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Colonization effects on africa
Colonization effects on africa
Colonization effects on africa
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The European economic system of mercantilism perhaps shaped the modern world more than any other factor to date. Countries who followed mercantilism sought to have an advantage over its competitors by having colonies and a steady flow of money and resources. Whilst the colonies grew poorer the mother country grew richer. European Consumerism and greed is a major driving factor as to why they colonized other parts of the world, and although it seemed like a great idea to the European countries it caused the destruction and downfall of many unique civilizations and cultures around the world. The European nations destroyed cultures and people around the world by exploitation, enslavement and by outright genocide. At first the Europeans were not …show more content…
Several European nations took advantage of the West African kingdoms there by trading them cheap goods like glass beads, guns and ammunition etc. for slave labour. Without slave labour the colonization of the West Indies and the Americas couldn’t have been sustained because the colonies needed fresh labour to keep going and expanding. The Europeans knew the things they supplied the Africans weren’t very valuable but they readily gave it to them because the Africans had never seen such things before and were impressed by them. In the beginning of the colonization era the Europeans were not strong enough to outright defeat the African nations so this exploitation helped them to weaken and eventually colonize them. By the 17th and 18th centuries Europe had fully began to colonize and dominate West Africa to their pleasure because they had been able to grow stronger and richer than their African counterparts. The Europeans moved inward and captured younger and stronger people which left the African west without enough strong able bodied people to upkeep their society. This was seen as an open invitation for all Europeans to further exploit and completely take over the nations by intensifying their efforts to change the Africans religion and culture and make them more
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.
Throughout the 19th century, European Imperialism had a major effect on Africa. As countries expanded in terms of wealth, resources, and innovation, more territory and workers were needed. The first solution to solve these problems was to begin colonizing in Africa. The driving force for imperialism in Europe and Africa was mainly economical. This economical approach was established through many ways including cultural and nationalistic ideas.
One of the main reasons Europeans colonized Africa was for their useful resources. There are countless assets in the African landscape that were wanted by other nations. The European countries had access to some of the worlds most needed resources such as cotton, oils, coal, gold, and diamonds because they controlled Africa. This is shown on a chart of African colonies and their exports. ("Selected African Colonies and Their Exports" 269). This shows how the European countries carefully selected the land they did, to get certain resources they needed or wanted to use to benefit from. Another chart from a book by Trevor Lloyd, (Lloyd, The British Empire), displays the large jump of exports to Africa from 1854 to 1900. What that means is once Great Britain established complete control of South Saharan Africa, they began to export the resources they found that they could use. These charts are proof of how the European's wanted resources, and that is one of the main reasons for the imperialization of Africa. Not only did the European nations want the continent's resources, but they had an equal hunger for power.
Africans felt the impact of European exploration through the slave trade, the rise of new nations, and the rise of European power in Africa. Europeans entered into the slave trade taking thousands of native Africans from their homelands. Due to profits gained from slave trade, many new African states were settled including the Asante Kingdom and Oyo Empire. Europeans like the British, French, and Dutch
Prior to the 19th century, the Europeans traded mainly for African slaves. It turns out they were not immune towards certain diseases and therefore had an increasing risk of becoming sick. For years to come this continued, but not much land was conquered. Eventually, conference between only the Europeans was held to divide up the land appropriately, and the scramble for Africa began. The driving forces behind European imperialism in Africa were expanding empires, helping natives, and natural resources.
According to the theory of mercantilism, the colonies only existed to serve the interests of Britain. But it seemed as if Britain was abusing their right over the colonies. They enforced many policies such as the Stamp Act, the Townshed Duties, and the Tea Act which caused many problems for the colonists. One problem that the colonists faced was the Stamp Act of 1765. This act imposed a new tax on legal documents, newspapers, playing cards and dice. The Americans did not agree with it. It was not the cost of the stamp that angered them, it was the principle. They had no say in what the British Parliament did. The tax provoked a fire storm of protests, and the boycotting of British goods began. Some colonists did not limit their protests to words. In several cities, groups of people attacked officials who defended British policy. The Stamp Act was not a good idea, and one year later it was repealed. But that wasn't the end. The Townshed Duties posed as another difficulty. These duties required the colonists to pay minor import duties on tea, lead, oil, papers and painter's colors. Since Britain had imposed unnecessary taxes on the colonies before, this was not new. John Dickinson encouraged protesters to join in the battle by writing the first twelve "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania". Protests began once again and cut British trade in half. Britain sent troops to be stationed in Boston to enforce the Townshed Duties, and the colonists refused to quarter the troops. The Townshed Duties were repealed in 1770, three years after it began. And three years after that, a new act arose. Parliament passed the Tea Act in an attempt to save the East India Company from bankruptcy and reassert its right to tax. A group of Boston patriots destroyed a shipment of tea in a protest known as the
Mercantilism and capitalism both have to do with money accumulation. Capitalism are businesses controlled by private owners. Since they own the business and the government doesn’t all the profit from the work they’ve done and the trades they’ve made goes to them. Mercantilism are countries that are exporting more goods than their importing. In 17th and 18th century this system was used by British government to restrict how the colonies spent their money. Capitalism is the making of the money in a country, and mercantilism is making money from other
When comparing and contrasting the Northern and Southern colonies throughout their development, it is vital to fully understand that each colony differed as a result of their reasons for settlement, geographic setting, and economic establishment; however, the colonies were additionally equivalent with regards to their social perceptions and standards of mercantilism.
