The Colonization Of African Countries

Primary sources from Europeans, Amerindians, and Africans had revealed the early modern Atlantic world was developed by colonization, and the experience faced by each civilization. As the Europeans began to colonize the Amerindians land it had been done by war to capture riches and land. Colonization of Africa had been established much early by the Europeans using their land for human-slave and merchant trade. The different civilizations had experienced this processing of developing the modern Atlantic world differently. The Europeans sought these new lands as a way to expand its civilization by gaining wealth and power. As for the Amerindians and Africans they had an experience that was developed through devastation and loss of their humanity.

European Imperialism heavily impacted the African continent through culturally, economic, and political ideas. This era of history is heavily drenched in the aspect of ethnocentrism, which is the belief that one’s own culture is superior that of another. The Europeans colonized Africa believing that they could bring civilization, but they were often ignorant of Africa’s very complex societies. The European powers divided up the continent of Africa among themselves, without any consent from the people who actually lived there. The tribal stratification was changed to a caste system where racial, ethnic, and religious differences were of utmost importance, as delegated by European rule. The structure and business of the African economy was

European imperialists built on the information provided by adventurers and missionaries. For example, a Scottish missionary named David Livingstone, went to Africa in the 1840s and spent three decades exploring the interior of Africa. This exploration sparked interest in Africa and others followed, including the imperialists. (Imperialism in Africa). The Berlin Conference of 1884 allowed Europeans to draw lines on maps and carve Africa into colonies. The result was a transformation Africa, with essentially all parts of the continent colonized in about fifteen years. The Europeans continued to interfere with African land and culture. Thus, leading to independent revolts and eventually lead to the Boer War. This was a conflict between The British and the Dutch farmers. Black South Africans decided to help the Dutch who were fighting back against their enemies. The British captured many of these men and put them in concentration camps where many of them died. The establishment of colonies were actually a positive for Africa. It made for a new way of life socially, politically and economically. So even with the horrible and unjust concentration camps, Great Britain was able to give back to the people they conquered in

Imperialism occurs when a strong nation takes over a weaker nation or region for economic, political, or social reasons. This type of foreign policy was practiced by European nations throughout the 1800s and early 1900s. Began in 1870s, Europeans started to colonize Asia and Africa by using military force to take control of local governments and exploited local economies for raw materials required by Europe’s growing industry.

Amongst the 1870s and 1900, Africa confronted European imperialist hostility, political pressures, military assaults, and ultimately the conquest and colonization. At the same time, African civilizations put up numerous methods of resistance against the effort to inhabit their countries and enforce foreign control. By the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, had been inhabited by European powers. The European imperialist drive into Africa was encouraged by three main factors, economic, political, and social. It established in the nineteenth century following the collapse of the profitability of the slave trade, its abolition and suppression, as well as the expansion of the European capitalist Industrial Revolution. The requirements of capitalist development—including the request for guaranteed sources of raw materials, the search for definite markets and profitable investment passages—encouraged the European scramble and the partition and ultimate conquest of Africa.

The history of colonization of Africa dates back to 1800’s where European nations invaded African countries due to factors such as industrial revolution, need for raw materials, and desire to expand territory. Religion played a huge role in African history since some missionaries who came to African countries to spread Christianity were working together with colonialists. The article, “Role of Missionaries in Colonization of Africans” explains how the missionaries perceived Africans and the African culture. It states, “Missionaries came with the attitude that all things European were superior to all things African…. It was their mission to do anything necessary to convert Africans who were viewed as uncivilized and barbaric” cite The view

Between 1870 and 1914, European countries ceased about ninety percent of Africa. Native Africans faced political, military, and imperialism pressure from various European countries. After the end of the profitable slave trade in Africa, due to abolishing of slavery, Europeans explored for new guaranteed markets, and heavily profitable investments. In addition, European countries were under industrialization, the demand for raw materials heavily increased. Europeans as well faced power struggles with one another and competition for political influence in Africa. European power struggle ultimately lead to the “Scramble for Africa.” Europeans undertook the process of imperialism in Africa in the late 19th century by exercising political, economic, and military power on their African colonies. Some African leaders and societies welcomed Europeans in hopes to protect and develop their native land. Some African leaders and societies responded to European occupation by gathering resistance groups in attempt to fight off foreign imperialists.

Classic colonialism in Africa developed a rule of the economic agenda to its citizens’ livelihoods and health. Colonialism provided a small amount of modern health care, and many of the policies of classic colonialism worsened the state of public health. As a result, this destabilized the average African household, and gave an easy rise to larger cities, causing a new level of racism in Africa. After World War two, Africans would turn to Islam or Christianity; and many (especially those who participated in WW2) demanded independence. There were several forces that rose to the importance of the independence movement. For example, the teachings from Western Muslim or Christian schools led to an exposure of the political ideology that emphasized natural rights influenced the African elite to push the need for independence. Another example includes the African National Congress, which while not terribly effective, defended the interests of Africans.

​Most Europeans had the perception that people from the African continent were inferior. This is because they thought that their traditions were backward and lacked civilization. They used this notion as a justification for subjecting the African people to slavery. However, this is not the case since civilization is said to have originated from Africa. The most organized and advanced people in terms of technology are said to be the Africans even before the European slavers discovered Africa (Chivallon and Alou, 2011). Egypt had tremendous accomplishments in mathematics, science, arts, and medicine even before the transatlantic trade. Civilization in this country had lasted for over two thousand years prior to the development of Rome.

