european colonization of africa. why africa? stories of africa’s great wealth are spread...
TRANSCRIPT
European Colonization of
Africa
Why Africa? • Stories of Africa’s great wealth are spread
throughout western Europe (trade)• Missionaries and explorers are sent to
Africa by various European countries• Natural resources - cash crops, minerals,
land• Human resources – slaves for colonies
Early Colonization
• Brits establish Capetown as a “rest stop” between Europe & India (East India Co.)
• Portuguese, British, Spanish, French set up forts along Africa’s west coast for trading purposes
• Boers, Dutch farmers, come to southern Africa to farm
Cecil Rhodes
• British explorer/capitalist• Responsible for the failed
Cape-Cairo railway project • Founder of the De Beers
Mining Company• Owner of the British South
Africa Company, which carved out Rhodesia for itself
Atlantic Slave Trade• 1500s Spanish want more laborers for their colonies in the Americas• Slavery was not new to Africa (early kingdoms and Arabs enslaved
Africans)• Created civil unrest on the continent – tribes would capture members of
rival tribes and sell them to the slave traders• Triangle Trade (see map) peaks in 18th century
• Europe sold cheap manufactured goods to Africans (cloth & guns)• Africa traded humans (slaves)
• Middle Passage (journey b/w Africa & Americas – many slaves do not survive)
• Slaves were sold to the colonists in exchange for cash crops• Cash crops would then be sold in Europe
• Abolishing slavery• 1794 – France is first• Brits & other European countries follow suit• Demand for slaves in the US still high – so slave trade cont. (approx
1860s)
Triangle Trade
1880’s THE SCRAMBLE
FOR AFRICA
Who colonized where?
The Scramble for Africa
Click the name of the colonizing
country to see a list of African colonial
holdings
• Benin• Burkina Faso • Côte d'Ivoire • Guinea • Mali • Mauritania• Niger
• Senegal• Togo • Cameroon • Morocco • Algeria • Tunisia • Central African
Republic
• Chad • Djibouti• Gabon • Republic of
the Congo• Madagascar • Comoros • Mauritius
Colony Map
Colony Map
• Angola
• Mozambique
• Guinea Bissau
• Cape Verde
• São Tomé and Príncipe
Colony Map
German Colonies
• Tanzania* • Burundi **• Rwanda **
German colonies were divided among the European victors of WWI*=became a British colony**=became a Belgian colony***=became a French colony****=was occupied by South African government Colony
Map
• Cameroon ***• Togo ***• Namibia ****
Belgian Colonies• Democratic Republic of Congo• Rwanda (after WWI)• Burundi (after WWI)
• Libya• Eritrea• Somalia
Italian Colonies
Spanish Colonies• Western Sahara• Morocco• Equatorial
Guinea Colony Map
Independent Countries
Ethiopia
Liberia (often viewed as a US colony)
Colony Map
Decolonization/ African Independence
• Mid 1900s – Africans are rebelling against colonial rule (nationalism); Europe is losing control over colonies
• 1960-1965 – 27 countries see independence• Africans are just going to adopt colonial borders
despite the fact these borders ignore ethnic divisions
• Many rival tribes will be left to fight for control of the country – civil wars erupt all over Africa
South Africa
• Most recent “independence”
• 1994 - gained independence from the white Afrikaner government known for its apartheid practices
• Nelson Mandela – First president of an independent South Africa– Had been jailed by the Afrikaner gov’t for 27 yrs– President from 1994 – 1999– Won Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle to end the injustices of
apartheid in 1993
Post Independence Problems facing Africa today
• Overpopulation/ Population Density• Lack of technology & infrastructure development• Low GDP & GDP per capita• Disease – malaria & AIDS• Corrupt governments• Civil War• Famine• Poor use of natural resources• Still western imperialism – economic imperialism