Colonization

Standard Covered f. Analyze strengths and weaknesses in the development of Sub-Saharan Africa; include factors such as linguistic, tribal, and religious diversity; literacy levels; and the colonial legacy.

Bantu Migrations The Bantu are a group of people and cultures who speak one of the Bantu languages. 2000 BC: The Bantu lived in Nigeria and started to move southward throughout Africa. They spread their languages, cultures, and important skills like growing crops, and making weapons out of iron. Tribes started to move away from being just hunter-gatherers Today most of the people that live in these areas can be traced back to the Bantu.

Slave Trade The next massive migration in Africa is connected with the Slave Trade. Between the 15-19th Centuries over 15 million Africans were transported as slaves across the Atlantic Ocean. Even more Africans were transported as slaves to Northern Africa and the British colony of South Africa. Thousands died in the process. They were captured in Central Africa and sold in West African cities. The Slave Trade contributed to Africa’s dark history of colonization and exploitation.

Ethnic groups In the mid-1800s, central Africa consisted of hundreds of different ethnic groups, which followed traditional religions and spoke hundreds of different languages Europeans had been in Africa since the mid-15th century but had stayed on the coast.

Colonization Begins King Leopold II (Belgium) was the first European leader to push into Africa’s interior. He wanted to open the Congo River to European trade. By 1884, King Leopold Controlled the area completely.

Horrors King Leopold left a lasting legacy of violence and torture. He turned the Congo into a huge labor camp and forced the people living there to harvest the Congo’s rubber for Belgium. 10 million people died as a result of this brutal take over. The Congo has never recovered. If villages or people failed to meet rubber quotas established by the ruling Belgium officials, this often resulted in dismemberment. Children’s hands and feet were chopped off as warnings to entire villages to work harder.

Berlin Conference Belgium was the first but was not that last! In the 19th century, Europe’s industrialized nations became interested in Africa’s raw materials. European nations wanted to colonize and control parts of Africa to obtain those resources To prevent European wars over Africa 14 nations convened the Berlin Conference in 1884-85 to lay down the rules of dividing Africa. Divided Africa without regard to where African ethnic or linguistic groups were. Division of Africa is often cited as one of the root causes of the political violence and ethnic conflicts in Africa.

Colonial Legacy Before After