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The Scramble for Africa
Ch. 11 sec 1
I. Africa Before European DominationA. Historical Background
• 1. African peoples were divided into hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups
2. Imperialism – The seizure of a country or territory by a stronger country.
I. Africa Before European DominationA. Historical Background
• 3. Some began to follow Christianity and Islam while others followed traditional beliefs
I. Africa Before European DominationA. Historical Background
• 4. Contact with Europeans began around 1450 but African armies were able to keep Europeans out of most of Africa for 400 years.
I. Africa Before European DominationA. Historical Background
• 5. Also able to keep control because they had their own developed trading system and disease in the inner jungles discouraged Euro’s
I. Africa Before European DominationB. Nations Compete for Overseas Empires
• 1. Euro’s who did penetrate inner Africa were explorers, missionaries and humanitarians
I. Africa Before European DominationC. The Congo Sparks Interest
• 1. David Livingstone in the late 1860’s sparked interest in Africa with King Leopold of Belgium as a result of his adventures of the Congo River
I. Africa Before European DominationC. The Congo Sparks Interest
• 2. Between 1879-1882 Henry Stanely signed treaties with local chiefs and these treaties gave King Leopold control of these lands
I. Africa Before European DominationC. The Congo Sparks Interest
• 3. The King treated the Africans brutally as he used them as a source of labor for extracting sap and rubber trees
• 4. His brutality forced the Belgian government to take his colony away but the invasion of Africa was just beginning
II. Forces Driving ImperialismA. Belief in European Superiority
• 1. One reason for imperialism was a strong sense of pride that was developed with the competition of acquiring land for the country. The more you had the stronger you were
II. Forces Driving ImperialismA. Belief in European Superiority
• 2. Another reason was pure racism- The belief that one race is better than another
II. Forces Driving ImperialismA. Belief in European Superiority
• 3. This was a reflection of Social Darwinism-This is where “survival of the fittest” was applied to the human race. Europeans as a result felt that since they were superior they had the right and duty to bring their progress to other countries
II. Forces Driving ImperialismA. Belief in European Superiority
• 4. This push also came from missionaries who felt that they needed to civilize and westernize the people of foreign lands
II. Forces Driving ImperialismB. Factors Promoting Imperialism in Africa
• 1. One factor was the technological superiority-Euro’s had the Maxim gun, the first machine gun invented in 1884
• 2. The steam engine which allowed travel to be easier than ever before
II. Forces Driving ImperialismB. Factors Promoting Imperialism in Africa
• 3. The perfection of the drug quinine in 1829 which prevented Euro’s from becoming infected by malaria
III. The Division of AfricaA. Berlin Conference Divides Africa
• 1. The competition was so fierce that the Euro’s feared it would result into war so a conference was held to prevent this from happening
III. The Division of AfricaA. Berlin Conference Divides Africa
• 2. Europe divided the continent without any thought of ethnic or linguistic challenges that would develop between the Africans
III. The Division of AfricaB. Demand for Raw Materials
• 1. The source of wealth in Africa was found in the resources that existed on the continent like copper, tin, gold, and diamonds.
• 2. Cash crops as well provided wealth: peanuts, palm oil, cocoa, and rubber.
