the Africans making them adapt to the changes without being able to fight back. While imperialism

Africa was once abundant with many resources that were highly valued by the people around them. All of this lead to Africa being able to trade for lots of materials they didn't have access too. This allowed many to grow rich but in the end slavery permanently damaged the african society. Africa was part of a system of both regional and international trade however trade affected people's lives in different parts positive and negative.

Africa has undergone a long history of being invaded, taken advantage of and colonized. European powers are primarily at fault for this, however they have experienced their own turmoil in this time period: war. This led Europe to create mercenary armies of African soldiers to fight for their countries, particularly in the World Wars. The rampant injustice of this system and many African lives lost was a spark for the African nation states under colonial rule. It led to the wildfire that was African independence movements, protests, and riots. It also led to the Year of Africa, where most countries were recognized as their own entities and no longer colonies. While there are many factors involved in this portion of history, the importance of

Peebe Harry, Osaki. “Colonialism in Africa Is Still Alive and Well | Letters.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Aug. 2017, www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/01/colonialism-in-africa-is-still-alive-and-well

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

Beginning in 1880, there was a growing desire for European countries to expand and control their rule. The only continent at that time that was left uncontrolled and, in the European's eyes uncivilized, was Africa. This was the start of Western Imperialism. All European countries wanted their piece of Africa and to get it, they would let nothing stand in their way. They would change the entire government, religion, market, and behavior of most of the African nation and affect almost every person living there. An account of the impact of Imperialism is given in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. This book shows the changes that occurred in Africa during Imperialism and its affect on the community and the people

Colonialism and post colonialism is a demanding understanding with in different indigenous cultures around the world. The ideas of colonialism and imperial are likeminded ideas and can be compatible. As defined in the English dictionary colonialism is defined as ‘a farm or settlement referred to the Romans who had settles on other lands but retain their citizenships’ (Loomba, 2015). Understanding this definition helps form the community as a process which is unfair as it’s not a new process (Loomba, 2015). Colonialism is then comprehended as a non-identical process in parts of the world which are a distinctive segment (Loomba, 2015) The empires rule the emperor which is defined and related to the idea of imperial (Loomba, 2015). As power is projected out regarding the inferiors it helps structures the power. This is due to the maintaining, dominating and limiting how much they accumulate within the indigenous communities (Saul 2017). Post colonialism is identified as a theory through the political movement as over time people have changed which has ended and changed the colonialism and power over time (Saul, 2017).

Throughout the year, we have learned about how colonization left many African countries crumbled to pieces. Postcolonialism sparked a conversation about the effects and consequences of external control and exploitation of indigenous people and their property as well as their wealth. From these conversations arose many different theories that gave colonization a reason of existence. One of those theories was the dependency theory. There are two points to the dependency theory, the first one being resources flow from a poor and underdeveloped states to wealthy states. It is a central argument of dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the "world system." The second point of the theory is that formerly colonized countries will forever be subject to their former colonizers instead of taking the initiative and cultivated their own country. In the film, Bamako directed by Abderrahmane Sissako and the novel A Leap Out of Dark by Gorgui Dieng both works challenged both aspects of the theories. In both works, we got a first look at how the dependency theory affects individuals living in these countries. Although we see a blame of outsiders, we as readers how there was also a blame on internal.

It is evident that European colonialism had deeply affected the political system within post-colonial Africa. One of the main leading legacies of colonialism that hindered the development of post-colonial African states would be the ethnic division and the state conflicts resulting from ethnic rivalry after independence . Scholars would argue the weakness within African politics would be due to creation of forty new states brought about by the European colonial powers in the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885; which had artificial state borders within the continent having little to none parallelism to reality. For example, Nigeria is clearly demonstrates that the legacy of the state boundaries that had created new political entities carried. Moreover, with the colonies compromising of many different religions, ethnic groups and languages, there were cultural differences that had created ethnic divisions and rivalries which had been intensified after independence in post-colonial Africa. After Nigeria had become independent in 1960, the military took over and the economic situation worsened, this had led to rising conflicts between the two main ethnic groups, the Hausa and the Igbo, as to who should have power in the new country . This was because Nigeria was a new political entity as it was a product of colonialism and being a new political entity, it had no previous experiences beyond the control of the colonial powers. This clearly demonstrates the effects of ethnic

Africa remains a political exception in many ways: It is still viewed by many political observers and political leaders in other parts of the world as essentially if never explicitly referred to as such inhabited by savages. Even the fact that Africa is so often referred to in a monolithic or at least near-monolithic sense reflects a mindset that might most accurately be called colonial is a part of the way in which African political and social activity are assessed internationally, an assessment that has economic as well as political repercussions for the scores of nations into which Africa is divided. Africa remains, at least for now and for the generations alive now, in the eyes of both its own people and those who observe it from abroad, essentially colonized.

Africa is made up of 54 nations and is today the least developed region of the Third World, this despite its immense possessions of for example minerals and natural resources. The majority of Africans, particularly in the Sub-Saharan parts, lack the most basic needs and as a result falls to the bottom of list of growth income per capita (UNDP, 2007). The Sub-Saharan in addition inhabits 13 percent of the earth’s residents and in addition accounts for 25 percent of the malnourished group in the developing world (FAO, 2006). The data found on Africa’s postcolonial development is abysmal, not only has the developmental fruition been austere but it has drastically fallen behind other Third World countries. An illustration of this is revealed in 1997, when the GPD per capita for Africa was the trivial sum of $560, compared to $4,230 in Latin America. Between 1986 and 1993 Africa’s real GNP per capita declined by 0.7 percent, at the same time as it inflated by an average of 2.7 percent in the rest of the Third World. When going back to the pre independence period it can be affirmed that Africa is worse off now than it was before. Real income per capita has descended by 14.6 percent and the reality is that only half of the debts have been paid off, whilst the rest of the restitution is constantly being rescheduled. The majority of Africa’s overseas arrears (which measures up to approximately 80 percent) is owned by Western authorities and monetary establishments, this

The transatlantic slave trade essentially laid the foundation for modernized capitalism as we know it today, creating inconceivable wealth for corporations, business enterprises, and families in America and Europe. The trade assisted to the overall industrialization of Europe and created an inter-connected Atlantic world that was made up of Western Europe, Western Africa, the Caribbean islands, and North/South America. Consequently, the staggering impact on Africa of its participation in the creation of this capitalistically driven modern world was unfavorable to say the least. The continent of Africa loss a tremendous part of its strong, healthy, sturdy population, which played a significant role in the societal and political crippling of its infrastructure that left them vulnerable, in the nineteenth century, to colonial exploitation and domination. According to Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro from the book Black Wealth/White Wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality “Disparities in wealth between blacks and whites are not the product of haphazard events, inborn traits, isolated incidents or solely contemporary individual