The Contributions Of British Imperialism In Africa

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.

In the 1800’s Imperialism, an action by a strong nation to take control of another country, became prominent in Europe towards Africa. The driving forces of Imperialism in Africa were competition for land, economics, and the need for power. The “Partition of Africa, 1884-85” map demonstrates the competition related to the colonization of European colonies in Africa. There were a total of 7 European countries that imperialized Africa, but the main countries were France and Britain. The only non-colonized countries were Ethiopia and Liberia; this was because they had an established strong government.

In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the

Essentially Britain made South Africa dependent on Britain for their economic and financial stability. The also laid the foundation for Apartheid which was the separation of races other than white in South Africa. Britain also made their other colonies dependent on them. Africa was very important to European countries due to it's natural resources coal, gold and other resources. Especially in the Congo which was a source of revenue for Belgium.

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.

Before the Europeans began the New Imperialism in Africa, very little was known about the inner parts of the continent. However, after some explorers delved deeper into the heart of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, Britain had only small occupations of land in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the rich resources from the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African countries and take over. This led to the scramble and ultimately, the partition of Africa. During the Age of Imperialism, from 1870-1914, Britain was a major country, which proved to be true

The new imperialism was a major thing in the late 19th and 20th centuries in Africa. There were a lot of negative and positive effects because of the imperialism. The people in Africa during the time of imperialism suffered a lot. Most of which were the negative aspects of the imperialism. The negative aspects caused things like a lot of wars between countries. The negative effect also led to all of the Africans to do labor all of their lives no matter what time of the day or night it is. All of the Africans had to labor to get food for their family and themselves. Many of the colonizers wanted to expand their empire.

A main reason for the cause of the Imperialism in Africa was Nationalism. Nationalism is having pride in one's nation. The Europeans had this great competition for power. By controlling different parts of Africa, they gained more power. Europe wanted everyone to see how powerful they were

Imperialism, a policy in which one country seeks authority over another country by economic and political domination. The Europeans at this time in history, were looking for resources and something to help them show their national pride; the best way to do that was to imperialize different countries. Africa, which was not industrialized, was seen as not capable to lead themselves into modernization. The europeans as well as many other countries began to seek land in the divided, war-filled country. The reasons for europeans seeking imperialism is because of the strive for natural resources, the need to show national pride, and thoughts upon racism.

Early in the twentieth century, imperialism was brought up by European powers of the time; Germany, Great Britain, France, and Russia. These nations were after raw materials in Asia, Africa, and South America and when they realize that they could not retrieve it, they began to colonize smaller counties that contain the many resources they need and used it for their benefit. Western values played a big part in European imperialism. European civilization experienced a period of extraordinary rapid expansion worldwide during the nineteenth century and the twentieth century. European nation-states had become very powerful because of industrialization. Imperialist projects will unite European industrial power with smaller nation-states.

Imperialism is defined as one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imperialism was present and growing. The main countries involved in the imperialism in Africa were the French, German, and Great Britain. The French’s empire was mainly in North and West Africa while Britain’s colonies were scattered throughout the continent. Germany ruled over such countries as Tanganyika, Togoland, and Cameroon, until their defeat in World War I.

European countries now felt much more empowered which allowed for competition to foster between nations. Europe with the technological advantage provided by the industrialization gave them the means “to impose their rule throughout the world.” (Weber 558) Industrialization led the way to imperialism-the extension of a nation’s rule or authority over foreign nations, territory, or the acquiring of colonies or dependencies. Europeans nations went into Africa, Asia, and the Americas for this purpose. Their justification for imperialism was that these people from non-European countries were uncivilized and needed to civilize them because it was their duty as superiors-the white man’s burden. During the Berlin West Africa conference the imperialist powers met up to discuss how they were going to split African into sections like a pie. Every imperialist nation wanted a piece of the African pie even though they had never been to Africa before. There was a not a single African present in the conference, all were European. They were getting ready to colonize Africa. Colonization means to control dependent nations, territory, or people. There is a problem with imperialism and colonization. Well there are many problems with imperialism but the problem that is important to state is the hypocrisy of the Europeans. The reason why Aime Cesaire claims Europeans are hypocrites is because during the Enlightenment Europeans claimed

The reason for British Imperialisation of Africa was for wealth, minerals, hold of authority, trade of gold and other resources and agricultural advancement. The British occupations of Africa were met with serious resentment by the native Africans. These resulted in wars and other violent conflicts. Imperialism by definition is were a nation or empire extends its power by the colonization of territories. This may include exploitation of these territories. Many empires throughout history have imperialized many territories; one of those being The British Empire. The British Empire was one of the largest and most successful empires the world has ever seen. At its peak, this empire covered about 412 million people, which was 23% of the world’s

There are various reasons behind imperialism in Africa. Economics, National Competition, and Cultural Superiority are the main ones. European countries often thought that their culture or ways of living was better than the Africans; therefore they just had to take over.

Before 1750 no European had dared to go down into Africa, consequently for the fear of catching some sort of disease. But why did the Western Europeans begin to imperialize in the 1800s when they had already taken over the India and much of the eastern continent. Imperialism in Africa really started with the idea of Social Darwinism, the need for raw materials and the fact that they had become technologically advanced.