The Scramble for Africa – Late 19 th Century What did Africa have that others wanted and would kill for?

What did Africa have that others wanted? Phase One 1. Good ports along route to India and spice trade. 2. Defensive posts to keep others away from trade (monopoly) 3. Cape Town – good farm lands to grow crops to supply sailors. 4. Market for European finished goods 5.Slaves

What did Africa have that others wanted? Part Two – After Slave Trade Ended (Early 19 th century) 1.Land = greed & ego (Belgium Congo > Belgium). 2. Slaves, Diamonds (DeBeers), Gold, Salt, Minerals, etc. 3. European rivalry 4.

Scramble for Africa European Colonies Africa Political Boundaries TodayEuropean Colonies

How did rubber change the world? The cost of Colonization on Africa. A look at the Belgium Congo.

King Leopold of Belgium He PERSONALLY owned The Congo

Belgium Congo

Prisoners at work in the Belgium Congo 1912 W hich tribe do you think was the stronger one before Belgium supplied the guns? How did Belgium impact tribal relations? What do you think will happen after Belgium pulls out?

Belgium kept tight control of the bullets it supplied to the tribes. For every bullet fired a human hand had to be brought back. In one year alone more than 2 million bullets were shipped to the Congo. An estimated 8-10 million people died as a result of Belgium’s/King Leopold’s policies. How do you think these policies impacted tribal relations?

Rudyard Kipling in his poem “White Man’s Burden” justified the European colonies and their policies of total submission of the people in Africa. How prepared (educated and trained) were the Africans for their “independence” once it was finally obtained? What kind of rulers had the Europeans taught them to be?

Initially King Leopold’s Belgium Congo was the world’s primary supplier of rubber, a crucial component of the Industrial Revolution. However, rubber trees were being planted in the US controlled Philippines and elsewhere, and they would be ready to be harvested in approximately 20 years. Time was running out for Belgium’s domination of the rubber industry. A village in the Congo before being destroyed to make room for more rubber trees.

After destruction

Congo women being held captive to force their husbands to go into the rain forest to gather wild rubber.

Unloading Rubber – Congo 1900

Analyze this picture. What is happening and why?

Why did Europeans feel they had the right to conquer the Africans? How were they able to defeat and conquer a continent of millions? How were the Europeans able to maintain power? Why did Europeans feel they had the right to conquer the Africans? How were they able to defeat and conquer a continent of millions? How were the Europeans able to maintain power?

The Racial Ladder: European belief in the superiority of whites Remember: Rudyard Kipling’s White Man’s Burden.

How Africa was being portrayed during Colonial Period

A European traveling in the Belgium Congo 1912 – A White Man’s Burden

A postcard showing a tribal chief on his honeymoon French Congo 1902 What is the message here? How is this portraying the African’s?

Cecil Rhodes “We are the finest race in the world and the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race.” 1877

European Colonies late 19 th Century right before & after The Scramble for Africa

American Cartoon 1900 What is the message?

What is the message here?

How were they able to defeat and conquer a continent of millions? Think PREMS

Soldiers of the Force Publique Congo

Military Whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun, and they have not Maxim Machine Gun

Steam-powered Gunboats travel up the Nile to rescue British forces

Boer Wars

How would/could you keep millions enslaved and “peaceful”?

How would/could you keep millions enslaved and “peaceful”? PREMS 1. Divide and conquer 2. Put minority tribes into positions of “power” (i.e. Yugoslavia, Rwanda) 3. Restrict Education 4. European rules, judges, officers 5. European supplies