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Describe the scramble for Africa
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The European Scramble for Africa
During the “European scramble for Africa”, European nations unleashed horrors on Africa which included forced labor and unnecessary punishments. In response, Africa attempted to compromise, but many of the negotiations fell through. Africa then reacted by taking action. After this attempt failed, Africa succumbed to the European Powers’ commands.
Africa’s first response to Europe was trying to make a compromise. For example, some chiefs of Africa tried to sign a treaty with the Royal Niger Company, which is “commissioned by the British government to administer and develop the Niger River Delta and surrounding areas” (Royal Niger Company). The contact stated that they could not engage in war with African tribes while maintaining local autonomy and customs. Furthermore, this contract demanded that the Royal Niger Company would have to pay owners for land that they acquire. In return Europe could utilize their land as long as the terms of the agreement were upheld. Ultimately, the compromise was never signed. Another contract includes Prempeh I, an Ashanti leader, declining the British’s offer of protectorate status, which would grant land to Great Britain. In response to the offer of protectorate status, Prempeh I declared, “Ashanti must remain as of old and at the same time remain friendly with all White men” (Prempeh I). Naturally, tribal groups would not want protectorate status, as they feared local laws, customs, and traditions would be lost. Africa would rather remain autonomous while keeping intact their local way of life in the midst of remaining friendly with all “white men.” In the end, peaceful, diplomatic negotiations failed, which resulted in other violent means.
After the many failed at...
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...attles on the Congo River. They fled into the forest because the fighting got so gruesome. He recalls that when they returned to the village he saw “brothers, dead, bleeding, our village plundered and burned, and the river full of dead bodies” (Mojimba). After this battle, the village was completely decimated and many people were killed. After this battle and many others like it, the citizen’s hopes were dwindling and Africa soon realized that they couldn’t win. Eventually, they surrendered.
In conclusion, Africa faced many difficulties throughout the “European scramble for Africa.” These struggles initiated actions and reactions from Africa, which included compromising, taking action, and ultimately surrender to Europe. The actions and reactions were a very critical part in the scramble because without them, African and European history would have been altered.
"What Caused the Scramble for Africa?" About.com African History. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013. .
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting a land grab on the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economic, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation. Europe in this period was a world of competing countries. Britain had a global empire to lead, France had competition with Britain for wealth and so did other nations like Germany and Russia.
Conquest and colonization has always played a role in the history of European powers. Throughout the centuries many different European empires have attempted to make their mark on multiple different continents. Some have found success, while others have failed. One case in particular, in which European nations could not quite find stability, was in North America. Factors such as the American Revolution, U.S. westward expansion, and the Monroe Doctrine pushed European nations out of North America. Afterwards, the late 19th century marked the beginning of New Imperialism. As New Imperialism began, Africa became important to European nations in their “Scramble for Africa”.
African encounters with European nationals affected the Africans immensely—yet what affected the Africans had far-reaching effects on the Europeans as well. Case in point: ammunition boxes. Had Arabs and Europeans not made inroads into Africa and the lives of its people with technology, language, religion, and culture Africa would still be the “Dark Continent” and the rest of the world would be in the dark as well. After all, we would not have peanut butter.
The Scramble for Africa occurred because as the slave trade ended, capitalists saw Africa as a continent that they could now exploit through legitimate trade. European capitalists have found new ways to make money off the continent. With greater exploration of the continent, even more valuable resources were found. The encouragement of legitimate trade in Africa brought Europeans flocking to colonize Africa. Africa lost their independence, and along with it, their control over their natural resources.
A. Adu Boahen's African Perspectives on Colonialism neatly classifies African responses to European colonialism during both phases of invasion and occupation during the 19th century with precise labels according to their nature or time period. However, the reactions can also be loosely grouped into two diametric characterizations: peaceful and violent. Although creating this dichotomy seems a gross generalization and oversimplification of the colonial African experience, it more importantly allows for a different perspective- one that exposes the overwhelming success of the typically peaceful or pacifist reaction in contrast to the little gain and large losses of the violent response.
A major cause regarding Africa being colonized by Europe is the need to have a powerful country and economy. According to the Partition of Africa Map, Africa has no major independence except a small piece of land below the Sahara Desert. The
In conclusion, during the 15th and 16th centuries Europeans visited the Atlantic Coast in the African states to observe for gold and silvers. They took advantage of the Africans to get their desires when the Africans acknowledged them to be equal which drove into Africa’s downfall.
During the late 19th century and the early 20th century many of the European nations began their scramble for Africa which caused Many Africans to suffer from violence like wars, slavery and inequality. Although the Europeans felt power as though they were doing a great cause in the African continent during the Scramble for Africa; Africans had many reactions and actions including factors as rebellion for freedom, against the white settlers and violent resistance.
As the 20th century approached, more and more countries grew desperate for land, resulting in an imperialistic activity known as the Scramble for Africa. The European imperialists were motivated by three main factors; economic, political, and social. These factors made countries compete for power and eventually led to the scramble for African territory. Although economic expansion at times was a positive outcome of European imperialism in Africa, these positive effects are outweighed by negative outcomes such as loss of culture and independence.
In the late nineteenth century, early twentieth century, western nations wanted to expand their territory. After the industrial revolution provided western Nations wealth and technology that could be used to take over less advanced societies. European powers proceeded on building empires in Africa. They found Africa to be home of many valuable natural resources they needed to fuel they industries, and supply cheap raw materials for factories. They wanted new markets where they could trade good produce by factories, and a place to invest profits. European Nations also wanted to spread Christianity, and though themselves to be superior. Meanwhile, powerful industrialized European countries wanted to gain powers by building overseas Empires. Through economic and military powers, European was able to colonize, and dominate Africa. European Imperialism had a negative impact on African’s culture; environment and was racist to African while trying to make them adapt to western manners.
The Web. November 22, 2010 http://web.ebscohost.com>. Hargreaves, John. The. “The Scramble for Africa.”
Africa’s struggle to maintain their sovereignty amidst the encroaching Europeans is as much a psychological battle as it is an economic and political one. The spillover effects the system of racial superiority had on the African continent fractured ...
The Scramble for Africa was a period of time where major European countries fought over and colonized land in Africa, stretching from South Africa to Egypt. The scramble for Africa began shortly after the slave trade, and ended at WW1, and is a strong representation of the ‘New Imperialism’. The first country to act was Belgium, who colonized Congo at 1885, but soon, other countries such as Portugal and Great Britain joined in in order to not miss out. Firstly, the European could not colonize Africa easily, due to Africa’s giant land mass and the diseases that spread throughout the land. But then, came the Steam train, Maxim guns and new cures for diseases that paved the way for the Europeans to control Africa. Since one of the reasons Europeans wanted to colonize Africa was that they wanted to ‘civilize’ the people, the leader of Germany, Otto Von Bismarck, decide that they have a conference to split the land and not fight each other. Soon, in 1914, nearly all African countries were colonized by Europeans except for Ethiopia and Liberia. Different countries had different styles of colonization. For example, France was less eager to let the African chiefs take control of their colonies than Britain, who set up a African Government to their colonies. Basically, the scramble for Africa was a period of time when European countries colonized Africa.
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.