Imperialism+in+Africa

Imperialism in Africa

HOW IT STARTED ​ The main imperialists in Africa were Britain, France, and Germany. There was need for raw materials in Europe, so they wanted to control lands with these raw materials. Africa had a lot of raw materials, and there was finding of gold and diamonds in Africa, so that really made Europeans want to control those lands. There was also a lot of racial discrimination going on. The Europeans thought that they were better than Africans because of their skin color and thought they would become more powerful if they were to rule over Africa. Missionaries also supported imperialism. This is when the nations decided to take over the lands of Africa “Scramble for Africa’’. Railroads and technology helped with this so they could go deep into Africa, and they also had many advanced weapons and medicines the Africans did not have. The Europeans didn’t want to fight over Africa, so they met in Berlin Conference (1884 ).

BERLIN CONFRENCE ​ In 1884 a conference was called by Otto Von Bismark to end any dispute or confusion about the controlling of Africa. Fourteen countries met at the Berlin Conference: Belgium, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway, Italy, Turkey, and the United States of America. Britain, France, and Germany played the biggest part in this conference. Since only the coastal areas were colonized by Europe, they had to decided about the all the other land. After three months, and they finally decided that any nation could control any part of Africa as long as they showed they had control of the land. The arguing still continued to go on even after the Berlin conference was over, but in 1914 Africa had finally been split into fifty countries divided amongst them.

WHAT HAPPENED WHILE EUROPE WAS IN AFRICA ​ While Europeans were over in Africa they set up trade ports and built many plantations. They grew many crops like cocoa and peanuts. They took many important minerals and took the diamonds and gold in Africa. There were only two countries that were completely independent, Ethiopia and Liberia. The Europeans completely took control of Africa and treated them unfairly.

EFFECTS OF IMPERIALISM There are some positive effects from the Europeans taking over Africa. When the Europeans took over Africa they built railroads, canals, and many passageways. They also showed them newspapers and telegraphs, and made them economically more stable. The Europeans also showed them new medicines and sanitation which led to fewer deaths in the smaller countries improved the state of living all over. Which was a really great thing, but overall there were mainly negative effects from imperialism in Africa. The main negative effects were they gave them no rights and treated them like slaves. They were taken advantage of and had no choice but to follow the rules because of how much power was above them. Also the Europeans came with missionaries and forced the bible and Christianity on the Africans. Many died from the way the Europeans treated them because of the cheap labor and brutality forced on them. Some say that Africans were given evil minds from cheap labor, no money, drinking alcohol, and religion was forced upon them no matter if they believed it or not. Many people argue that because the Europeans took over their lands, which this was one of the main reasons Africa is the way it is today. Many Europeans believe they had good reasons behind it; they wanted power, and all the raw materials that the African land offered, and they wanted national glory. They also believe that it was their “burden” to help the smaller countries/ nations, which they referred to as “The White Man’s Burden.” They thought they were helping the Africans, but in all reality they were hurting them. ​ Even though imperialism happened many years ago many people today argue that the reasons Africa has so many issues and problems going around in mostly every country in Africa is because of what the Europeans did to them. Many also argue that the reason people were and sometimes still so unfair to Africans is because of the Europeans. Imperialism had major effects on Africa, and some of those effects still scar Africa, just pick up a magazine and read up on all the problems going on in Africa: KONY, starvation, so many diseases spreading, and many others. []

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