Similarities Between Africa And British Imperialism

Before the nineteenth century, Britain had relatively little to do with Africa, besides naval outposts and the slave trade (1562-1807.) (David 2011) By the 1870’s only ten percent of Africa was under a European nation’s control, yet in 1900 European countries controlled ninety percent of Africa. (David 2011) The British Empire experienced a sudden shift to imperialism in the 19th century in order to compete as a world power against other European nations. Britain was effectively able to run their African colonies with limited resources and manpower through a system of indirect rule. The British colonial model was ultimately defeated in Africa because a shift of ideals after World War Two and African nationalism.

Africa had been the target of colonialism and slavery for many years. The colonies that European’s developed during fifteenth and sixteenth century were the main reason that started slave trade in Africa.

Throughout history, many can see differences in the empires of America and the empires of Africa, but some fundamental similarities exist among these empires that make them successful. While each of these empires is deeply rooted in promoting economic growth and spiritual connectivity, they go about these tasks in different ways due to their individual and unique circumstances.

In the late 1800’s Europeans took over Africa, took their resources,enslaving the Africans, and changed the course of history. The Europeans took over Africa, which is called The Scramble For Africa, in 1884-1914. The Europeans took over because Africa was rich in raw materials, they wanted power, and they thought their culture was superior. The driving force behind imperialism was need for resources, political competition, and technological advances. One driving force behind imperialism was need for natural resources. Document E uses a bar graph to show imports and exports in 1854, and 1900 between Great Britain and South Saharan Africa. Great Britain made 3 million British pounds in 1854, and 21

In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the

While imperialism in Africa significantly hurt the native inhabitants physically and economically, it did contribute to Africa’s ethnically diverse culture

European Imperialism and The Scramble For Africa Imperialism had many severe effects in Africa and is a scar in European and African history, that had affected many in Africa, and divided families and marred the social and economic landscape of Africa. In the 20th century, European explorers colonized and took over large portions of Africa, and took over ninety percent of the total land. This led to slave trades, land being taken from their original owners, and many people were ruined economically and socially from the Imperialistic Colonization.

Africa has a low human density, but they have abundant resources, including, silver and gold, which was what the people used to trade for supplies; land, for farming due to the fact that farmers are becoming more abundant; iron, for tools to use in the farming fields and weapons; diamonds, which was worn by women in every special social event to show off its beauty. In 1890, Cecil Rhodes discovered a diamond mine. This discovery completely changed the view of the rear gem. Instead of a gym that was very are and only few individuals can obtain it, it's now open to anyone who can afford it. After this diamond is only meant for those who are wealthy, so kings and queens would incorporate them in their crowns. Industrialization also influenced political changes, which in turn forced britain to develop into a democracy. Britain had things such as “the steamboat and the telegraph” gave them the advantage of mobility and communication form far places, asserting their dominance in africa was

Many different races once considered Africa, as a continent that could not support itself since Africans were savages who were not able to prosper on their own. Because of this, life was not easy for Africans and their way of living was very mediocre. Africans’ weakness eventually became evident to the other nations of the world. The European system for instance, fortunately for them, decided to take control of Africa. This was a decision that benefited them financially as they exploited the richness that Africa enfolded. Although many Europeans believed that Africans were much more inferior to them because of their skin color, they knew the significance of the richness that Africa’s soil could give them. It is true that the European’s

In the late 1800’s, European nations only controlled about 10 percent of the continent of Africa, France to the north and Britain to the south (Edgar, 2008). As time goes by, other countries gain conquests, mostly in western areas of Africa. This essay will go over a few key points in history that led to the Age of Imperialism and the British colonization of Southern Africa. The essay will also identify key players in this age. Southern Africa was known for its gold and other valuable items that made it so appealing to Europeans. This and many other reasons led to wars over the areas that had high gold content.

Although the first European encounter of Africa came nearly 400 years prior to the mass takeover of the continent, no European countries were particularly interested by the prospect of Africa due to the high risk of disease, inefficient mobility, the possibility of war with the native people, coupled with the fact that there was no need to as the European markets were stable. This changed however after the Industrial Revolution, which not only grew the European nations economies exponentially, it also provided an advancement in weapons, medicine, and transportation, specifically, the invention of the steamboat allowed for easier navigation of African Rivers (Nile, Niger, Congo rivers).

In order to give Europe an opportunity to be the strongest continent in the world. The Age of Imperialism fell right on the coattails of the Industrial Revolution, Great Britain were one of the lead colonizers to export material goods from Rhodesia and South Africa. This benefited their banking, jewelry, and fabrics industries. In fact, exporting resources from Africa increased the efficiency of machine production in Europe like French West Africa having cotton made into fabrics.

Being familiar, but never well read, on the foreign influences of European and American nations on 16th through 20th century Africa, I never put much thought into the vast economic history and consequences that have come upon those actions. In reading Part 5 – Foreign Influences in John Reader’s book Africa, Reader highlights two thought camps on the effect of foreign influences on the Africa continent and its society as a whole. Transformationalists argue, Africa’s current economic state has been indubitably affected by the foreign slave trade of African indigenous populations that has occurred until recent times. Non-Transformationalists oppose this view. They believe that Africa’s current economy, “would have been about as well off, […] in the same socioeconomic environment, if there has been no trading contact [with Europe].” (David Eltis) Reading chapters 34-40 in John Reader’s Africa, I agree with the Transformationalist view, that Africa was indeed affected by foreign influences.

The British Empire has left everlasting legacies in many nations across all seven of the world’s continents. As a matter of fact, one of the countries colonized by the British Empire in the historical globalization era was South Africa. This nation is well known for its historical sites, beautiful beaches, and its modern landscape. Furthermore,Can it be believed that this nation was once in the hands of Britain?, tThere is a great amount of British influence in this African nation. So the question arises for us to think, to what extent has the British Colonization of South Africa benefited the present South African society. During the early 1800’s Britain was suffering from severe unemployment, and thus in 1820, Lord Somerset sent a handful

Before the Europeans began the New Imperialism in Africa, very little was known about the inner parts of the continent. However, after some explorers delved deeper into the heart of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, Britain had only small occupations of land in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the rich resources from the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African countries and take over. This led to the scramble and ultimately, the partition of Africa. During the Age of Imperialism, from 1870-1914, Britain was a major country, which proved to be true