Colonization was a big part in the history of Africans, when Europeans ended the slave trade, they did not lose hope in Africa. Africans supplied Europe with raw materials and new markets for European goods. Scientists and explorers were curious in African wildlife and natural resources. European missionaries wanted to convert Africans to Christianity. According to the article, many missionaries taught European ways of thinking. These often conflicted with, and destroyed, African traditions.

For centuries Africa has been referred to in The West as the “dark continent.” This phrase has been used as a cruel jest, referencing the skin pigmentations of the many peoples living on the continent, but more so to denote the perceived backwardness and primitive nature of the societies found there. Western society has in effect generalized the whole of pre-colonial Africa as being uncivilized. The basic layout of the “dark continent” view is that the pre-colonial African society was barbaric and unsophisticated, European Imperialism brought civilization and stability, and the troubles facing post-colonial Africa are the fault of primitive tribalism and other remnants of pre-colonial past. This approach to understanding Africa is in fact false, and there has been much researched and written to discredit the stereotypical western “dark continent” perspective. Authors such as Lady Jane Acquah have written that pre-colonial Africa was home to vast expansive empires which featured complex administrative and political structures (Acquah, 2012). Chinua Achebe in his seminal novel Things Fall Apart, depicts tribal/communal pre-colonial African societies as complex and dynamic, while providing both societal structure and political stability (Achebe). The writings of Alex Thomson have indicated that the effects of European colonialism are responsible for many of the difficulties facing states on the continent today (Thomson, 2016). Collectively, these authors writings reveal that

Before the colonization in South Africa, men and women stood hand and hand together, not behind or in front, but together. After the colonization in South Africa, men begin running everything in society and are dominate. Like any culture, men are the ones who call everything and for women, they are in charge of feeding and taking care of the family. Women in South Africa are in charge of many task, especially undertaking agriculture. Being a wife/mother “it falls upon us to make small wages, stretch a long way, it is we who feel the cries of our children when they are hungry and sick.’’ (Woman 's Lot) This role of a woman, mother, and wife is a breathtaking moment in life, according to Women’s Lot, a women have many tasks and responsibilities to take care of in such period of time. As “Women’s Lot” explains the importance of mother to her child, it is important to be apart of a child’s life and create a bond, not just that a mother/wife has to be the rock of the family and take everything in.

The powers of colonialism are moderately responsible for Africa's problems today. In the nineteenth century, European authorities drew political boundaries that cut across native cultural and territorial divisions, aggravating social tensions. Great areas of land were occupied over by colonial governments or European companies and persons. Involuntary moved off their ancestral land, tens of over 10,000 Africans became workhands and migrant labors. When the colonial era finished in the 1950s and 1960s, Sub-Saharan countries only had a few trained personnel and minor groundwork. Manipulative policies extracted Africa's minerals and other ordinary wealth for the advantage of outsiders. National economies were pushed toward developing goods - including such cash crops as coffee, palm oil, and cocoa - for European shops. Colonial leaders, as well as those who replaced them, devoted little attention to improving the grain and root crops upon which most Africans have depended. As well, Europeans lived at the expenditure of the Africans, who were given little or no pay for the work they had to put up with.

Colonialism put a significant burden on colonies and once these territories were decolonized, they were no longer self-sufficient. Even after these territories regained their autonomy, they were still left to struggle after being exploited for decades. To begin, the French and British colonized Africa and left these territories to pay for operations the French and British implemented, such as military, private services to “whites”, and further education. These territories had very little to begin with because of slavery, so massive debts were accumulated. For instance, Senegal, as mentioned earlier, was colonized by France in the nineteenth century. It, along with other colonies along the west African coast, were exploited for their resources and were left to pay for the damages after not only World Wars I and II, but also from in-country fighting as well. Siji Jabbar, author of “How France loots its former colonies” says, “France organized its colonies in a system of “compulsory solidarity” which consisted of obliging the states to put 65% of their foreign currency reserves into the French Treasury, plus 20% for liabilities. This means these countries only ever have access to 15% of their own money! (Jabbar, 2013). Ultimately, colonization did just permit the occurrence of physical slavery, but colonies were looted and forced to sign binding contracts that leave them penniless indefinitely, but are also hard to get out of. Second, some of these territories had some natural resources that were considered valuable. Unsurprisingly, the colonists exploited these natural resources, such as the gold mines in the Congo. When colonialization ended, these developing nations were left with no natural resources and struggled to find ways to be independent, since the sectors they relied on to make money were abused and destroyed under European and American control. An interesting example of colonial exploitation occurred along the coast of West Africa in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Rene Ruiz, author of “The colonial underdevelopment of Africa by Europe and the United States” mentions, “The wealth of these countries instead went to enrich Western nations, leaving nothing for the African

In the 1800’s countries were in search for land to expand their country into, this happened to many places including Africa. Colonialism was a time when countries took control of another land, which they then governed through direct or indirect rule depending on the country. During this time, Africa was most sought after due to its resources and its uninhabited land. Due to this, all colonial powers scrambled to get their hands on a piece of Africa in order to expand their areas of rule. As a result of the scramble for Africa the Berlin Conference was held. At this conference representatives from fourteen countries came together to divide up Africa’s land (Africans had no say in the matter, however). With colonial powers now in control, not everyone was pleased seeing as the governing country was only using them for natural resources and economic gain, which of course caused resistance with people refusing to assimilate to the colonial power. Eventually, anti-colonial movements sprung up and they did whatever they could to try and regain their right to self-rule. This ultimately led to boycotts, strikes, the formation of unions and political parties just to regain independence. Independence was a struggle that happened in many ways, such as violence and agreement as shown in Swaziland’s case. Swaziland has a particularly special story of colonialism, due to the fact that they started out just asking for some support.