Reasons for African Imperialism
BIG IDEAS….
WHY COLONIZATION?
-European Nations competed to gain
power and prestige and resources
-Africa was rich in natural resources
-Europeans needed a market to sell
their goods for large profits
-Take over just to keep other
Europeans from getting there first
• Europeans would make agreements with
African chiefs permitting the company to
trade and keep order in the area.
– These Agreements gave the right to govern the
land and resources in an area
– Africans never really understood what they
were giving away
• Traders put pressure on their government
after agreements made to protect land and
people.
• In a few cases tribal chiefs asked for
protection so that another European country
would not take over
• Also asked for protection against other
African tribes
• Boundary lines were drawn with no regard
for the African people
– Many tribes were divided
– Many under the rule of 2 or 3 different foreign
nations
– Tribes with nothing in common were grouped
together
– And because the Europeans didn’t want to pay
to govern, African land they made the Africans
pay taxes
• Europeans were interested in exploiting
Africa’s natural resources by
– Forcing the Africans to work for them in them
in the mines and on the plantations and farms.
– Forced labor introduced
– The Best farming was reserved for the
Europeans
• Because of lack of manpower, the
Europeans allowed the tribal chiefs to keep
some of their power. ( Especially the
British)
• However, Europeans were the real masters,
telling what could and couldn’t be donemany decisions were made in Europe
• This is known as “Indirect Rule” (sound
familiar?)
• Africa’s political system was
completely changed
– Chiefs lost the power and respect the they
formerly had
– It was believed that the chiefs had been
given their power by the tribal god.
– Under European rule many Africans
converted to Christianity
• The Europeans provided some Western
education for the Africans
– Europeans needed people with at least some
training to fill jobs in gov. and in trading
companies
– Britain believed that the colonies would
become independent and would need trained
leaders
– Western-Educated Africans rejected tribal
chiefs power and demanded greater voice in
gov.
– These were the first Nationalists- Africans who
eventually led the push for independence
• In order to reach resources more easily
Europeans improved transportation and
communication
(INFRASTRUCTURE!)
– Built hospitals and improved sanitation in
areas that they controlled
– Made colonies easier to control and more
profitable
Experience:
The Scramble to Colonize Africa
The seven students at the front of the room represented…
The groups that you formed at the beginning represented..
The papers you signed represented…..
The regrouping of your desks according to the signatures
represented……
5. The brown bags and what was contained in them represented…
6. The seven students returning to their chairs at the front of the room
represented…..
7. Your ability to buy things from the students at the front of the room
represented….
1.
2.
3.
4.