Imperialists Divide Africa World Studies March 9

I. Imperialism began in 1875 At that time Europeans controlled 10% of Africa By 1900, they controlled 90%

II. Europeans explored Africa Europeans had been trading on the coast of Africa for hundreds of years, but didn’t know the interior Mungo Park (Scottish) traveled up the Niger in 1805 Rene Caille (French) crossed the Sahara in 1828

III. Europeans competed for colonies In 1879, Henry Stanley claimed the Congo for King Leopold II of Belgium Every one rushed to get their own piece in response In 1884 European reps met in Berlin to set up ground rules, no Africans were there Berlin Conference

British wanted Cairo to Cape Town (n/s axis) In 1869 a French company built the Suez canal Allowed for much quicker route to the Indian Ocean The British gov’t bought stock in that company b/c access to India was crucial When fighting broke out in Egypt they had to protect their investment In 1882 Egypt became a protectorate (partly controlled/protected by another gov’t) Next Britain wanted to control the Sudan, to better protect Egypt & the canal Set up a condominium (joint rule) w/ Egypt in 1898

France wanted Dakar to French Somaliland (e/w axis) Going fine until they ran into the British, so they turned south Frequently used force, locals frequently didn’t know what was going on

IV. European conquest took many forms Advanced weapons made it easy for Europeans to conquer Africans empires Samori Toure bought weapons and held the French back for 6 years But most of Africa wasn’t empires, Euros had to conquer little village by little village British made 500 treaties to get Nigeria British were invited into Uganda Caught up in a religious civil war Christians got Brits to help them win in exchange for control

V. Africa became a continent of colonies By 1900 only Liberia and Ethiopia were independent Liberia was founded by former US slaves & that tie protected them Ethiopia was ruled by Menelik II, who cleverly played sides against each other for his peoples’ benefit

Colonial rule Algeria and S Africa had many Euro settlers, but most places weren’t In Kenya & Rhodesia whites set up farms For the most part, African leaders stayed in high positions Labor At first, Euros forced Africans to work in mines and plantations as slaves After slavery they forced cash taxes on them, so they had to work for them Raise crops and produce things Euros wanted to buy

Euros set up schools and health services, but mostly just for themselves Kept education among Africans down Euros encouraged rivalries to keep Africans from ganging up on them Brought in workers from Asia to prevent plotting too Economic development Originally many thought colonizing Africa would mean expanding markets Didn’t pan out, many Euro goods were too impractical and/or expensive Plantations and mining made the colonies at least break even