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Effects of imperialism on africa
European imperialism in African
European imperialism in African
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Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. In 1870, the European powers took over the African Congo and enslaved the natives. Moreover, they were forced to work the land, so the Europeans could obtain the products they needed by using a cheap labor force to turn around and sell them at a profit. These products included such commodities as rubber, diamonds and coffee (A New World Order: Imperialism and World War I). Unfortunately, the people of the Congo were beaten, over worked, raped, and even killed by the European powers if they did not do their job correctly or if they refused to do their task entirely. Eventually, the enslaved people were tired of struggling for survival and fought back with all the power they could find within their community. At first, the European imperialist’s motives appeared pure but in reality the era was a reign of terror. The horrors of imperialism were eventually exposed and the world reacted with outrage. The Belgian Congo, located in the interior of the African continent became extremely attractive to the Europeans. “Beginning in the 1870s, Europeans brought much of the world under their influence and control. The new imperialisms exploded out of a combination of causes.” (Esler 564) As a result of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, some of the world’s most powerful nations experienced a change in economics. There was a shift in the economy from farming to mass production, and what followed was an economic depression. “Africa provided a source of cheap raw materials for the factories while providing the customers for products manufactured in Europe” (http://project... ... middle of paper ... ...an them out of the area. Though this worked fairly well for the Africans, the Mashona started to fight against Ndebele which resulted in the spread of the immune crippling dieses, small pox, amongst the tribe and setting them at a huge disadvantage. The use of violence was not always used to resist the European powers, sometimes the women of the tribe would participate in these movements that protested against the British (African Resistance to Colonial Rule). They simply used their words instead of violence to fight the British. Due to the fact that more and more men were giving in to the European powers the women had no other choice but to stand up and use the power they had. Sometimes the protests would end in mortality due to the rumors spread by local colonial administration that made the women of the protest tell others that resulted in their death.
Imperialism is when a big country takes over a smaller country to gain more land and materials. The age of imperialism started in the 1870’s when European countries started making empires in Asia, Africa, and the middle east. Algeria is a small country in Africa that was taken over by France in the 1830’s. In 1847 the Algerians wanted their land back so they fought for control but the French defeated the Muslim leader Abd al-Qadir and gained control of the land. Algeria had many positive and negative effects because of imperialism that shaped its culture, society and government. (Dipiazzia 66).
In many accounts of the Africans, the Africans were in disagreement with the European's Scramble for Africa. Ndansi Kumalo an African veteran wrote in 1896 if many of them to give or keep their land. In a distrustful and agony tone he spoke of how the poor treatment of the Africans in the Ndebele rebellion against the British advances in South America to convince many others not to stay because it has impacted many Africans and many died in the process of it. He says “So we surrendered to the White people and were told to go back to our homes and live our usual lives and attend to our crops. They came and were overbearing. We were ordered to carry their clothes and bundles (Doc.4).” A German military officer in 1896 wrote in a newspaper article about the reactions of the Africans about the white settlers. In an awed tone he wrote about the 1906 account of the Maji Maji Rebellion in German East Africa and to give an example of how the Africans believed in a magic medicine would help them defend themselves against the white settlers (Doc.8). Mojimba an African chief in 1907 described a battle in 1877 on the Congo River against British and African mercenaries to a German catholic missionary. In an appalled and hateful tone he used this description to show that these whi...
By 1885, little to no independent countries existed throughtout the whole African continent. This was due to the imperialism done by strong European countries. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and Spain are to blame. There are many possible contributing factors as to why the European countries decided to completely carve up Africa, split it up, imperialize the whole of the continent. Because of the need for resources Africa could supply, the European desire for power, and the European's reaction to the White Man's burden, they took control of almost every square mile in Africa through imperialization.
Imperialism is the domination of a weaker country by a stronger country. For instance Britain dominated India and China in the mid 1880s to the beginning of the 20th century. Imperialism has had both a positive and negative effects on the countries involved. Britain was imperialistic for many reasons, it could dominate because it had the technology and power to do so. They also needed land to acquire raw materials for growing markets.
Africa is a land of riches like no other, so as expected, European countries would have some sort of desire to conquer properties in whatever way they did. As stated in African Colonies and their Exports Chart, countless of natural resources are found in different areas in Africa. Not only does the data show plenty of resources, but also a variety (Doc D). This confirms that Africa is a wealthy land that Europeans grew fond of and hoped to take over. Specified in Imports and Exports Graph, following the 1900’s, after the conference to divide up Africa was held, Britain decided to use Africa’s natural resources and specialize in many industries. The imports doubled from 4 million pounds, while the exports boosted from 2.5 million all the way to 21 million pounds (Doc. E). With this lucrative increase in trading and selling, it is fair to conclude that not only were resources a factor of beginning imperialism in Africa, but also a successful result.
Imperialism is when a mother nation takes over another nation and become its colony for political, social, and economical reasons. Imperialism is a progressive force for both the oppressors (mother country) and the oppressed (colony), majorly occurring during the late 19th and early 20th century. It had more negative effects than positive effects due to its domination to other nations.
