The Age of Imperialism: Africa

Unit 4

I. The Scramble for Africa

A. Africa Before European Domination

1. Prior to Europe’s domination of Africa, African peoples were divided into many ethnic and linguistic groups living in anything from large empires to independent villages.

A. Africa Before European Domination

2a. Dr. Livingstone, a missionary from Scotland, traveled to the Congo in the late 1860s. American reporter Henry Stanley was sent to find him. King Leopold II of Belgium hired Stanley to help him gain control of the Congo River valley lands.

A. Africa Before European Domination

2b. Though claiming to bring reforms to Congo, Leopold was really responsible for the brutal exploitation of Congolese for economic gains, resulting in ~10 million deaths. In 1908, the Belgian gov’t took the colony and created the Belgian Congo.

B. Forces Driving Imperialism

1a. The race for colonies and empires grew out of the IR and a strong sense of national pride.

B. Forces Driving Imperialism

1b. The idea of Social Darwinism, which used Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection to human society, was used to promote Europe’s superiority and need to bring progress to other parts of the world.

–Cecil Rhodes, Confession of

Faith, 1877

“I contend that we [Britons] are the first 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 honourable race the world possesses.”

1. What do you see in the cartoon?

2. What message do you think the artist is trying to make?

3. How does this cartoon relate to Imperialism?

B. Forces Driving Imperialism

2a. Europe’s technological superiority, sophisticated weapons, and access to the steam engine made it easy to control their empire.

2b. Since Africa was so diverse, Europeans could easily play rival groups against each other.

C. The Division of Africa

1. 14 European countries met at the Berlin conference in 1884-1885 to decide how to divide Africa.

2. Europe took raw materials from their colonies. They also started cash-crop plantations.

D. Three Groups Clash over South Africa

1. The Zulus fought the British, and by 1887, the Zulu nation fell to British control.

D. Three Groups Clash over South Africa

2. Dutch settlers known as Boers first settled in South Africa in 1652. When the British took over the Cape Colony in the early 1800s, they began to clash.

D. Three Groups Clash over South Africa

3a. Conflicts over keeping outsiders out of South Africa led the British and Boers to fight in the Boer War (1899-1910).

3b. The British won in 1910. The Boer Union of South Africa was controlled by the British.

II. Imperialism

A. A New Period of Imperialism

1. Europeans used four different kinds of colonial control. The first two were colony and protectorate.

A. A New Period of Imperialism

2. The other two were sphere of influence and economic imperialism.

A. A New Period of Imperialism3.

A. A New Period of Imperialism4.

B. Case Study: Nigeria

1. The Royal Niger Company led the British conquest of Nigeria. By 1914, all of Nigeria was claimed as a British colony.

2. Since there were so many ethnic groups in Nigeria, Britain used an indirect rule. Local chiefs resented having limited powers.

C. African Resistance

1. Africans across the continent tried to resist European attempts to colonize their lands.

2. There were many unsuccessful attempts that included military resistance and religious movements.

-Edward Morel, The Black Man’s Burden

“Nor is violent physical opposition to abuse and injustice henceforth possible for the African in

any part of Africa. His chances of effective resistance have been steadily dwindling with

the increasing perfectibility in the killing power of modern armament. Thus the African is really helpless in the trinity of imperialism,

capitalistic exploitation, and militarism.”

C. African Resistance

3. Ethiopia under the rule of emperor Menelik II successfully resisted. After Italy claimed Ethiopia as a protectorate, war was declared. Ethiopians defeated the Italians at the 1896 Battle of Adowa and maintained independence.

D. The Legacy of Colonial Rule

1. Imperialism mostly negative for the African people.

1a. Africans lost their land, independence, and culture. Many died from disease and famine.

1b. The division of the African continent created many problems.

D. The Legacy of Colonial Rule

2. In some cases, there were some positives.

2a. Lifespans increased and literacy rates improved as Europeans improved sanitation and provided schools and hospitals.

2b. There were improvements in transportation and communication (though Europeans probably benefitted more).