The White Man Conquers the Land. What is the Scramble for Africa? The late 19 th century scramble for control over Africa by competing powers.

The White Man Conquers the Land

What is the Scramble for

Africa?

• The late 19th century scramble for control over Africa by competing powers

European Relations with Africa Before the Scramble

• Slave trade• Trade• Missionaries • Trading Post Colonies

- colonies set up along the coast for trading• Conquest states

- military forced villagers to give up goods• Informal empires

- military and diplomatic rule

Why do you think the European Powers waited until the 19th century

to scramble to colonize Africa?

• Disease• Lack of knowledge of African terrain

and resources• Lack of technology

• So what changed this???

Disease

Disease• Before certain

breakthroughs in medicine, African explorers were plagued by disease and death, especially malaria

• Solution: Quinine

• Medicine used to prevent and treat malaria, became widespread in use in the 1850s

Lack of knowledge of African terrain

and resources

Lack of knowledge of African terrain and resources

Lack of knowledge of African terrain and resources

• Solution: European explorers, like David Livingstone, who helped to map out Africa and its resources

• Scottish missionary and explorer, • helped to open up Africa to other

Europeans with his great exploration of parts of the continent.

Lack of Technology

Lack of Technology

Solution: Expansion overseas pushed by industrialization, in the form of…

1. Steam navigation

Before

After

2. Railroads

3. Telegraphs

Berlin Conference of 1884-85• In 1884, fourteen ministers of European countries and

the United states met to decide some ground rules for exploiting Africa.

• But why?

Disputes Over the Congo

Leopold II

• King of Belgium

• In 1879-84, before the conference, secretly sent Henry Morton Stanley on “humanitarian efforts”

• By 1882, Stanley had obtained over 900,000 square miles by treaties

France and Portugal

• While Stanley explored, a French marine also traveled the west basin of the Congo and put a flag up

• Portugal also had “rights” to the land due to past treaties

After the Conference

Each country ruled its colonies differently

• Britain mainly ruled by indirect rule

• France mainly opted for creating French elites and spreading its ideals

• Portugal preferred direct, harsh rule

• Leopold II, who personally owned the Congo, is known to have ruled ruthlessly

By 1914