It is widely debated why exactly King Leopold decided to conquer the Congo, but the general consensus seems to be that it was out of the belief that “the highlands of the Congo may be as rich in gold as the mountains of the western slope of the American Continent” (Stead). In the mid-1870s, the King hired Henry Stanley, who was familiar with many parts of Africa, to help him go about conquering. During the following years Stanley stayed in Africa, talking various tribes into signing over their lands and rights. After this was completed the King officially took over the Congo, renaming it the Congo Free State. This was especially ironic because all natives of the country were either forced to give up their way of life in exchange for virtual slavery in the ivory trade, agriculture, or the rubber traffic, or die trying to escape fate. Leopold was undeterred by the amount of suffering and death in the Congo, brought on by his rule. Belgian soldiers and officials were known for their cruelty in their methods to make, and then keep, Congo natives wo...
Imperialism is the practice by which powerful nations or peoples seek to extend and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples. By the 1800’s, the Western powers had advantages in this process. They led the world in technological advances, giving them a dominance when conquering other countries. The European Imperialists made attempts to conquer China and Japan. In this process, they succeeded by influencing Japan greatly. However, they were not as successful with China.
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.
The beginning of colonization also marks the beginning of decolonization. From the day the colonists start exploiting the colonized people and belittling the colonized people for the colonists' self-aggrandizement, the colonized ones have been prepared to use violence at any moment to end the colonists' exploitation (Fanon, 3).Decolonization is violent, there is a necessity for violence. This is a point that is repeated again and again throughout The Battle of Algiers and The Wretched of the Earth. Here, the focus will be on The Battle of Algiers to discuss the violence of
According to T.O. Ranger in “Revolt in Southern Rhodeisa”, the first Chimurenga, which occurred from 1896-1897, was an uprising in response to the imposition of colonial rule in Southern Rhodesia, present-day Zimbabwe (ix). The Nbele and Shona people resisted the colonial rule and in return endured a complex set of struggles over land and cattle and taxes. The inability and unwillingness of the Euroopeans to understand the Nbele and Shona people’s culture and religion misguides perceptions of events and views of their behavoior and actions (2). Terrance mentions during the colonial rule, many Europeans thought the people of Africa were content with the new administration and misunderstood the reaction of the “African pople of Southern Rhodesia to colonial rule…, this misunderstanding arose…partly out of white ignorance of the history of the Shona and the Ndebele…Edwards [confessed ],we knew nothing of their past history, who they were or where they came from, and although many of the Native commissioners had…knowledge of their language, none of us really understood the people or could follow their line of thought, we… looked down on them as a downtrodden race who were grateful to the white man for protection” (2). The Europeans did not treat them as equals because they saw them as dependent and thought of their lives as meaningless. They believed the Shona and Ndebele people had no roots or culture and therefore had no history. Terrance Ranger mentions “the whites believed that the Shona people would not rebel because they believed that the Shona had no roots, no sense of history; no sense of religion,…no way of life worth fighting and dying for” (2). The African people of these cultures were seen as inferior by the Europeans...
This author discusses the impact of King Leopold on the Congo. King Leopold, king of the Belgians, went to the Congo for “philanthropic” reasons. King Leopold fooled everyone that he was in the Congo for the right reasons. People believed the King because of his Catholic faith. In the Congo, King Leopold established Socialism and made many laws that turned into horrible circumstances. For example, he issued a order that all the rubber and ivory was to be property of the State. Every village was required to collect a certain amount of rubber. If the men were unsuccessful in bringing all the rubber, the King would take the women and hold them hostage. Leopold also sent cannibals into the village to frighten the inhabitants. To stop the waste
Imperialism is a state policy, practice, or promotion of extending power and control. More specifically by directly claiming the land or by gaining the political and economic control of the areas around it. Imperialism has often been seen as ...
Imperialism is the domination by one country of political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region and occurred during the 1800’s in Africa. Imperialism in Africa was caused by four factors in Europe: economy, politics/military, humanitarian/religion, and Social Darwinism (Ellis). The Industrial Revolution in Europe caused the need for oversea expansion because the manufacturers needed things like: rubber, petroleum, and palm oil all of which Africa had. Europe moving into Africa was also caused by nationalism, when France went into Africa so did Britain (Ellis). The difference between France and Britain was the way of rule they used. There are four different methods of imperialism: direct, indirect, protectorate, and sphere of influence. The most popular were direct and indirect. The French used direct, they sent officials and soldiers from France to administer their colonies and their purpose was to inflict French culture on their colonies and make them into French provinces (Ellis). The British, however, used indirect, they used chiefs to oversee their colonies and encouraged the children in the colonies to get education in Britain. The British “Westernized” their colonies and only used military force when threatened (Ellis).
Throughout history, imperialism has led countries to extend their rule over weaker countries and then colonized those countries to expand their own power. Imperialism allows the ruling countries to use the weaker countries for their resources. Colonizing other countries would then lead to growth and a better reputation for the dominating country. There are many examples of imperialism throughout European history. When many European countries “scrambled” for Africa, it seemed as though Africa had no say in anything. During the 19th century, Europe found a way to use Africa for their own growth and power. Using Africa for their resources, the Europeans colonized Africa without a second thought. European imperialism in Africa had a negative impact because of social disarray, cultural loss, and death it caused.