The History Of Colonization Of Africa Dates Back To 1800’S

European domination in Africa began because the Portuguese wanted to establish a faster route to India. Yet, when the Portuguese arrived they began to set up a trade of gold, slaves and ivory. The Europeans pretended to be Christian humanitarians and attempted to convert the Africans to Christians. They used god to justify their mistreatment of the natives. Many of the natives did convert to Christianity and accepted the Europeans mistreatments. The Europeans set up port cities on the African coast in order to help their ships on their journey to India. At the port cities, they could stop, rest, and replenish their supplies.

The European colonization of Africa, also known as the Scramble for Africa, Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, occurred between the 1870s and 1900s, and was the invasion, occupation, colonization, and annexation of African territory by European powers during a period of New Imperialism. European control of the continent increased from 10 percent (1870) to 90 percent (1914), with only three territories, Saguia el-Hamra, which was later integrated into Spanish Sahara, Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent of Europe’s control. There were many reasons for the European colonization of Africa, including economic and political motives, with the Berlin Conference serving as a catalyst. Africans resisted the European invasions of their lands, with the two main methods of opposition were guerilla warfare and direct military engagement. European influence on Africa still remains today, though these influences are generally negative and hurt Africa’s overall development.

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.

The Missionaries also served to civilise Africa, “They founded schools where sanitations and agriculture as well as the three R’s [reading, writing arithmetic] were taught”(document N). Thus benefiting Europe's excuse to extract the materials needed from Africa saying that they were just Civilising the natives.

The European missionaries wanted to come to Africa to share the good news of Christianity to the natives. However, often times the missionaries would get caught up in the valuable resources of Africa and make a turn for the cruel side. The novel Heart of Darkness, shows how corrupt the Europeans

The Europeans thought it was their burden as white men to bring religion and God to whom they thought were uncivilized people (Spielvogel and McTighe 227) . When coming to Africa the Europeans spread the word of God through missionaries and bible teachings and converted a lot of the Africans to Christianity. As explained through an African proverb, “When the whites came to our country we had the land and they had the Bible, now we have the Bible and they have the land” (Document 3). To justify taking African religion the Europeans said it was their job as white men to give the Africans God so they can experience what comes with it. Bringing new beliefs to the Africans it replaced the other religious ideas and in turn lost much of the culture the Africans held. Incoming Europeans were more concerned with protecting their traditions and culture and spreading it to this new region rather than respecting the Africans and their existing traditional culture. While the Europeans worked to conserve their culture, religions and traditions they were looking to gain economic stability from Africa to help them to become more powerful and overall have good economic

In the Mid-1800s the Europeans Imperialised Africa for three main reasons. Those reasons being Cultural, Political, and Economic. The Europeans were encouraged by all the resources, and a way to find a peaceful way to divide Africa up. What motive did the Europeans have about taking over Africa? The best motive for the Europeans was economic because they needed the natural resources for the benefits.

During the nineteenth century, Europe was scrambling to colonize Africa. Before the year 1880, Europe controlled only ten percent of Africa. However, due to the Industrial Revolution and its inventions, Europe obtained the means to go into Africa and take what they wanted. Some countries wanted the raw materials from Africa while others thought that by taking control of the land, it would show how they were superior to other nations and would gain respect. Some Europeans thought that because they were superior it was their duty to help the Africans. European powers scrambled to colonize Africa because they wanted respect, to strengthen the economy, and to civilize the Africans.

The reactions made a small number of African natives was to resist diplomatic responses that promised the ability to maintain peace with the nations of Europe. When diplomacy failed, Africans resisted with violence, while others drew upon their religious traditions for strength in remaining independent. Yet another reaction among Africans was to encourage other Africans to fight back. Some Africans, meanwhile, complied with – and even willfully participated in – the continent’s colonization by Europeans.

From 1880 to 1900, Africa was split in many colonies by several different European countries. This was called the “Scramble for Africa. Because Africa didn’t have all of the technology that the Europeans possessed, the Europeans deemed them “uncivilized.” They took it upon themselves to colonize their land, disregarding their set tribes and customs. Although attempting to seem helpful, Europeans had their own selfish reasons for renovating Africa and its traditions.

To begin, missionaries sent from Britain were some of the only people who genuinely cared about the Africans, along with doctors and colonial officials who wanted

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

In Africa, the primary religion before the Europeans colonized there was Islamic. Once the Europeans began colonizing in Africa, they began to convert people into Christianity. In the Worlds Together Worlds Apart textbook, the following is stated: “Other Europeans saw Africa as a grand opportunity for converting souls to Christianity. In fact, Europe’s civilizing mission was an important motive in the scramble for African territory” (WTWA, 623). Anti-colonialists tried to fight back against the Europeans, but they did not have proper weapons in order to defeat them.

3. The colonization took place between the 1870’s and 1900’s. European control over a majority of Africa resulted in economic, religious, environmental and cultural changes. The Handbook of Black Studies mentions that, “All African countries (except for Ethiopia and Liberia) were subjected to rule by one or the other of the European colonial powers” (Okigbo, 32) Additionally, colonization discontinued the use of many African languages and dialects. The government in Africa was heavily influenced by European language. Their language plays a large role in their culture. In regards to religion, christian missionaries traveled from Europe to Africa to convert African citizens. The practice of orthodox religions has declined a lot. Colonization

European Imperialists have followed a set pattern to occupy the African, Asian and other colonies. It was never a direct imposition of power. Their policy was to enter the colony as tradesmen, learn about the history, religion, and social conditions prevailing in that country. Then they introduced Christianity through missionaries. They assumed European culture, philosophy, religion, scientific progress administration and overall European civilization at the peak point of development. English education was introduced to show all this European wealth to the people of that country. But this overtly evangelical act had a covert purpose of training some people to work for them. Next step was to tempt people with various temptations and convert