French, Belgian, And British Imperialism In Africa

Although Africa managed to prevent the majority of Europe from navigating and invading African land for 400 years, suddenly the French began to take control over West Africa which thus lead more European countries to compete for land. Unfortunately, while establishing colonies, they neglected the fact that Africa had consisted of hundreds of ethnic groups, therefore forcing some together and splitting others apart. Over a half dozen countries including the French, Belgian, and British began imperializing in hopes to influence and improve Africa while giving them the chance to flourish, however this also lead to changing Africa's political, economic, and social life. Imperialism in Africa significantly altered the lives of many after the Europeans

invaded. With the intentions of economic and territorial growth while at the same time spreading their culture and religion, African imperialism consequently lead to negative impacts including rivalry and a destroyed African culture, however, new technological advancements, education, and an increased lifespan ultimately proves certain aspects benefited from imperialism over time.
With industrialization causing European nations to desire an abundant amount of goods and industrial products, they began to explore African land with the aspiration to increase both resources and money.

Therefore, Africa’s extremely rich resources for minerals caused them to become intrigued as they thought about the possibilities and amount of raw materials they could bring. Other than money, their ambition evoked a need for for control, land, and power. The British authority indirectly controlled Nigeria to create future leaders and avoid rebellion. Slavery in parts of the West African coast was outlawed by the British in order to gain assistance in overpowering more land. In a different manner, others such as the French and German controlled their colonies with direct control and used paternalism and assimilation. To spread christianity and introduce European rule and civilization, they demanded African Americans to abandon their authority figures, cultures, and customs, thus overall changing their

lifestyles.
Unfortunately, many lives were lost after natives fought against the British in order to preserve their independence and resist the Europeans control.
While the French believed they were benefiting everyone, the majority of the short term effects from imperialising Africa were negative. With European nations such as Portugal, Germany, Britain, and France dominating most of Africa, tention was created after family members and groups were divided and rivals were forced to live together in the national boundaries. Along with illogical boundaries, some African Americans died due to smallpox and other diseases brought by the British. Not only were people dying from battles and diseases, but there was an unfortunate decrease in both food and occupations. This is because Europeans focused on materials for the industrialization, thus replacing food crops with cash-crops and with the British’s arrival, many job were occupied, forcing Africans to leave elsewhere in an attempt to support their families. On the other hand, European domination and military control allowed warfare between ethnic and tribal groups to decrease. Similar to many other aspects in life, African imperialism may have seemed to bring only negative effects, however, some of the results were positive.
Eventually, benefits from imperialism became more noticeable as Africans, excluding Ethiopia, subsequently began to realize their rebellions lead nowhere and as colonies received better education that lead to improved literacy rates and medical care that eventually increased people's lifespan.

New advancements in technology brought into the country without a question made critical improvements possible. In the past, Africa remained slightly isolated from the other countries, although with the introduction of industrialization, economic expansion flourished and improved as colonies became prosperous in the international market. The French’s intentions to influence and alter African American culture into their own was bitter sweet. While they consequently lead to the demise of some religions and customs, they helped spread christianity. Cultural imperialism allowed people to begin thinking democratically as they started to accept European culture and values. The reason being that with new belief systems spreading, people started to form positive values and begin believing in political and equal rights. Europeans significantly impacted those they conquered by bringing technological improvement which lead to new factories, schools, hospitals, and transportation, unfortunately, their educational system further destroyed old traditions and

customs.
Europeans essentially invaded Africa and altered their life completely with changes in conjunction with new borders that interrupted their current living situations and an establishment to a entirely different political, economic, and social life. With loss of land and independence, Africans despised the thought of being controlled by French, British, Belgian, and other European countries, therefore causing many acts of resistance that were ultimately unsuccessful and only resulted in deaths. However, even with the countless negative effects that resulted from imperialism, several positives came from European domination that continues to influence today’s society. For instance, imperialism brought advanced technology and different cultures to new parts of the world. The imperialistic period proved to significantly reshape African lives, and while some methods unfortunately caused misery, others over time improved certain aspects of the country.