In the period of 1880 to 1914, positive and negative attitudes ascended throughout the acquisition of African colonies. Some thought that it would reinforce Europe's economy and government, others supposed it would add pressures to Europe; it end up being a benefit to the economy, strengthen the nation and civilizing Africa. Motivations would be up brought upon the vague consideration about this dilemma.…
A driving force behind European imperialism in Africa is political power. In document A, a map is shown, showing the number of African colonies dominated by European countries. This shows Europe’s lust desire for power in Africa’s government because, the amount of land back then, meant the amount of political power one had of the African government.…
Winter 2013 – TR 6:00-7:20pm, McKenzie 214 – CRN 23274 Version 1.00, 7 Jan 2013 Professor: Dr. L. F. Braun Office: 311 McKenzie Hall Telephone: x6-4838 on-campus. Email: lfbraun@uoregon.edu Office hours: T 2:00-4:00pm & by appt. Overview and Objectives Africa is central to human history. It is the continent where our species arose, where some of the greatest ancient civilizations throve, and where dynamic, complex, and innovative cultures confronted a variety of social, political, and environmental challenges. Many African states and societies were materially wealthier than their European counterparts until the 1700s, and Africa has always been connected— however tenuously at times—to the wider world. Yet in the popular, Eurocentric historical imagination in the U.S. and Europe, there is sparse knowledge of Africa’s history, and it was rarely even considered a subject for historical study until the 1950s. For the period before European political dominion in Africa (c.1880-1960), this lack is even more pronounced. In this course we will explore the history of Africa between the 800s and the late 1800s, while at the same time discovering the…
The 19th century was one of the most important time periods that helped shape the world into what it is today. Western European powers, such as Great Britain, Germany, and France, strongly believed in the notion that in order to gain more dominant global power, they would have to conquer new lands across the globe and exploit the territories’ resources. Throughout the early and mid 1800s, the nations of Western Europe upheld imperialism, conquering and exploiting foreign lands in Asia and South America. Unfortunately, one major problem remained in the way of global imperialism; Africa, a continent rich in resources, could not be infiltrated because of strong resistance by the natives, foreign disease, and difficult terrain. Nevertheless, in the 1880s, Western Europe became more advanced and had the capability of conquering Africa; the scramble for Africa was on. In 1884-85, the Berlin Conference was held in Germany; this was a diplomatic meeting where the nations of Western Europe divided Africa among themselves. Each nation was given separate holdings in Africa, and the issue of land in Africa was solved. However, a major problem overlooked by the Europeans was that Africa had no say in the Berlin Conference. This resulted in many problems that would terrorize Africa for years to come; because Africans had no say in the dividing of their land, religious and political strife arose, and places such as the Congo faced detrimental and uninvited changes.…
The European colonized Africa for numerous reasons such as the medical advancement for malaria which was devastating the European population. During the industrial revolution, the Europeans perfected the gun which gave them an advantage over Africa. The European-built an empire in Africa by converting them to Christianity and introducing two types of government, direct rule, and indirect rule. They established missionaries that change the culture and religion which resulted in modern schools and hospitals. Compared to the direct rule and the indirect rule, the direct rule caused more problems than the indirect rule because the original society was left alone.…
1) By the late 1800 century Europe countries including Germany, Great Britain France and Italy known as the superpowers had gained an immense amount of power because at the time they had colonized many states around the world and with no surprise they were greedy for more. The Europeans countries were in search of new land, wealth and the desire to explore the world. It was an attempt to expand and develop Europe’s Imperialism, however think that quickly escalated into a race to capture the most land and the superpowers set out to compete. One main interest for the Europeans was Africa. It became a target because the vast continent had so much to offer including gold, diamonds and endless territory in which the Europeans could establish…
Life in Africa isn’t what it seems, they have this driving force behind European imperialism. All in all European nations competed with one another for control within the nations. The driving force behind European imperialism in Africa was imports, exports, technology, and malaria.…
