Imperialism in Africa
DO NOW: Imagine that intergalactic space aliens with
cool futuristic weapons landed all of a
sudden landed on planet earth. How would
you view them? How would you interact with
them?
Review:
WHII.11: Describe the causes of 19th Century European
Imperialism
•The desire for economic gain and resources
•The missionary impulse
•The search for strategic advantage and national pride
Today:
WHII.15: Identify major developments of African history in the 19 th
and early 20th centuries.
•Africa’s interaction with imperialism
•Agricultural changes and new patterns of employment
•The origins of African nationalism
Up until the late 1800s, there were just a few European
colonies on the African coastline. No Europeans had really
explored the interior of what they called the “Dark Continent”.
In the early 1880s, King Leopold
II of Belgium paid for expeditions
to the the Congo in the center of
the African continent.
He claimed that, “millions of men
still plunged in barbarism will be
at the dawn of a better era.”
We come in
peace –
We swear!
But he really wanted the Congo’s
natural resources: copper, rubber
and ivory. He forced the locals to
work for almost nothing and had
them killed and tortured if they
complained or disobeyed.
Remember
“The White
Man’s
Burden”???
Which one do you think
is more accurate?
Many Africans gave up traditional agriculture to work for
European companies. Some worked on rubber
plantations or in copper mines. Others built railroads to
bring these natural resources to ports, where they could
be shipped to Europe and used in factories.
Berlin Conference
(1884):
European countries
decided they could
claim African colonies
just by setting up
government offices in
African territory.
This set off a Great
Scramble as
Europeans rushed to
colonize Africa.
Why???
By 1914, there
were only two
independent
countries left
in all of Africa.
What new
countries were
growing
empires?
“We do not
want to put
anyone in the
shade, but we
also demand
our place in the
sun” –Germany
Where do these lines come from???
-British Official
“We have been
engaged in drawing
lines upon maps
where no white
man’s foot has ever
trod.
We have been
giving away
mountains and
rivers and lakes to
each other, only
hindered by the
small impediment
that we never knew
exactly where the
mountains and
rivers were.”
Europeans: Carving up a Continent
Who is missing from this picture???
Many Africans fought back:
“I have listened to your words but can find no reason
why I should obey you – I would rather die first… If you
desire friendship, then I am ready for it, today and
always. But I cannot be your subject. If you desire war,
then I am ready.”
-Chief Machemba (1890)
What do you think happened?
Remember?
“Whatever happens, we have got
the Maxim gun, and they have not.”
When Africans rebelled, Europeans killed thousands of
Yao, Zulu, Asante, Shona, Herero, and Maji-Maji people.
Ethiopia was the only exception…
Emperor Haile
Selassie I
“Conquering Lion of
the Tribe of Judah,
King of Kings of
Ethiopia and Elect of
God”
“Ras Tafari”
Halie Selassie’s cousin, Emperor Menelik II, had
modernized Ethiopia by hiring Europeans to build roads,
bridges and schools. He bought weapons from Great
Britain to fight the Italian invaders, and defeated the
Italians in 1896.
When Italy invaded again in 1935, Haile Selassie I made
a famous speech to the League of Nations.
Bob Marley used his speech as lyrics to a song, “War”
“That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and
another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and
abandoned:
That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of
any nation;
That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than
the color of his eyes;
That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all
without regard to race;
That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship
and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting
illusion, to be pursued but never attained…”
“And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers
in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman
bondage have been toppled and destroyed…
Until that day, the African continent will not know peace.
We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win,
as we are confident in the victory of good over evil.”
Haile Selassie was an example for the rest of Africa.
Today, every African nation is free and independent.
Yet there are still many problems in Africa today. From
looking at these maps, can you think of one reason why?
WHII.15: Identify major developments of African history in the
19th and early 20th centuries.
•Africa’s interaction with imperialism
•Agricultural changes and new patterns of employment
•The origins of African nationalism
HOMEWORK:
Use your Do Now, your notes, and the lyrics
to Bob Marley’s “War” to explain how
European imperialism affected African
Nationalism.
Extra Credit:
Make a connection to Napoleon!