Imperialism in Africa: The Colonization of a Continent

Imperialism Imperialism means to create an empire between many countries or regions. In order to create an empire, one country must take over another country and make it apart of their country. Usually, countries try to create empires to A. gain more land B. gain more or better resources C. gain new people or to gain slaves

Northern and Western Africa Take a look at the map, What 2 continents is Northern Africa closest too? Who do you think their most likely trade partners would be? Why wouldn’t they be as likely to trade with North and South America?

North and Western Africa - civilizations A civilization is a society with cities, a government, social classes and usually include architecture, writing, and art. The earliest civilizations in Africa rose up along the major rivers such as the Nile and the Niger rivers. These were powerful kingdoms complete with armies and they had trade routes across the deserts.

Ever heard of Timbuktu? It was a real kingdom on the Niger River.

The power of the North African kingdoms was based on trading across the Sinai Peninsula with Asia and across the Med. With Europe. The power of the West African kingdoms was based on gold and salt. Have you ever heard the expression, “he is worth his salt?” or “He is worth his weight in gold?” That’s how you would get paid back then, based on your weight and your worth.

Until the 1400’s, the Europeans and the Asians traded fairly with the African kingdoms. But, in 1492, something happened that changed the world. A man named Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas. After that, the Europeans began colonizing and taking over Africa.

Indian Ocean Trade Routes

Slave Trade Begins The Europeans were looking for 3 things in Africa: Land to expand their empires Natural Resources such as gold, salt, and timber Slaves for their new plantations in the Americas

African Trade Routes

Voyages of Exploration

African Slave Trade

Colonization of Africa by Europe

Your turn 1. What were the Europeans looking for in Africa? 2. Why did the Europeans go from being merchants to being colonizers? 3. What does it mean to colonize another country? 4. Why did the European colonizing of Africa cause problems?

So, what happened after colonization? The Europeans took natural resources out of Africa and didn’t pay the people for these resources. The Europeans favored some ethnic groups more than others which led to more resentment. The Europeans did some positive things such as establish hospitals, schools, roads, and railroads.

Why did colonization end? Wars in Europe caused major damage and money had to go to repairs. World War I 1914-1918 World War II 1938-1945 After world war II, many European countries could not afford to keep their colonies. Nationalism – A fierce belief in and devotion to one’s country

Nationalism 1. Beginning in the early 1900’s many African leaders were educated in Europe. 2. These leaders saw the way that things could be done and they wanted these things for Africa. 3. These leaders took these ideas back to Africa and began several nationalist movements.

One movement, the Pan African movement, was very successful. The Pan African movement called for all Africans to come together and demand their independence. The hope of this movement was that the people of Africa would rise up and overcome the Europeans – whether through force or through peaceful protests. Beginning in the 1950’s and lasting until the 1970’s, African nations slowly began gaining their independence. Why then?

Dates of Independence

The Road to post colonization hasn’t always been easy. Because of long standing rivalries between ethnic groups, when many countries gained independence, there was ethnic conflict. Different ethnic groups competed with one another to control their new countries. This sometimes led to genocide – the mass killing of people from one ethnic, political, or religious group.

In some countries, this led to civil war. In other countries, governments put into place policies of segregation. In South Africa, a policy of segregation called apartheid or apartness was put into place. Apartheid seperated ethnic groups into 3 categories: whites, blacks, and people of Asian descent.

Apartheid Under apartheid, each group had their own township or homeland. Groups did not interact with one another unless it was servant to employer. The best jobs and best education went to the white South Africans. Persons of color (both the black and Asian South Africans) were not allowed to hold office.

5. In order to travel from one township to another, identity papers were required, like a passport. 6. If you were caught without your passport, you could go to jail. 7. Life was very hard for the non-whites in South Africa. 8. apartheid lasted from the 1920’s until 1990. 9. A man named Nelson Mandela used the teachings of Gandhi to lead peaceful protests against the South African govern.

Mandela was arrested by the South African government because they said that he was inciting rebellion against the government. He was in jail for 27 years before being released in 1990 by President F. W. Deklerk. In 1994, Mandela was elected as the first black president of South Africa. Although apartheid ended, South Africa is still struggling to improve their economy for all groups.

14. What are some challenges being faced by the governments of Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, Kenya, and South Africa?

Apartheid Nationalism Imperialism Pan African Movement