The Scramble for Africa
Before
After
Ms. Valdner/Mr. Patten
Global History II
Document #1
Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden, 1899
Stanza 1
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.
Stanza 3
Take up the White Man's burden-The savage wars of peace-Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
The White Man’s Burden
Document #1- The White Man’s Burden
According to Rudyard Kipling, what was the burden
(responsibility) of the white man?
Document #2
“That magnificent African
cake”.
-King Leopold of Belgium
“That Magnificent African Cake”
Document #2-“That Magnificent African Cake”
Who do the people represent surrounding Africa? What are they
trying to do?
Explain the meaning of the cartoon?
What did King Leopold mean when he called Africa “the
magnificent African cake”?
Document #3
The arrival of the missionaries had caused a considerable
stir in the village of Mbanta. There were six of them and
one was a white man. Every man and woman came out
to see the white man…The white man was also their
brother because they were all sons of God. And he told
them about this new God, the Creator of all the words
and all the men and women. He told them that they
worshipped false gods, gods of wood and stone. A deep
murmur went through the crowd when he said this… Evil
men (he said) and all the heathen who in their blindness
bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that
burned like palm-oil. But good men who worshipped the
true God lived forever in His happy kingdom.
-Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Document #3- Things Fall Apart
According to Achebe, why had the white man come to
Africa?
What message was he spreading?
Document #4
I contend that we (Britians) are the finest race in the
world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it
is for the human race…It is our duty to seize every
opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should
keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more
territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race,
more of the best, the most human, most honorable race
the world possesses.
-Cecil Rodes, a successful British imperialist in Africa,
expresses his position in Confession of the Faith written
in 1877
Cecil Rhodes
Document #4- Cecil Rhodes
According to Rhodes, why were Europeans,
specifically the British justified in taking colonies
around the world?
Document #5
Africans harvesting rubber in King Leopold of Belgium's colony, the Congo
One of the precious resources of the Congo was its rubber
trees. The industrial revolution in Europe had brought a
growing demand for the resilient material. Harvesting
the precious substance from the trees was very labor
intensive, so the Belgians wanted a cheap source of
labor. Leopold put in place a forced labor system to
keep money flowing.
Natives of the Congo Free State were expected to pay
taxes. Since they had not operated with a money
economy, this requirement forced native to work for the
white man for very low wages, under very difficult
conditions. The rubber tax was particularly onerous.
The Congo was depopulated as many fled their villages to
avoid the taxes.
African retrieving rubber
Document #5-African retrieving rubber
In looking at the document, give one reason why King
Leopold took Congo as a colony.
Why did King Leopold want natives to stay in Congo
once he took it as a colony?
Document # 6
…none of the colonial undertakings was motivated by the quest for
capitalist profits; they all originated in political ambitions…the nations’
will to power…glory or national greatness.
-Raymond Aron, The Century of Total War
Rhodes
Document #6- Rhodes
One what is Cecil Rhodes standing? What is the
meaning of the cartoon?
Rhodes wanted to build a railroad from Cape Town,
South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. How might this have
strengthened the British Empire:
Economically?
Militarily?
Politically?
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Your group must decide if the European
“Scramble for Africa” as justified or not. Use at
least two documents to back up your thesis.