EUROPEAN COLONIALISM IN EUROPEAN COLONIALISM IN AFRICA AFRICA THE CARVING UP OF AFRICA World Cultures AFRICA UNIT
Dec 29, 2015
EUROPEAN COLONIALISM EUROPEAN COLONIALISM IN AFRICAIN AFRICA
THE CARVING UP OF AFRICA
World CulturesAFRICA UNIT
REASONS FOR THE SLAVE TRADEREASONS FOR THE SLAVE TRADE
STUDENTS RESONSE TEACHER NOTESResources and minerals
Gold, Ivory, Diamonds, Peanut Oil, Salt, Cocoa…and of course, SLAVES.
EFFECTS OF THE SLAVE TRADE EFFECTS OF THE SLAVE TRADE
STUDENTS RESONSE TEACHER NOTESNew world (Americas) accepting of slavery and culture of inferiority
Families in Africa ripped apart
Violence among neighboring tribes (remember, they have guns now)
Healthy, strong males no longer available
Bringing an end to Slavery Bringing an end to Slavery
By the 1800’s, many European nations begin passing anti-slave laws
So, why does Slavery So, why does Slavery slow down….slow down….
1. Before 1800’s most work was done by hand!
2. Post 1800’s work is done in factories by machines!
CUT COSTS BY GETTING CHEAP AND OFTEN FREE MATERIALS…FROM YOUR COLONY!
IndustrialRevolutionIndustrialRevolution
Source forRaw
Materials
Source forRaw
Materials
Markets forFinishedGoods
Markets forFinishedGoods
EuropeanNationalismEuropean
Nationalism
MissionaryActivity
MissionaryActivity
Military& NavalBases
Military& NavalBases
EuropeanMotives
For Colonization
EuropeanMotives
For Colonization
Places toDump
Unwanted/Excess Pop.
Places toDump
Unwanted/Excess Pop.
Soc. & Eco.Opportunities
Soc. & Eco.Opportunities
HumanitarianReasons
HumanitarianReasons
EuropeanRacism
EuropeanRacism
“WhiteMan’s
Burden”
“WhiteMan’s
Burden”
SocialDarwinism
SocialDarwinism
Social DarwinismUsing the Greeks as
the most purest form of humanity, Europeans used race based decisions about the inequality of Africans based on their physical characteristics
This illustration from the 19th century reflects the racist aspirations of its time. A black person is on the same tree with a chimp, a gorilla and an orangutan. This hatred and disdain against blacks was an important element of the Nazi ideology.
Cecil RhodesCecil Rhodes
Wealthy businessman
Believed in racial supremacy
Wanted a British Empire in Africa
So…after the Europeans established colonies in the NEW WORLD and ASIA, they turned their interests to colonizing AFRICA
Berlin Conference of 1884-1885
Another point of view?
1. No Africans
2. Made and accepted boundaries
3. Sent surveyors to map routes
for roads and railroads
Except: Liberia & Ethiopia
In November 1884, Otto von Bismarck
of Germany convened a 14-nation conference.
(Berlin Conference)
Doctor Livingstone, I Presume?
Dr. David LivingstoneExplored Central Africa along the Nile River and disappeared for 11 years. Sir Henry Mortan Stanley found him. Named Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria.
Sir Henry Morton Stanley
The Congo Free State or
The Belgian Congo
The Congo Free State or
The Belgian Congo
The state included the entire area of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo and existed from 1885 to 1908, when it was annexed by the government of Belgium. Immensely profitable, the Congo Free State eventually earned infamy due to the brutal mistreatment of native peoples and plunder of natural resources.
King Leopold II(1865 – 1909)
King Leopold II(1865 – 1909)
Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians through a dummy non-governmental organization, the Association Internationale Africaine.
5-8 Million Victims! (50% of Popul.)
It is blood-curdling to see them (the soldiers) returning with the hands of the slain, and to find the hands of young children amongst the bigger ones evidencing their bravery...The rubber from this district has cost hundreds of lives, and the scenes I have witnessed, while unable to help the oppressed, have been almost enough to make me wish I were dead... This rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to rise and sweep every white person on the Upper Congo into eternity, there would still be left a fearful balance to their credit. -- Belgian Official
What impact did this have on What impact did this have on the African people?the African people?POSITIVES NEGATIVES
SanitationHospitals LiteracyNew languages
Lost land and independence
SmallpoxFamine because of cash
cropsBreakdown of
traditional cultureDivision of the African
continent created artificial boundaries
In addition to practical matters of economics and politics, the new imperialism was motivated by cultural attitudes.
• European imperialists felt superior to non-European peoples
• Some began to argue humanity should be divided into distinct peoples and races
• Claimed biological differences existed between races
• Racist view — people of European descent superior to people of African, Asian descent
Cultural Motives• As result, some Europeans
believed rule in Africa is justified
• Teaching Africans good government
• Some imperialists believed actions noble, their duty to educate those considered inferior
• Referred to their influence in Africa as “the white man’s burden,” after poem by Rudyard Kipling
Rule Justified
Cultural Motives
In the 1880s, driven by economic, political and cultural motives, Europeans began to compete for additional territory in Africa.
• Africa, huge continent, rugged terrain; travel, control difficult
• 1800s, scientific advances made travel, control in Africa easier
Scientific Advances
• Discovery of drug quinine helped Europeans protect selves against malaria
• Automatic machine gun created strong military advantage
Protection
• Development of telegraphs, railroads, steamships helped Europeans overcome problems of communication, travel
New Developments
European Claims in Africa