History of Africa
SS7H1 The student will analyze continuity and change in
Africa leading to the 21st century.
a. Explain how the European partitioning across Africa
contributed to conflict, civil war, and artificial political
boundaries.
b. Explain how nationalism led to independence in
South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
c. Explain the creation and end of apartheid in South
Africa and the roles of Nelson Mandela and F.W.de Klerk.
d. Explain the impact of the Pan-African movement.
WHAT DOES THIS picture
MEAN TO YOU?
WHAT DO
YOU THINK
THE ARTIST
IS TRYING
TO
COMMUNICATE
IN THIS
POLITICAL
CARTOON?
a. Explain how the European partitioning across Africa contributed to
conflict, civil war, and artificial political boundaries.
• IMPERIALISM: the policy of extending the rule or
authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or
of acquiring and holding colonies
• The 1884-85 Berlin Conference was conducted, and
European powers (Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal,
Germany, Belgium, and Italy) agreed to divide the
continent into European governed colonies.
• This division was disastrous as the new boundary lines
divided ethnic groups and in most cases forced rival ethnic
groups to live together.
• The Europeans wanted the natural resources to fuel the
Industrial Revolution. As they made products, they then
forced African colonies to buy them for much more than
they received for their resources.
IN 1878,
MUCH
OF
AFRICA
WAS NOT
COLONI
ZED
BY
EUROPE
…BUT BY
1885, OVER
90% OF
AFRICA
WOULD BE
UNDER THE
CONTROL OF
EUROPEAN
EMPIRES,
PARTICULAR
LY THE
BRITISH AND
THE FRENCH
The 5 W’s of European Influence in Africa
WHO
(EUROPEAN EMPIRES)
•GREAT BRITAIN
•FRANCE
•BELGIUM
•GERMANY
•ITALY
•SPAIN
•PORTUGAL
WHAT
WHEN (DEVELOPMENT)
(REASONS FOR
COLONIZATION)
1652: Dutch Colony in South
Africa
1806: Britain control South Africa
and
parts of West Africa
1848: French colonize North Africa
1867: King Leopold II of Belgium
colonizes central Africa
1884: Berlin Conference
1899: Boer War between Dutch
settlers and British military
•Natural Resources
•Slave or Cheap Labor
•New Markets for Europe
•Suez Canal Trade Route
•Spread of European
Culture
•Christian Missionaries
WHERE
(AREAS OF INTEREST)
WHY
(PARTITIONING of AFRICA)
• Reacting to the Scramble or Race for
• Over 90% of Africa came under
European control after the Berlin
Conference, but the only territories
that were not colonized by the
European empires were Liberia and
Ethiopia.
Africa leaders of European empires met in
Berlin, Germany to resolve potential
conflicts between European empires over
the control of African colonies. They
divided up the land and created new
boundary lines without any input by the
people of Africa.
The Negatives of Colonialism
Rival ethnic groups forced
to live together causing
conflicts and wars.
Lost many resources
without equal return.
Lost their freedom to govern
themselves.
Africans were forced to
work on plantations and in
mines for very little money.
Children as young as 10 are
recruited for civil wars in Africa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55SBoDT02VM&feature=related
The Positives of Colonialism
Improved roads and
railroads
Improved medical centers
Improved schools
Improved economies –jobs
and technology
Democracies allow freedom
for many people (except in
countries where corruption
leads to dictatorships)
Hospitals in South Africa are
heavily burdened by HIV- infected
children—a leading health issue in
Africa.
Impact of Colonial rule in Africa
NEGATIVE IMPACT
Slavery
Wars and Riots
Starvation and Poverty
Disease
Forced Cheap Labor
Loss of Land and Power
New boundaries separated
families and tribes
Civil Wars between ethnic
groups
POSITIVE IMPACT
Schools and hospitals were
built
Improved health care
Roads and railroads were
built
New governments and
democracy
Improved economies / New
technologies
End of Slavery
Conflicts in Africa because of artificial political
boundaries created by Europeans during the
Berlin Conference of 1884-85
Conflict between native Africans and
Europeans during colonization
Conflict between ethnic groups
Conflict over who should have political
power AFTER Africans gained
independence from Europe
FROM
1910 to 1988
DIFFERENT
COLONIES IN
AFRICA GAINED
THEIR
INDEPENDENCE
FROM EUROPEAN
EMPIRES.
THESE ARE
KNOWN AS
NATIONALIST
MOVEMENTS.
SOUTH
AFRICA
Independence
Movements
NIGERIA
KENYA
How did nationalism lead to
independence in South Africa, Kenya
and Nigeria?
South Africa
South Africa was originally settled by the Dutch who had little to do with
the native Africans. When the British took over in the early 1800s, the
Dutch moved into land occupied by the Zulu tribe.
Britain soon discovered rich deposits of gold and diamonds in South
Africa.
Because the British considered the native Africans second-class citizens,
the Africans founded the African Nation Congress (ANC) to work for equal
treatment of the nonwhite population.
