The New Imperialism and Africa

1. The New Imperialism and Africa • Sometimes history is hard to believe….

2. I. African Background • A. Early 1800s • 1. Before the scramble for colonies began • 2. New Imperialism: 1870 – 1914 • B. Significant Size • 1. Nearly 4 times the size of Europe • 2. Diverse • a. Languages • b.Gov’ts.

3. C. Regions • 1. North Africa • a. Contains the Sahara Desert and the fertile land along the Mediterranean Sea • b. Part of the Muslim world • c. Under the rule of the declining Ottoman Empire

4. 2. West Africa • a. Slave Trade • i. Heavily impacted by the transatlantic slave trade • ii. By the early 1800s, European nations began to outlaw it BUT it took years to end it. • iii. In 1787, the British organized Sierra Leone as a colony for former slaves. • iv. Some free blacks from the United States settled in Liberia which in 1847 became an independent republic.

5. b. Experienced an Islamic revival by the early 1800s.

6. 3. East Africa • a. Influenced by Islam (proximity to Saudi Arabia) • b. Boasted such profitable trade cities as Mombasa & Kilwa • i. Cargoes of Slaves • ii. Captives marched from the interior to the coast & shipped as slaves to the Middle East • iii. Ivory and copper from Central Africa were exchanged for cloth and firearms from India.

7. 4. South Africa • a. Zulus (native tribe) emerged as a major force in Southern Africa under a ruthless and brilliant leader, Shaka • b. By the 1830s, Zulus faced a new treat: the arrival of well-armed mounted Boers, descendents of Dutch farmers who were migrating north from the Cape Colony.

8. c. In 1814, the Cape Colony has passed from Dutch to British rule. • i. Boers resented British laws that abolished slavery and other instances of interference with their way of life. • ii. To escape British rule, several thousand Boer families traveled north on the “Great Trek.”

9. d. Migrating Boers & Zulus fought • i. Zulu regiments could not defeat Boer guns. ii. Struggle for control would rage until the end of the 1800s.

10. II. European Contact Increases • A. From the 1500s to the 1700s, Europeans traded along the African coast. • B. While African resistance, difficult geography, and diseases all kept Europeans from moving into the interior, medical advances and river steamships changed all that in the 1800s. • C. Explorers Advance Through the Interior • 1. Great fascination with African geography marked with ignorance of native peoples. • 2. Great hardships endured

11. D. MissionariesFollow Explorers • 1. Catholic and Protestant alike sought conversions to Christianity. • 2. Built schools and medical clinics alongside churches. • 3. Focused on the evils of the slave trade • 4. Assumed a paternalistic view of Africans, meaning they saw them as children in need of guidance (of not knowing any better…)

12. E. Livingstoneblazes a trail! • 1. Dr. David Livingstone: best known explorer and missionary. • Crisscrossed Africa for 30 years. • Wrote about the many people he met with more sympathy and less bias than did most Europeans.

13. III. A Scramble for Colonies:The Race is on! • A. King Leopold of Belgium • 1. Publicly spoke of his civilizing mission to carry the light “that for millions of men still plunged in barbarism will be the dawn of a better era.” • 2. Privately, he dreamed of conquest and profit • 3. Strong nationalist sentiments & suspicions caused Britain, France, and Germany to make rival claims to the region.

14. B. Berlin Conference • 1. To avoid bloodshed, European powers met at an international conference in Berlin in 1884. • 2. NO Africans were invited! • 3. European powers recognized Leopold’s claims but then agreed that a European power could not claim any part of Africa unless it had set up a gov’t. office there.

15. 4. The rush to colonize Africa was! • 5. In the 20 years following the Conference, European powers partitioned almost the entire continent. • a. New borders were established. • b. Little or no regard given to traditional patterns of settlement or ethnic backgrounds. (aftermath continues to haunt Africa – impact STILL today….)

16. C. Horrors in the Congo. 1. Leopold exploited the riches of the Congo, including copper, rubber, and ivory. 2. Laborers (Africans) were forced to work for almost nothing, were savagely beaten or even mutilated

17. D. France Extends its influence • 1. Invaded and conquered Algeria in the 1830s, costing tens of thousands of French lives and killing many times more Algerians. • At its height, the French empire in Africa was as large as the continental United States! Check out all of the orange!!!!! 

18. E. Britain Takes Its Share • 1. Claims were more scattered than that of France. • 2. Included more heavily populated regions with many rich resources. • a. British won the Boer War (1899-1902) • b. Controlled vast supplies of gold and diamonds.

19. F. Others join the scramble! • 1. Portugal • 2. Italy • 3. Germany

20. G. African Resistance • 1. Largely unsuccessful • 2. Ethiopia was the only African nation, aside from Liberia to preserve its independence. • 3. New African Elite Emerge a. Western-educated, upper class eventually emerged b. By the early 1900s, African leaders were forming nationalist movements to pursue self-determination & independence!