The African Struggle Over Time

Throughout history, a common theme that can be seen is the stronger, acquisitive society preying on the weaker society for their own gain of land, people, materials, and more. The Atlantic Slave Trade had a profound effect on the way states were constructed and transformed in West Africa. Some societies became very powerful, militarized centralized societies, like Dahomey and Kongo, and others were decentralized societies, like Balanta and Igbo. Many scholars argue that the centralized societies targeted these decentralized societies and kidnapped people for the slave trade or for their own lineages, but this issue of strong and controlled preying on weak and dispersed is not as “black or white” as it may seem.

The ‘scramble for Africa’ was a phenomenon in the world between the years 1880-1914. The ‘dark continent’ was relatively untouched by Europeans up until this point, with few ports of control on the coasts in the west, which were remnants of the slave trade, and in the south, Britain held the Cape, taken from the Dutch during the French Revolutionary Wars. So, during a period of 30 years, it came to pass that almost the whole of Africa was taken by Europeans. (Except Liberia a colony for freed American slaves, and Abyssinia managed to hold out against Italian aggression). It will be my objective in this essay to analyse the economic factors which resulted in the almost complete colonisation and takeover of Africa, and also to determine to

“African Perspectives on Colonialism” is a book written by A. Adu Boahen. This book classifies the African responses to European colonialism in the 19th century. Boahen begins with the status of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century and follows through the first years of African independence. This book deals with a twenty year time period between 1880 and 1900. Boahen talks about when Africa was seized and occupied by the Imperial Powers of Europe. Eurocentric points of view dominated the study of this era but Boahen gives us the African perspective. There are always two sides of the story and Boehen tells us the side less talked about informing us of what he knows.

For centuries, European nations had been trading slaves, gold, ivory, and more with the west coast of Africa. Throughout the early 1800s, Europeans barely knew anything about the rest of the country of Africa. This quickly changed as Europe grew a sudden interest in exploring the rest of the country and taking advantage of their many valuable resources. Many wonder what motivated Europeans to Imperialize Africa, or extend their country’s power throughout Africa. The driving forces behind European Imperialism in Africa were the strive for ultimate power in Africa between competing countries, the need for money and technological advancements in European civilizations, and the constant attempt for Europeans to spread their cultures throughout

European powers shamelessly exploited the people and resources of Africa in the 19th century. They often tried to justify their actions by using ideology, religion and moralism. After the end of the African slave trade, the development of steam power, and medical discovery, European nations started exploring not only the coast but also the unmapped interior of the continent. In this essay, I will explain the main driving forces behind African Imperialism. The Western europeans countries all competed for land and resources because of their self interest. They sought natural resources, and technology gave them the ability to exploit them. The philosophy of national pride however, was the primary reason. (Main document) (Doc C, D & B)

Since the beginning of modern civilization, man has had a burning desire for land. European nations in particular are well known for being those of imperialists, the act of extending a nation’s power or economy through the process of acquiring land. The strive for power in Africa can be seen dating back to the late 18th century, and continued throughout the early 20th. Europeans practiced imperialism in Africa for several centuries for reasons including economic opportunities, national pride, and the interpreted moral responsibilities.

“The partition of Africa map” presents the competition of powers between the seven european countries that were competing for land, and their land victories thus far. (Document A) The land victories lead to discoveries in the industrial revolution that benefitted European imperialism. A technological development, such as the steam engine gave a stronger pull of power towards europeans due to it’s “forceful source of power” on it’s “ships or horse drawn carriages”. (Document C) Technological developments weakened African territories and simplified colonization for

Throughout history, Africa has been a vulnerable player in the eyes of the rest of the world. From the slave trade to various civil right injustices that have taken place over in every century, we have studied in this class, we have been able to see the lasting impact on the continent as a ramification of certain events occurring. Using sources from the text, I will attempt to prove how the western world, exercised their power to capitalize on the African continent, in addition to the exploitation of the African people and land.

