The Partition of Africa By: Mackenzie Buck

On the Eve of the Scramble  Many people called Africa “the dark continent,” because they didn’t know what was beyond the trading posts.  They usually filled their maps with imaginary features.  European nations sent explorers to Africa in the 1800’s. Many nations were then in a scramble for African Colonies.

Africa is four times the size of Europe. People have diverse cultures across the region. Governments were established, and they had hundreds of languages. This region also had close ties with the Muslim World. Ottoman Control was weakening as well. East Africa had a slave trade with going with the Middle East. A Diverse Land

European Contacts Increase  Europeans would take slaves to work the plantations and mines in America. But in the 1800s European nations slowly outlawed the slave trade. Abolitionists promoted the idea of returning freed slaves to Africa. Sierra Leone was established in 1787, for freed slaves. Some free blacks also settled in Liberia. By 1847 Liberia became an independent republic. Although Liberia was its own nation, the slave trade still remained in Africa.  Missionaries were trying to push the Catholic and Protestant religion on Africans. The missionaries helped Africans too, they built schools, and medical clinics. Missionaries wanted Africans to drop their traditions and adopt the western traditions.

The Great Scramble Begins King Leopold started exploring the region around the Congo River Basin. His activities caught the interest of other nation, such as Britain, France, and Germany. All of these nations wanted to claim the land. A international conference was held in 1884, it took place in Berlin, Germany. No Africans were invited. Leopold claimed Congo, but the rest of the nations wanted free trade between the Niger and the Congo Rivers. Any nation could not claim land unless they had set up a government office. All the nations were colonized expect for Ethiopia and Liberia.

Carving Up a Continent The Boer War: Britain had land in the Cape Colony that they had acquired from the Dutch. The Dutch(the Boers) didn’t like Britain very much so they moved north and founded their own republics. The discovery of gold and diamonds in the Boer colony set off the Boer war. The war lasted from 1899 to The British ended up winning but it was at great cost. In 1910, Britain united the cape colony, and the former Dutch colonies. This made South Africa. The constitution set up a government run by whites, and this was where racial segregation began. This would remain in force until 1993.