15.2- African Imperialism
Africa
• Before Imperialism, Africa was a
very diverse land with hundreds
of languages and cultures.
Societies ranged from centralized
government states, to village
communities, to nomadic huntergatherer societies.
• However, Africa was full of
natural resources and raw
materials, making it an ideal
target for European Imperialism.
North Africa
Fertile lands of the
Mediterranean region, and the
Sahara desert. Part of the Muslim
world; controlled by the
Ottomans
West Africa
Grassy plains and forests.
Predominately a Muslim
area loosely ruled by the
Asante kingdom
East Africa
Eastern Coast and Red
Sea allowed successful
trading empire based on
selling African Slaves
South Africa
Southern tip including the
Cape of Good Hope.
Controlled by the Zulus (African
Tribe under Shaka) and Boers
(Dutch descendants)
Sierra Leone
• The British established the colony of
Sierra Leone in 1787
• However, it was not meant as a imperial
location for the British—it was a
destination for freed slaves from Europe
and the Americas.
What do you notice about the
location of Sierra Leone?
Discovering Africa
• Prior to the 1800s, most of Africa
was unknown to Europeans, who
only explored ports along the coast
where they traded good (slaves)
• Europeans had been kept out of the
interior of Africa by the difficult
geography, tropical diseases, and
resistance by Africans.
• New medical advances and river
steamships allowed Europeans to
begin exploring, and they started
along the major rivers—Nile, Congo,
Niger.
Livingstone and Stanley
• British doctor and missionary David
Livingstone spent 30 years travelling Africa
and writing about the peoples he
encountered. Was strongly opposed to
slavery and believed the only way to end it
was to open the African interior to trade
and Christianity.
• In 1869, journalist Henry Stanley set off in
search of Livingstone, who had not been
heard from in years. He found him 2 years
later, and greeted him with “Dr. Livingstone,
I presume?”
The Scramble Begins
• In 1880, King Leopold II of Belgium
hired Henry Stanley to explore the
Congo and arrange trade treaties with
African leaders
• Leopold’s actions set in motion a race
among European nations to claim
African territory, with Britain, France,
and Germany trying to claim the same
territory as Belgium
The Berlin Conference
• In 1884, European powers met to
discuss the division of Africa and
avoid bloodshed. No Africans were
invited.
• They decided that a European power
could not claim a part of Africa unless
they had set up a government office
there
• The race to colonize Africa was on—
European nations rushed to send
officials to begin exerting control and
maintaining a presence in certain
areas.
The Scramble for Africa
Within 20 years, most of Africa was
under imperial control. European
powers partitioned the continent
with little regard for traditional
patterns of settlement or ethnic
boundaries.
The Butcher of the Congo
• King Leopold laid personal claim to the
Congo Free State- he owned as an
individual, rather than Belgium as a
country
• He exploited the Congo in every way
possible—both the natural resources
(copper, rubber, ivory) and the people
• Natives who did not work fast
enough/meet production quotas were
mutilated, beaten, or slaughtered.
• It is estimated that around 10 million
Congolese were killed under Leopold’s
rule
Ethiopia Remains Independent
• Some African nations fought back
against the Europeans, but only
Ethiopia and Liberia successfully
remained independent
• Ethiopia was an ancient Christian
kingdom. In the 1800s, King Menelik II
modernized the country- roads,
bridges, and weapons from Europe
• When Italy attempted to invade in
1896, the Ethiopians successfully
fought them off.
South African Resistance
• The British encountered resistance
to their rule in South Africa from the
militaristic Zulu tribe under the rule
of Shaka
• The Zulu won some early victories
but eventually fell to the British,
who had superior technology and
more resources
The Boer War
• Britain also clashed with the Boers in South
Africa after acquiring the Cape Colony from the
Dutch. Many Boers, who resented British rule,
migrated north and set up their own republic.
• When the Boers discovered gold and
diamonds in their settlement, the British
wanted to claim it. This sparked a bitter war
between the two that lasted from 1899 to
1902
• The British won the war and united the Boer
republics with the Cape Colony into the Union
of South Africa with a new constitution.
This new constitution set up Apartheid- a
system of strict racial segregation.
Boers- Dutch
descended
colonists living in
South Africa; also
called Afrikaners
Review
Which is an accurate statement about the
partitioning of Africa by European imperialist
nations during the 1800’s?
1. new nations were based on old tribal boundaries
2. the cultural and ethnic diversity of the African
people was disregarded
3. the continent was divided equally among the
colonial powers
4. African unity was encouraged
Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
--Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”
The phrase “White Man’s burden” in this excerpt refers to the
1.
Negative attitude of Europeans toward peoples of the nonWestern world
2.
Advantages Europeans would gain by colonizing Africa, Asia,
and Latin America
3.
Positive role of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa and Asia
4.
Challenges non-Europeans faced when trading with the
Europeans
Review
After 1880, European nations sought colonies in
Africa primarily because the Europeans were
1. in need of land for their surplus populations
2. competing for raw materials and markets
3. determined to bring Christianity to the Moslem
world
4. interested in completing their geographic
knowledge of the world
Review
During the 18th and 19th centuries, increased
contact between Europe and the continents of
Africa, Asia, and South America resulted in
1. closer cultural cooperation between Europe and
these continents
2. the exploitation of the labor and resources of
these continents
3. a return to the political and economic systems of
feudal Europe
4. preservation of the rights of the indigenous
peoples
Review
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Europeans
improved roads and bridges and built railroads in
their colonies primarily to
1. provide jobs for the colonists
2. help missionaries spread Christianity
3. impress the colonists with their technological
knowledge
4. obtain raw materials needed for industrialization