the conquest of africa africa. europeans on the coast the atlantic slave trade began in the 1500s...

The Conquest of Africa

Africa

Europeans on the Coast

• The Atlantic Slave trade began in the 1500s and ended in the late 1800s.

• N. Africa Europeans traded for gold from the empires of Ghana and Mali and for salt from the Sahara

• After 1500 Europe began as trade equals, but it turned into the enslavement and forced migration of millions of Africans.


• The African slave trade ended in the 1800s

• Europeans wanted Africa’s natural resources

• By 1900, European countries had divided Africa among themselves

• In the 1400s, Portuguese explorers began exploring the coast of W. Africa.


• They wanted to trade directly for W. African gold and ivory, instad of dealing with N. African merchants.

• They also wanted to trade with Asia• Portuguese used a lateen sail (a triangle-shaped

sail designed in N. Africa.• Lateen sail allowed ships to sail against the wind

as well as with it.• Astrolabe—helped sailors naivigate at sea• Portuguese sailors became the first Europeans

to travel south along Africa’s coasts


• 1st both Africans and Europeans traded together as equals.

• Africans traded gold, cotton, ivory, skins, metal objects, and pepper.

• Europeans traded copper, brass, and clothing.

• Europeans brought corn, cassava, and yams from the Americas

• Some Africans became Christians


• 1498—three Portuguese ships rounded the tip of Southern Africa and sailed north along Africa’s east coast– The wealth of the e. African city-states

amazed the Portuguese– More ships followed to seize the riches of the

city-states– Portugal controlled trad3 on E. Africa’s coast

until the 1600s


• The Dutch, French, and English soon followed the Portuguese– They set up trading posts along Africa’s

coasts– The Dutch built a trading post on the cape of

Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip – Settlers arrived, moved inland, building homes

and farms

The African Slave Trade

• Slvery was common in Africa– Slaves usually won their freedom after a few

years– Some became important citizens among the

people who had enslaved them– Slaves could be bough out of slavery by their

own people.

The Atlantic Slave Trade

• European powers began to build colonies in North and South America– Practiced a new type of slavery there– Europeans treated slaves like property– Freedom in the future was out of the question– African slave trade did not end until the 1800s

• The Demand for Slaves– Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch settlers in the

Americas needed workers for their plantations and mines


• First they enslaved Native Americans, but many Native Americans became sick and died from diseases or brutal working conditions—others ran away

• Europeans started to import enslaved Africans– They thought Africans would make good slaves– Africa’s climate was similar to that of the Americas– Africans were skilled farmers, miners, and metal

workers.– Africans did not know the territory, so it would be

impossible for them to escape.


• By the 1600s, Portuguese traders were trading goods for African slaves

• Some African groups refused to join the trade

• Other groups sold slaves captured during battles

•


• The Horror of Slavery– Captured Africans were branded with hot

irons– In slave ships captives lay side by side on

filthy shelves stacked from floor to ceiling.– They got little food or water on the journey

across the Atlantic– 20% of the slaves died during each crossing.– To make up for the losses, ships’ captains

packed in more people


• The Effects of Slavery on Africa– Some Africans grew wealthy from the slave

trade– The lave trade was a diaster for W. Africa– The region lost more than a large number of

its population to slavery– Robbed f their families and their skilled

workers, many African societies were torn apart.

Europeans Carve Up Africa

• After the slave trade ended, Europeans started to carve up Africa– They wanted the resources– They saw Africa as a place to build empires– Africans fiercely resisted– Africans cheap guns were no competition to

the first automatic machine gun.


• Europeans competed with each other to gain African territory

• 1884, leaders of several European countries met in the German city of Berlin– Set rules for how European countries could

claim African land

• 1900– European nations had colonized many parts of Africa


• Not all European countries ruled their colonies the same way

• Belgian government directly rant the Belgian Congo (Dem. Republic of Congo now)

• Nigeria was run by Africans who took orders from British officials

• African people had little power in government.


• Europeans gained power by encouraging Africans to fight each other.

• Europeans took the best land to farm

• Forced Africans to labor under terrible conditions

• Drew new political boundaries which divided some ethnic groups and forced differing groups together.

the conquest of africa africa. europeans on the coast the atlantic slave trade began in the 1500s...

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