The Positive And Negative Effects Of The Age Of Imperialism In Africa

Ever heard the saying big bank take little bank ? That’s basically what imperialism is. Imperialism is a policy which a strong nation take complete control over other countries . This is exactly what the Europeans did in several different parts of Africa . Not only did the Europeans divided and colonized Africa but they took everything away ,from their culture to their independence. Why take all this away ? It’s simple , the Europeans nations was competing against each other and they thought they were superior. They noticed Africa had many raw materials and resources they could use and benefit from. The driving force for imperialism in Africa was economics , competition , and politics.

Colonizers brought communication and money to Africa which helped modernize it, the Congo itself was created through European power (Goldman 2-8-16). Soon, Europeans wanted to colonize Africa so they could furnish the raw materials for the Industrial Revolution. oil, ivory, were the main sources of wealth for the colonizers. In the eyes of the Europeans it was their right to take the land from the natives for their resource cultivation, and the Africans were unaware that they were giving away their land and losing control (Goldman 1-27-16). After the colonizers acquired land and continued cultivating it, a new natural resource in the Congo was discovered, rubber. Rubber had many important uses such as tires, hoses, tubes, valves and many other products. Rubber is a sap, and the French word for it means, “the wood that weeps” (Hochschild 160). Rubber became Leopold’s main revenue source. “He kept the Congo’s growing profitability a secret as long as possible”, and he managed to pay back as little of his debts as he possibly could as to kept the fortune to himself (Hochschild 168). He enjoyed spending the profits on public works projects in Belgium, himself, and his mistresses (Hochschild 168). Leopold presided over the wild rubber boom for twenty years, he had an indefensible ownership in the Congo. With this, he broke his pledge to the world that he was opening the Congo to free

During the 18th and early 19th centuries the Belgian took control over the Congo and colonized the area as their property. Near the same time the British wanted a location to colonize and make money eventually they took over India and began to colonize the majority of the area. Both the Belgian and British colonial practices similar in their methods that they used to control the area , but different in the treatment towards native people.

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.

The rule of King Leopold II instilled disturbing methods of ruling. He enslaved the people of The democratic republic of Congo (Congolese) to gather him resources that would only benefit him. He was willing to do whatever it took to gain resources, even if it meant enslaving the people. “ King Leopold II nearly enslaved many of the Congolese people in order to gain wealth, and to bring power” (Citation) imperialism had a negative impact on the country, it had a long lasting impacts on the country because he depleted them of their resources which means they don't have much to export as a country now. King Leopold II used the people as slaves to gather their resources due to the danger of the work, which resulted in many casualties and injuries. He wanted to rule the country as he wanted rather than what was right for the people. He lied to the Belgian government in order to gain power of the country, by saying that his

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.

So in taking over the once free state of Congo the King not only gained the natural resources, but in his demented mind he also gained the people or work force to harvest these resources. Some of the long lasting effects of the imperialism on the now Democratic Republic of Congo still linger even today. During the imperialism of Congo the people and Congo itself never really gained financially or culturally anything

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

They were now able to communicate with other countries by studying their languages. Education gave them the tools to maintain the modern lifestyles that they had developed during Belgian rule. The Congolians were also provided with hospitals. These hospitals lengthened the lives spans of the natives. People were less likely to suffer from medical issues and be able to recover from illnesses.

Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International

Imperialism was a distorted inhumane way of the ruling of a country to transport goods and other needs. The African tribes were put through the most barbaric conditions known to man. And due to these conditions, the African society was changed forever. One of the many jobs the people of the Congo had to complete was extracting rubber from trees and bringing it back to the Europeans to sell it because many people around the world wanted to build products

The Congo Free State was a large area in Central Africa that was privately owned by King Leopold II. Because of public pressure and many conflicts concerning his sovereignty, his ruling came to an end and the Congo was later annexed as a colony of Belgium. Patrice Émery Lumumba became the Republic of the Congo’s first democratically elected Prime Minister in the June of 1960. He was an African nationalist and an advocate for Congolese freedom from the Belgian monarchy. He was very candid about his resentment towards American and European influences in the Congo, resulting in an uproar between the nations. He came into office with little preparation of what to be expected. With his daring approach to unite the Congo, he set upon himself many enemies who all

During the period in which it was administered by Leopoldo II (1885-1908), the territory was subject to systematic and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources (especially ivory and rubber), in which Indian labor was used exclusively in conditions of slavery. The horrible ways how the people of African were punished for not accomplished the labor demand by the Belgian colony. The congo is one of the most bless country in the world by its natural resources and at the same time it is a cursed since the colonization. The colonization, the slavery and the corroption in its goverment had being some of its reason of the poverty in this territory.The Portuguese, Belgians, Mobutu and the current government blocked up the development of the

It is the third largest country in Africa. The Congo in located in Central Africa, it’s known for the enormous rainforest. The Congo River nearly 3,000 miles long, cuts through Central Africa and drains into the Atlantic Ocean. It has a lot of other smaller rivers draining in to it creating the Congo Basin, home to numerous species of plants and animals. The Congo has Mountains as high as 17,000 feet and in the south, there are great stretches of grasslands and hardwood forests. The Congo also has massive deposits of gold, diamonds, copper, and manganese. All of these factors combine to make Congo one of the most geographically diverse countries in the world. In the mid-1800s before Europeans invaded Africa, the natives of Africa were divided into hundreds of ethnic and religious groups. Europeans had established connections with sub-Saharan Africans as early as 1400s. However, the African armies were strong enough the keep the Europeans at bay for 400 years. In fact, as late as 1880, Europeans controlled only 10 percent of Africa which was mainly on the

The exploitations of the land began when King Leopold declared all unoccupied land owned by the state. This move gave him exclusive rights to the lucrative trade in rubber and ivory. Soon afterwards, private companies were formed to exploit the natural mineral wealth of the Congo. Along with the exploitation of the land, the people were forced into slave labor. Natives were brutally forced to collect rubber and mine for minerals. Under the agreement with King Leopold, Belgium annexed the Congo in 1908. Under Belgian rule forced labor was gradually phased out. However, the Congo was still perceived by the Belgian government as merely an economic investment. Very few if any initiatives were established in order to promote the economic development of sectors important to the welfare of the native people. The economic developments that were initiated were directly related to the exploitation of the land. Railroads and other forms of transportation were developed in order to increase the profits of the Belgian government. Plantations and large mining operations were formed with native people occupying the labor pool.