African Independence II

Social Studies for 10th E.G.B. | Teacher: Mauricio Torres

Important Info

It is a geographically diverse continent: Tropical rainforests cover central Africa; East, West and Southern Africa are covered by vast savannas; One of the world’s largest desert in the north, the Sahara.

Africa’s people are concentrated in the most fertile areas such as the savannas and forests. These regions produce enough food to support large

populations

Africa also has rich deposits of minerals such as gold, copper and diamonds.

Cash crops such as coffee an cacao are also produced.

Huge petroleum reserves.

Important Info

The Europeans did not want to lose control of these valuable resources.

Colonies Demand Independence

More and more Africans demanded freedom.

Independence movements were led by skilled speakers such as: Kwame Nkumah in the gold Coast

(Ghana) Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya

Political pressure was sometimes enough to win independence, such as most of the French colonies in West Africa and the British ones too.

They turned violent however, in places where they were many European colonists., such as Kenya and Algeria.

Building New Nations

Some African nations enjoyed peace and democracy. Others were plunged into crisis by civil war, military rule or corrupt dictators.

Ethnic Divisions

When Europeans drew boundaries to separate each other, they did it geographically and had not considered the different ethnic groups.

New countries were made of different people with different customs and languages.

They felt more loyalty towards their people and not a faceless government.

Soon ethnic conflicts plagued the continent.

Dictators Seize Power

Dictators usually used their positions to enrich themselves and a privileged few.

If it was a bad government, and unrest was felt in the streets, it was very common for the military to seize power. Coup d’etat: is the forcible overthrow of

a government.

Some military rulers were brutal tyrants, other sought to improve conditions.

They always promised they would return the government to civilian hands, but this was rarely the case.

Moving Towards Democracy

More and more Africans demanded and end to the “strong-man” rule and move towards greater democracy.

Even after some years of self-determination, Western powers were still competing for influence in the young African nations.

African Map Today

Ask Yourself

Identify: What geographic strengths

and weaknesses does Africa have?

Analyze: Why did many Africans lack

loyalty towards their new governments?

Summarize:

Why did dictators gain their power so easily and could they loose it in the same way?

Bibliography

Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History. (P. Hall, Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, US: Pearson Education INC.

Images taken from www.google.com