South Africa set up a strict system of separation of the races called the
apartheid system. The ANC worked for many years to end this system,
eventually getting international help through the use of embargos. By
1985, the embargos and continuing resistance led by African National
Congress and the Pan African Congress forced South African government
to begin making changes.
Apartheid began to come apart and in 1994 South Africa held its first
multiracial election and chose Nelson Mandela as the country’s first black
president.
Nigeria
Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960, and most
people expected the new state to be stable and calm. Within
months, however, war broke out between the Christian south and
the Muslim north.
The religious war left many thousands dead or injured. The
country tried to reorganize as 12 different regions, even the oilrich province in the eastern part of the country declared itself to
be the independent State of Biafra.
Military coups and outbreaks of violence marked the years that
followed. Elections were held in 1999 that seemed more free
and open than wheat had gone before, but the government still
remains unstable.
Nigeria has the potential to have great wealth from their oil
supplies. However, because of corruption in the government this
resource has not been developed. As a result, Nigeria must rely
on foreign aid and foreign supplies for their people.
Kenya
Kenya became independent of British rule in 1964, under
the leadership of Joseph Kenyatta, a leader of the
Kenyan National African Union (KNAU).
Even free from British rule, government was not open or
free. Under Kenyatta and his successor, Daniel arap
Moi, the KNAU ran almost unopposed in every national
election until the 1990s.
At that time, the international community told Kenya
unless they improved their civil rights record, economic
assistance from abroad would be cut off.
There has been some improvement in the political rights
of Kenya’s people, but more is needed. The country
remains a multi-party state on the books, but the reality is
that the KNAU still controls much of the government.
Weds/Thursday Warm Up Q’s
What was the purpose of the African
National Congress (ANC)?
What happened in Nigeria right after they
obtained independence?
Who is Joseph Kenyatta?
Why were European countries so interested
in colonizing Africa?
How did the new government
enforce this new policy?
The implementation of the apartheid, later
referred to as "separate development," was made
possible by the Population Registration Act of
1950
This put all South Africans into three racial
categories: Bantu (black African), White, or
Colored (of mixed race). A fourth category,
Asian (Indians and Pakistanis), was added later.
Afrikaner Nationalists’ policies
Apartheid was enforced by a series of laws passed in the
1950s: the Group Areas Act of 1950 assigned races to
different residential and business sections in urban areas
The Land Acts of 1954 and 1955
– restricted nonwhite residence to specific areas.
– further restricted the limits on Blacks owning land
– White minority controlled over 80% of S. Africa’s land.
Other laws were passed that limited non white power:
– prohibited most social interaction between the races
– enforced the segregation of public facilities (schools,
jobs)
– minimized nonwhite participation in government
– Placed non whites into certain “homelands”
A number of black political groups, often supported by sympathetic
whites, opposed apartheid using a variety of tactics:
• including violence, strikes
• demonstrations and sabotage –
These tactics were often met with severe consequences from the
government.
CHANGING THEIR WAYS…
As anti-apartheid pressure mounted within
and outside of South Africa, the South
African government, led by President F. W.
de Klerk, began to dismantle the apartheid
system in the early 1990s.
In 1994 the country's constitution was
rewritten and free general elections were
held for the first time in its history, and with
Nelson Mandela's election as South
Africa's first black president, the last
remnants of the apartheid system were
finally outlawed.
What role did these men play in
ending apartheid in South Africa?
NELSON MANDELA
F.W. de KLERK
Nelson Mandela & F. W. de Klerk
During Apartheid, 2 groups were working to end this South
African regime – the African National Congress led by
Nelson Mandela, and the Pan African Congress.
Riots and fighting took place constantly - Nelson Mandela
was sentenced to life in prison for his work against
apartheid.
Eventually, the S. African government had to admit that
their policy of apartheid had no place in the modern world.
In 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk agreed to
allow the ANC to operate as a legal party and he released
Nelson Mandela from prison after he had served 27 years in
prison.
F.W de Klerk also began to repeal the apartheid laws.
Apartheid finally ended in 1994, however South Africa still
struggles with high unemployment rates due to the old
segregated system.
d. Explain the impact of the Pan-African movement.
The Pan-African movement began as a reaction to the terrible
experiences of colonial rule and the desire for people of African
descent, no matter where they lived in the world, to think of
Africa as a homeland.
The first people to support the idea of Pan-Africans were
Africans who were living in other parts of the world. They felt
all Africans no matter where they lived, shared a bond with each
other. They also called for Africans all over the continent to
think of themselves as one people and to work for the
betterment of all.
They wanted to end European control of the continent and to
make Africa a homeland for all people of African descent.
While the peaceful unification of Africa has never taken place,
the Pan-African movement can take a lot of credit for sparking
independence movements that left nearly all African nations
free of colonial rule by the 1980s.
The numbers don’t lie . . .
Blacks
Population
19 million
Whites
4.5 million
Land allocation
13%
87%
Share of national income
<20%
75%
Minimum taxable income
360 rands
750 rands
Doctors/population
1/44,000
1/400
Infant mortality rate
20%-40%
2.7%
Annual expenditure on
education per student
$45
$696
1/60
1/22
Teacher/student ratio