Colonialism of Africa

The Scramble for Africa Colonialism/Imperialism- gaining political control of a country by a foreign area or people

The Scramble for Africa Ethiopia & Liberia were the only 2 nations not colonized. UK & French North West East France & Italy UK Central Belgium

Berlin Conference: 1884-1885 14 European nations met to establish the rules for dividing Africa. No African ruler was invited!!! Ethnic & tribal boundaries were disregarded in re-drawing political borders. No guidelines were set for how to treat the natives. King Leopold II of Belgium claimed the Belgian Congo, and left the worst legacy Of African colonialism. Leopold ordered the hands be cut off of children & adults who did not work hard enough.

The Berlin Conference was a root cause of the 20th century African political violence and ethnic conflicts! Sign warning about land mines

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Colonialism

The Good Built schools Built modern cities Improved some infrastructure Improved medical care Built schools Built modern cities Improved some infrastructure Improved medical care (Western technology in the large cities) Began limited industries Introduced a lingua franca (common language amongst groups that speak many languages) Provided a written language to many that had none A school in South Africa

The Good Began limited industries Introduced a lingua franca Provided a written language and recorded history Lingua franca – common language for communication Written language important b/c it allowed for communication over distance – most tribes did not have written language

The Bad Disrupted traditional life Europeans exploited resources Exploited African labor Divided nations unevenly Created full time armies Disrupted traditional life Europeans exploited resources (shipped resources & crops to other areas) Exploited African labor (forced them to raise cash crops) Divided nations unevenly (some big, some small, some resource rich…) Created full time armies (trained them with weapons…)

The Bad Purposely kept underdeveloped (to control them) Discouraged formal education for natives Suppressed African rights- natives had no rights

The Ugly Long Term Effects (after independence) Idi Amin- former Ugandan dictator No experience with government = dictatorships & political instability Professional armies = civil war, instability, conflict Native culture condemned as “uncivilized” Africans only learned how to grow or produce one product which limited their ability to develop on a global scale. It also left them unable to “fend for themselves” in the real world – so they had to continue to rely on their colonial “parent.” *Also – colonial impression of native culture as uncivilized left them unhappy with their own culture, and some aspects of the cultures died out.

The Ugly limited development Long Term Effects (after independence) limited development Were left overly-dependent on former colonial nations Lack of education & health care= Pandemics (AIDS)