West Africa In World History Research Paper

To start, in Brazil the Portuguese become convinced that full-scale exploitation of the land was imperative for the safety of their entire overseas empire. Sugar cultivation was the ideal crop to guarantee the existence of a profitable colony. As a result, the Portuguese dominated the Atlantic slave trade. Various slaves from different parts of Africa were brought to Brazil and experienced difficult working and in living

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 Imperialism and Colonization of Africa created many social and economic changes including superiority over different people, technological advances, and new territories for European countries.

Africa was a nation that was based off of selling slaves in which the Europeans were familiar with but by 1807, slavery was abolished which made King Leopold II move onto a different resource to line his pockets. The resource he started production on was rubber because of the widespread want for rubber for tires and other manufactured goods. Around the 19th century when Leopold acquired even more land and expanded his production on rubber and sometimes ivory his managers proceeded to force labor and strip away daily cleanliness which eventually led to the widespread disease of malaria which killed as many as 10,000,000 people. With a absolute infectious disease clouding Africa and the seemingly brutal army brought up by Leopold, what really was the driving force behind European Imperialism in Africa?

In the two documentaries that we watched in class “the Caravans of Gold” and the “King and City”, I could appreciated the different that they had between political, economic and the traditions and the cultural organizations.

Riches in central Africa. In what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, there was and still is a plethora of natural resources. Rubber, gold, copper, diamonds and more. That natural wealth has definitely hurt Congo in the past rather than helped. Its resources could have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But yet, this future did not hold true for the Congo. At the turn of the 20th century, King Leopold II began to take notice of the central African country. (National Black United Front). King Leopold II communicated all his ideas and intentions through a speech to European missionaries. (Africa Global Network). In it, his words held the key to all things terrible. Soon, Belgium took over the Congo and began one of the

The weak always gets taken over. That pretty much explains imperialism. Imperialism was was in 1875-1914 in Africa. What was the driving force behind European imperialism in Africa? That is that question that I aim to answer in this essay. The term driving force means reasoning or push. The word imperialism is the act of fully taking over a country. I have three main reasons for the driving force behind European imperialism in Africa: get materials, national competition and to gain more power. The main reason was so that Europeans can gain more power.

Throughout history, Africa has been a vulnerable player in the eyes of the rest of the world. From the slave trade to various civil right injustices that have taken place over in every century, we have studied in this class, we have been able to see the lasting impact on the continent as a ramification of certain events occurring. Using sources from the text, I will attempt to prove how the western world, exercised their power to capitalize on the African continent, in addition to the exploitation of the African people and land.

The sugar trade was positively impacted by a rapidly increasing demand for sugar, along with the European desire to colonize the Caribbean islands, and the growing ease of purchasing slaves as a means of labor. As more sugar was being produced, the demand for it in Europe grew at an extremely swift rate. The production of the sugar was taking place in the Caribbean, which at the time was being colonized by major European nations such as England, France, and Spain. These islands were the ideal location for the growth of sugar cane, which was the basis for the manufacturing of sugar. To help supply the high demand for sugar, there was a rise in the use of slaves as a cheap and efficient method of labor.

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

diplomacy or military force. In the 20th century many European countries attempted to colonize the great continent of Africa. Europeans saw Africa as an area they would be able to profit from, as it had a great climate, good size, and some phenomenal natural resources. While the Europeans divided the continent of Africa they failed to see the possible negative effects on themselves, and the indigenous people of Africa. Their foresight was limited to only the positive outcomes.

During the years between 1878 and 1914, European nations increasingly sought overseas empires in Africa. The majority of government officials leading the countries believed in colonization because they felt it necessary to gain and maintain a global influence. Some people during the time period were concerned over African colonization and deemed it as the result of overly greedy capitalists searching for new markets. However, a third faction believed in a more radical approach, that colonization was needed to civilize the “barbaric and backwards” peoples of Africa. While political leaders encouraged the colonization of Africa in order to promote their nation’s influence, others argued that it was merely a financial exploitation of a resource

Brazilwood was a key product for Portuguese trade. But the focus on timber would soon change. Cash crops in the form of sugar cane production became the focus. Slavery was needed for the growing of sugar cane and replaced the unsuccessful usage of native people for labor. “Regular slave trade between Brazil and Africa was begun in the 1550s as a temporary measure to replace the Indians decimated by war and disease, but it lasted for over 300 years, and the institution of slavery persisted until 1889, Brazil being the last country of the American hemisphere to abolish it.” The agricultural focus of sugar cane changed to coffee bean production in the late 19th century. As coffee began to take off, slavery was abolished. With the influx of Africans halted, foreign immigration was promoted. This would have a profound effect on the societal make-up of the colony. Mass migrations were already occurring as the Portuguese had established their minute South American empire. Between 1884 and 1920 three million immigrants, mainly Italian, entered the country. Portuguese, Germans, Italians, Spanish, Britons, the descendants of African slaves and the products of racial mixtures of Brazilian Indians, Europeans, and Africans would be the kin of those who football would become entrenched within.

In the early sixteenth century, the Portuguese began to colonize in Brazil as part of an overseas expansion plan that began along the western coast of Africa. Brazilian settlements had begun to manage the cultivation, manufacture, and marketing of sugarcane and sugar. Native American slaves was initially the labor foundation of which

As the logging industry was in high demand, another agricultural boom was taking place. Sugarcane became the next major export within Brazil. In 1530, as the Portuguese continued their efforts to control