Africa’s persistent poverty interrogates the continent’s past through institutions, government, demography, economics, colonialism, and the impact of the trading. The colonial era affected the variety of Africa’s historical development for it was quite the game changer since it put a halt to the continuous drain of scarce labor and paved the way for the expansion of land concentrated forms of agriculture, and engaging smallholders, estates, and communal farms. The establishment of the colonial rule over the African interior reinforced African commodity growth in export. The colonial control facilitated the construction induced significant inflows of European

In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Europeans invaded Africa, colonizing every country except Liberia and Ethiopia. Some African nations attempted to fight back, but the European’s superior weapon easily suppressed the resistance. Then, the Europeans extracted natural resources and utilized the force labor of Africans. European imperialism and colonization in Africa clearly invoked more harm than the benefits to Africans. The Europeans crippled the Africans by extracting natural resources, forcing Africans to work for them, and leaving Africa unprepared with independence.

The African freedom struggle was inspiring to you students like Smith who was faced with the challenges of segregation. The African freedom struggle was similar to the struggles of African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement in America. The Martin Luther King speech entitled, “Keep Moving from the Mountain”, reinforced by Spelman’s President Manley started the thought process of getting more involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Smith became inspired to lend her support to the cause after the Greensboro’s North Carolina student sit-in. As a result, Smith participated in her first peaceful demonstration on March 16, 1960 as a member of the Atlanta Committee on Appeal for Human Rights, later she was arrested along with others as they

Kristin Mann’s novel titled “Slavery and the Birth of an African City: Lagos, 1760-1900” is an investigation into the history of a small but globally significant portion of the West African coast and its relationship with the economy and the culture of the Atlantic world. Mann alludes to a shift in consciousness by the dominant power of Britain to the ‘reconceptualization’ (Mann 2007, 1) of Europe’s relationship with Africa as well as the abolishment of the trading of slaves. Her central focus is on Lagos – the former capital city of Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria – from its rise to pre-eminence as a slave port to its relationship with the political economy and culture of the Atlantic world. This book is primarily concerned with the African side of the story and does this by examining how the inhabitants of Lagos were affected by their Atlantic encounters in the eras of slavery and abolition. Mann uncovers how the world that the people of Lagos lived in changed overtime from the centre of Atlantic commerce into a British imperial capital through the following means: i) the trading of slaves, ii) the production of and trade in palm produce (2). Mann’s book also highlights the shifting balance of power between owners and slaves and the relationships between rich men, women and other dependents and how they adapt to new opportunities and constraints. Her study aims to advance the knowledge concerning several problems in African history, Atlantic history, and slave

Over the years Europeans have established many different types of colonies throughout the Global South for reasons such as the expansion of empire and for economic motives. These different types of colonies such as, company rule, direct rule, indirect rule and settler rule have been established and maintained using ways that best suited each colony and the motives of the colonisers. However all of the colonial governments shared certain attributes. (Exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu, 2014). Some of the mechanisms used to maintain rule can still be seen as playing a major role in the contemporary world, although the form of imperialism can be seen as changed from colonialism to neo-colonialism to better suit the needs of the growing capitalist dominant powers. This essay is structured as follows: first I will briefly discuss the background of the Scramble for Africa including some of the possible motives. Secondly I will analyse some of the mechanisms used to establish rule focusing on certain colonial rule types and will examine some of the ways in which colonizers maintained rule in colonies. Thirdly I will examine some of the mechanisms still being used to dominate the Global South using the concept of Neo-colonialism.

In order to approach this essay question, my analysis will be divided into two parts. The first section will define what the scramble for Africa means. In the subsequent sections, I will refer to the case history of colonization of Africa by some European countries, the motives behind their actions and its consequences on Africa particularly.

In studying the continent of Africa, a person simply cannot underestimate the importance and impact the time period 1770-1875 had on the shaping of pre-colonial Africa’s historical experience. By diving head first into Africa’s past and closely examining several themes and concepts of the time, one can fully comprehend just how much the colonization of Africa changed it forever, both for the better and the worse. The many reasons as to the “how and why” Africa was shaped into what it has become today can be seen within Thomas Getz’s book, Cosmopolitan Africa. Specifically, it is through the examination of the themes of the globalization of Africa in the oceanic era, the practice and belief of religions, and the significance of the Industrial Revolution, that the specific ways Africa was shaped from 1770-1875 can clearly be demonstrated.