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

19th Century Industrial Revolution in

Europe!

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

If the people of Africa are so different,

what purpose will they have

with European goods?

So…after the Europeans established colonies in the NEW WORLD and ASIA, they turned their interests to colonizing AFRICA

Competition over colonies leads to Competition over colonies leads to violenceviolence

The Belgium Congo and King The Belgium Congo and King LeopoldLeopold

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

Modern Medicine “Quinine”Modern Medicine “Quinine”

Why were Europeans able to imperialize?

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.

Harvesting Rubber

Punishing “Lazy” Workers

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

Leopold’s Conscience??

All Europeans wanted a piece of Africa

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