1. European Colonization of Africa

2. Why Africa?
Stories of Africa’s great wealth are spread throughout western Europe (trade)
Missionaries and explorers are sent to Africa by various European countries
Natural resources - cash crops, minerals, land
Human resources – slaves for colonies

3. Early Colonization
Brits establish Capetown as a “rest stop” between Europe & India (East India Co.)
Portuguese, British, Spanish, French set up forts along Africa’s west coast for trading purposes
Boers, Dutch farmers, come to southern Africa to farm

4. Cecil Rhodes British explorer/capitalist
Responsible for the failed Cape-Cairo railway project
Founder of the De Beers Mining Company
Owner of the British South Africa Company, which carved out Rhodesia for itself

5. Atlantic Slave Trade
1500s Spanish want more laborers for their colonies in the Americas
Slavery was not new to Africa (early kingdoms and Arabs enslaved Africans)
Created civil unrest on the continent – tribes would capture members of rival tribes and sell them to the slave traders
Triangle Trade (see map) peaks in 18th century
Europe sold cheap manufactured goods to Africans (cloth & guns)
Africa traded humans (slaves)
Middle Passage (journey b/w Africa & Americas – many slaves do not survive)
Slaves were sold to the colonists in exchange for cash crops
Cash crops would then be sold in Europe
Abolishing slavery
1794 – France is first
Brits & other European countries follow suit
Demand for slaves in the US still high – so slave trade cont. (approx 1860s)

6. Triangle Trade

7. 1880’s THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
Who colonized where?

8. The Scramble for Africa
Click the name of the colonizing country to see a list of African colonial holdings

9. French Colonies Chad Djibouti Gabon Republic of the Congo Madagascar
Comoros
Mauritius
Benin
Burkina Faso
Côte d'Ivoire
Guinea
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Senegal
Togo
Cameroon
Morocco
Algeria
Tunisia
Central African Republic
Colony
Map

10. British Colonies Egypt South Africa Nigeria Swaziland Ghana Lesotho
Sierra Leone
The Gambia
Zambia
Malawi
Zimbabwe
South Africa
Swaziland
Lesotho
Sudan
Northern Somalia
Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
Colony
Map

11. Portuguese Colonies Angola Mozambique Guinea Bissau Cape Verde
São Tomé and Príncipe
Colony
Map

12. German Colonies German Colonies Tanzania* Burundi ** Rwanda **
Cameroon ***
Togo ***
Namibia ****
German colonies were divided among the European victors of WWI
*=became a British colony
**=became a Belgian colony
***=became a French colony
****=was occupied by South African government
Colony
Map

13. Belgian Colonies Italian Colonies Spanish Colonies Libya Eritrea
Democratic Republic of Congo
Rwanda (after WWI)
Burundi (after WWI)
Italian Colonies
Libya
Eritrea
Somalia
Spanish Colonies
Western Sahara
Morocco
Equatorial Guinea
Colony
Map

14. Independent Countries
Liberia (often viewed as a US colony)
Ethiopia
Colony
Map

15. Decolonization/ African Independence
Mid 1900s – Africans are rebelling against colonial rule (nationalism); Europe is losing control over colonies
– 27 countries see independence
Africans are just going to adopt colonial borders despite the fact these borders ignore ethnic divisions
Many rival tribes will be left to fight for control of the country – civil wars erupt all over Africa

17. South Africa Most recent “independence” 1994 - gained independence
from the white Afrikaner
government known for its
apartheid practices
Nelson Mandela
First president of an independent South Africa
Had been jailed by the Afrikaner gov’t for 27 yrs
President from 1994 – 1999
Won Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle to end the injustices of apartheid in 1993

18. Post Independence Problems facing Africa today
Overpopulation/ Population Density
Lack of technology & infrastructure development
Low GDP & GDP per capita
Disease – malaria & AIDS
Corrupt governments
Civil War
Famine
Poor use of natural resources
Still western imperialism – economic imperialism