Everybody wants
a piece of the
“Magnificent
African Cake”
Impact of Imperialism on Africa
• On quarter sheet – FRONT SIDE ONLY
– Write at the top:
“Notecards by
; Edited by (your name) ”
– Score out of 20 (give an actual numerical score)
• 2 points per card – did they find good information &
did they attempt to format them properly
– Write one compliment and one way to improve
– Hand the cards and sheet back to the owner
– Owner on front side: score yourself out of 20
– Write one thing you did well AND one thing you
need to remember about doing notecards in
future
Impact of Imperialism on Africa
How did Imperialism
affect Africa?
• Write a thesis on the back of your quarter
sheet answering prompt above
– arguable, specific, important
• Use the information in the reading and your
note cards as the possible evidence you
would use to support your thesis
– Don’t need to write down evidence just know
what you might use
• Everybody
wants a piece
of the
“Magnificent
African Cake”
• What was the
Berlin
Conference –
review?
Imperialism In Africa
• What is Imperialism?
–Take notes on class answers
• What are the different forms of
imperialism mentioned in the
reading? Can you describe each of
the four?
–Take notes on class answers
Imperialism In Africa
• Important to
know there
are different
ways of
controlling an
area
• Not limited to
Europeans in
Africa
Control
• What are
the two
types of
control?
• Which
would you
rather use?
Indirect Control
• What is indirect control?
• Using local leaders in order to handle
daily management of colony
• Goal: Develop future leaders within
the colony
–Eventually would allow for
independence
• What are the advantages of this?
• What are the disadvantages?
Direct Control
• What is direct control?
• Based on Paternalism
–What does this mean?
• Inserts European bureaucrats into
positions of power
• Goal: Assimilation – meaning?
• What are the advantages of this?
• What are the disadvantages?
Warm-Up
• Write 2 multiple choice test questions
• Options A-E
• Turn in as you leave class today for
participation
Imperialism In Africa
• “Case Study: Nigeria”, what
is a case study?
• Let’s look at two – Nigeria
and the Congo
• What happened in Nigeria?
• How did the British gain
control?
• What problems did they
have once they established
control? (Type of control?)
Leopold & the Congo
1. What happened
in the Congo?
2. What role did
Leopold play in
shaping this
area?
3. What type of
control did he
use? How do you
know?
Leopold & the Congo
“To open to civilization the only part of our
globe which it has not yet penetrated, to
pierce the darkness which hangs over entire
peoples, is, I dare say, a crusade worthy of
this century of progress.”
“I was in no way motivated
by selfish designs.”
Leopold & the Congo
• Takes over as personal property
– Congo Free State
• Takes over all vacant lands
• Takes over trade – put down rebellions
• On the bright side – works to end slavery
BUT…
• Charge Rubber Tax
Rubber
• 1845: RW Thomson
invents the pneumatic
tire.
– Rubber is too
expensive and rare. It
does not catch on.
• John Dunlop starts the
Dunlop Tire Company
in 1888.
• Now, rubber is cheap
and plentiful in Africa.
Rubber Trees and rubber vines
Leopold & the Congo
BUT…
• Charge Rubber Tax: paid
in labor
– Abuse
• Not more than 40 hrs/month –
whole lives
– Population falls by 50%
according to some
estimates; more
devastating than slave
trade
The Congo Reform
Association
George Washington Williams
E.D. Morel
• These men began a Humanitarian
Campaign to change the behavior
of Europeans in the Congo.
• Belgium takes control
–Ends worst abuses, but still exploit
–No Africans have a role in governing
–Took all wealth from the resources
Civilized, or Criminal?
• He has been called
the leader of “A
secret society of
murders.”
• He has been
accused of
establishing “official
slavery” in the
Congo.
• Leopold II has been
compared to Hitler.
Leopold & the Congo Impact
• Independence in 1960
• Fighting, instability
and corruption
• One historian claims
no nation in Africa
more impacted by
Imperialism
African Resistance
• What are some
examples your
reading gave?
• What happened?
Who was involved?
• Were they
successful? Why or
why not?
Warm-Up: Magic Water
What happened in the Maji-Maji rebellion?
How does this symbolize imperialism?
Impact of Imperialism in Africa
• Create a t-chart of the positives and
negatives of Imperialism
• Include more than just what is located on
the last page of the Imperialism reading
– Notecards
– J. Diamond
– Class discussion
– Things Fall Apart
• Be prepared to share your chart with the
class