1. Colonialism of Africa

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

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

4. Berlin Conference:
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.

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

6. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Colonialism

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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…)

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

11. 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.

12. 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)