ap world history pod #16 – new imperialism in africa consequences of new imperialism
TRANSCRIPT
AP World HistoryPOD #16 – New Imperialism in Africa
Consequences of
New Imperialism
Class Discussion Notes
Bulliet – “Scramble for Africa”, pp. 744-752
Historical Context
“Until the 1870s African history was largely shaped by internal forces and the spread of Islam. Outside Algeria and southern Africa, only a handful of Europeans had ever visited the interior of Africa, and European countries possessed small enclaves on the coasts. As late as 1879 Africans ruled more than 90 percent of the continent. Then, within a decade, Africa was invaded and divided among the European powers in a movement often referred to as the “scramble” for Africa.” (Bulliet, p. 774)
Berlin Conference
Called by the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1884-1885
The major European powers agreed to a set of rules for the partition of and colonization of Africa
Effective Occupation – would replace the former trading relations between Africans and Europeans
Every country with colonial ambitions had to send troops into Africa and participate in the division of the spoils
Borders were created not based upon the multitude of diverse religious, ethnic, and linguistics divisions within the Continent, but rather based on the acquisition and division of the vast supply of profitable natural resources and geographic benefits
The Collaborators
Some groups welcomed the invading Europeans as allies against local enemies
These collaborators sought employment in government service or with European firms (typically they sent their children to mission schools)
In return these collaborators were often the first to receive benefits such as clinics and roads
The Resisters
Peoples with a pastoral or warrior tradition were often extremely resistant and fought tenaciously to prevent European domination
In the end, however, all of the resisters eventually came into conflict with European military led expeditions and were defeated (courtesy of the machine gun)
Resistance in Ethiopia succeeds Menelik became emperor in Ethiopia in
1889 – at that time his empire was being threatened by Sudanese Muslims to the west and by France and Italy to the east
For years Ethiopia had been purchasing modern American and European weapons
1896 the Italian invasion force of 20,000 was defeated at Adowa by a larger and better trained Ethiopian army
Social Consequences
“Most Africans neither joined nor fought the European invaders but tried to continue living as before. They found this increasingly difficult because colonial rule disrupted every traditional society. The presence of colonial officials meant that rights to land, commercial transactions, and legal disputes were handled very differently and that traditional rulers lost authority, except when Europeans used them as local administrators.” (Bulliet, p. 749)
African Land & Labor
European masters proclaimed any land not farmed to be vacant and gave it to private investment companies
Europeans encouraged the growth of cash crops and taxed the harvest
Native inhabitants were forced to become squatters, sharecroppers or ranch hands and in South Africa they were sent to reservations
European masters wanted this cheap labor refusing to pay high enough wages – for example miners in South Africa were paid 1/10th of the wage given to whites for equal work
Taxes were imposed on huts and heads and had to be paid regardless of income level
Christian Missionaries
Africans had more contact with missionaries than with any other Europeans. Missionaries, both men and women, opened schools to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic to village children.
Boys learned craft skills - carpentry and blacksmithing
Girls learned domestic - cooking, laundry, and childcare
Christianity proved successful in converting followers of traditional animist religions but had very little luck in converting Muslim communities