European imperialism has shaped the world over and over many times, acquiring many colonies throughout the globe. The colonization of Africa was no different for the Europeans. The need for raw materials motivated Europeans to acquire new lands in order to provide resources for their industrialized economies. The strong sense of a burden to civilize and enlighten others became the perspective for the approach of colonization.…
Benefits to Africa as a result of imperialism were plentiful. A primary document, “Does Colonization Pay”, details the many improvements made to the continent; Africa was home to innumerable, rich resources. As a result, Europe was able to utilize these as raw materials, and return the money to Africa. The money was also used to bring the people of Africa food supply, as well as other supplies that were much needed. Besides this, these nations created “roads, canals, railways, and telegraphs”, along with “schools and newspapers” (Document 1). As displayed by the information, imperialism was seen to have profound effects on Africa. Not only did they utilize the rich resources to supply economic gain to the continent, but also significantly developed the continent by providing means of transportation, education, and a source of news. Unfortunately, these benefits were not of significant value due to the immense oppression experienced by the people of Africa during the age of imperialism.…
The one key reason European leaders even bothered with Africa is that they knew resources would come and they would earn back money, and gain more money, while doing so. European leaders went to Africa to get gold. Gold was used in things such as jewelry. They wanted slaves, although slavery became outlawed.They hoped to either sell or make industrial and economic uses out of the minerals and other materials. Back in Document D, it was stated everything they hoped to achieve industrial wise. Europeans also wanted exports / imports to further…
Throughout the imperial conquests of Africa, Europeans in general held very low opinions of those that they dominated. Instead viewing the native African people as sub-human, or tools if they were particularly fond of an individual. While Heart of Darkness presents itself as anti-imperial, Marlow, and by extension Conrad still display an astonishingly undesirable view of the tribes assisting himself and Kurtz. For example, there exists an International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs that Kurtz writes a report for. To Marlow it is an elegant paper that he cannot help but praise for its elegance. The contents of this paper suggest that the Europeans, to, “exert a power for good,” must appear as gods, deities, and supernatural beings…
European Nations wanted more land, power, and natural resources. They got this by conquering and colonizing new lands. Africa was not colonized, making the continent a prime area for colonization. Prior to the 19th century European nations only used Africa for its slave trade, therefore, only settling on the coasts. The driving forces behind these European conquests in Africa were caused by political, cultural, and economic reasons.…
There are several reasons why the European nations competed with each other to gain colonies in Africa. They all wanted to gain power and prestige. The more territory that they were able to control in Africa the more powerful and important they thought they could become. Africa was tremendously rich in natural resources, which could be brought to Europe and turned into manufactured goods. Europeans also needed markets for their manufactured goods. These goods could be sold in Africa for large profits. Often a European nation would take over territory in Africa simply to prevent another European country from taking it.…
How has the scramble for Africa affected Africans? Europeans have always been known to take over many territories. For example, the British have expanded their empire to Australia, Asia, and even the Americas. Although these changes have made what the world is today, nothing has changed more than Africa. Before Colonialism occurred, Africa traded with other parts of the world for centuries (RP #1). In the nineteenth century, the Europeans started to notice that Africa could be a “gold mine” for their own economy. As more Europeans started to invade Africa, much of Imperialism took place. The two main reasons for Imperialism and Colonialism in Africa were for trade and territorial control.…
Imperialism often happens to be done by means of large countries with power and status. Some strong countries who tried colonizing another country believed that the world should be moving in one big harmony with no differences between cultures, but the majority believed that Imperialism is the practice of maintaining an empire. The mother country, the country that colonizes other territories, uses the colonies it took power over in its empire to get raw materials and markets. Some colonized countries benefited from this act but many others were influenced obstructively, countless governments were affected economically and culturally in the light of the fact of the poor choices other countries have chosen. Imperialism has affected countries…