Based on England’s salutary neglect toward the colonies, their policy of mercantilism, and the fact that no colonists were represented in Parliament, I would have signed the Declaration of Independence.
European colonialism was the period between 16th and mid-20th century. The triangle trade had emerged in the 16th century and slaves, sugar, furs, and cotton, enforced through military interventions, drew together the people, politics, economics, and even diseases of Europe, Africa, and the Americans in a triangle of previously unimaginable, highly unequal, and long-lasting relationships of exchange. Even today, we can find traces of many of these connections in the global economy for example, the French military operating in Côte d’Ivoire. So, the European colonialism played a pivotal role in establishing the framework for today’s global economic system.
Mercantile capitalism and mercantilist thought started off in the early times, specifically the 16th century to the 18th century. Trade was very much known among countries. As the years progressed, merchants, financiers, public administrators and the kings wanted to unify the country and end the opposition of nobles and landlords. To make sure the state’s power was effective internally, the security and stronghold of the Church and feudal aristocracy was implemented. As a result, the monarch seized the lands owned by the Church and tried to integrate feudal aristocracy into the system and at the same time provided the Church with economic opportunities within the world of trade. As time passed, the new mercantile system allied itself with the
Religion, disease, and technology are three of the biggest factors of these impacts. We can see the very same kind of influences on other explorations such as in the scramble for Africa. The Europeans tried to take Africa for its resources and even its people for commercial use. Some Europeans tried to make Africans convert to their religion, others gave some diseases (which was rare due to Africans having strong immunities), and some Europeans use technology to gain resources of just push their way through the natives and show power over them. Colonization did lay the roots for the globalization of the world. There were good and bad ways people gained ways colonies were formed yet mostly for the greater good. We must never forget the voices of the natives and their culture. To globalize the world we must respect other cultures and not try to annihilate them for selfish
Mercantilism Essay England in the 17th century adopted the policy of mercantilism, exercising control over the trade of the colonies, thus greatly affecting their political and economical development. Mercantilism was the policy in Europe throughout the 1500's to the 1700's where the government of the mother country controlled the industry and trade of other, weaker settlements with the idea that national strength and economic security comes from exporting more than what is imported. Possession of colonies provided the countries with sources of raw materials and markets for their manufactured goods. This system had political and economical repercussions on the inflicted because it inspired many new laws and acts for the colonies, and it restricted the colonies trade to England, reducing the revenue that the colonies received. The thirteen colonies were influenced by the mercantilism policy of England due to the numerous trading prohibitations and taxes that were placed on them and the goods they trafficked.
The colonization of Africa officially began in 1884 with the Berlin Conference. Western European powers began to split up the land and resources in Africa among themselves. This period of history became known as the Scramble for Africa. 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 found new ways to make money off of 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. Europeans used the term the "White Man's Burden," a concept used by white colonizers in order to impose their way of life on Africans within their colonies, to ...
In order to properly understand the effects of colonization, one must look at its history. Most of Africa was relatively isolated from Europe throughout early world history, but this changed during the 17th to the 20th centuries. Colonization efforts reached their peak between the 1870s and 1900 in the “Scramble for Africa” which left the continent resembling a jigsaw puzzle Various European powers managed to colonize Africa including Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, and Spain. This intense imperialist aggression had three major causes. The primary reason was simply for economic gain. Africa is refuge to vast, unexplored natural resources. European powers saw their opportunity and took it. Another motive was to spread the Christian religion to the non-Christian natives. The last major incentive was to demonstrate power between competing European nations. African societies did try to resist the colonial takeover either through guerilla warfare or direct military engagement. Their efforts were in vain, however, as by the turn of the century, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained not colonized. European powers colonized Africa according to the guidelines established by the Berlin Act (1885). Many of the colonized nations were ruled indirectly through appointed governor...