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The Partition of Africa

12.2

By the end of the 1800s, the imperialist powers of Europe claimed control over most of Africa.

Main Idea

• Usman dan Fodio – scholar who inspired resistance against corruption and European control; began an Islamic revival in northern Nigeria

• Shaka – military leader of the Zulu who united his people, setting off a series of wars in southern Africa

• paternalistic – governing a country as a father would a child

• David Livingstone – an African explorer and missionary who hoped to open the African interior to trade and Christianity to end slavery

Terms and People

• Henry Stanley – American journalist who trekked across Africa and “found” Dr. Livingstone in 1871

• King Leopold II – king of Belgium who set off a scramble among European powers for African colonies in the late 1800s

• Boer War – 1899–1902; a war in which the British defeated Dutch Boers in South Africa

• Samori Touré – leader of forces fighting the French in West AfricaTerms and People

Cont.

In the late 1800s, Britain, France, Germany, and other European powers swept into Africa.

Africa in the Early 1800s

Africa- huge continent, four times the size of Europe

People spoke hundreds of languages and has developed varied governments.

Large centralized states Village communities

Africa in the Early 1800s (Before Colonization)

Included the enormous Sahara and the fertile land along the Mediterranean.

Had close ties to the Muslim world In the early 1800s, much of North

America remained under the rule of the declining Ottoman Empire

North Africa

Islamic reform movement had brought change

Leader: Usman dan Fodio preached jihad A holy struggle to revive and purify Islam.

Under these leaders, several new Muslim states arose.

All built on trade, farming, and herding.

West Africa

East Africa was largely influenced by the Muslim religion,

slave trade with the Middle East, and natural resources such as copper

and ivory. Traded for good: Cloth, Firearms

East Africa

• The powerful warrior Shaka united many of the Zulu.

• As the Zulu pushed south, they met the Boers. The Boers moved inland in 1814 on their “Great Trek” resisting British control along the coast.

• The Zulu fought fiercely but could not match the Boer’s weapons

• In general, his conquests set off mass migrations and war, which created chaos in the region.

South Africa

From 1500s to 1700s, Europeans traded along the African coast. Difficult geography and disease kept them from reaching the interior.

Changed in the 1800s with river steamboats and advanced medicine.

Led by explorers such as Mungo Park and Richard Burton, Europeans began to penetrate to the interior.

European Contacts Increase

Navigating Africa’s large rivers (Niger, Nile, Congo) led European imperialists to explore Africa further inland.

Fascinated by geography, little understanding of the people

Catholic and Protestant missionaries traveled into Africa and helped build schools, medical clinics, and churches.

The missionaries urged Africans to reject their native ways in favor of Western civilization.

Took a paternalistic view of Africans. Saw their religions as degrading.

Famous Missionaries: Dr. David Livingstone-, Henry Stanley- focused on the cruelty of the slave trade.

“The only way to end this cruel traffic was to open up the interior of Africa to Christianity.”

Explorers and Missionaries

Later hired by King Leopold II of Belgium, Stanley explored the Congo river basin seeking wealth and fame and setting off a competition for colonies.

A Scramble for Colonies

The purpose of the Berlin Conference was to avoid war over African territories

They recognized Leopold’s claims at the Congo Basin, but organized free trade from the Congo and Niger rivers

They also claimed that a European power could not claim any part of Africa unless it had set up a government office there

For the following 20 years, the rush to colonize was on. Europeans powers partitioned almost entire continent

The Berlin Conference

Map Activity

Map Activity

Horrors in the Congo

But Belgians still treated Congo as a possession to be

exploited.

International outrage forced Leopold to

turn the Congo over to Belgium.

In the Congo, brutal abuses took place as the people were exploited for ivory, copper,

and rubber.

• In 1908 the Congo became the Belgian Congo.

• It supplied mineral and other wealth to Belgium.

• The people of the Congo received little in return and had little control of their land.

• No role in government and economy

• In the 1830s many died as France took Algeria.

• France later extended its control into Tunisia and sections of Central and West Africa

• At its height, the French empire in Africa was as large as the continental United States.

France took over a large portion of northern Africa.

Britain’s share of Africa was smaller and more scattered that that of France.

Took chunks of West and East Africa. Egypt, pushed south into Sudan.

In South Africa, Britain clashed with the Boers, who were descendants of Dutch settlers.

Britain acquired Cape Colony in 1815 Boers fled but upon the discovery of gold and diamonds

in the Boers lands led to conflict.

Boer War -1899- 1902 (Britain won)

Britain Takes Its Share

1910- the British united the Cape Colony and the former Boer republics into the Union of South Africa

The new constitution set up a gov. run by whites and laid the foundation for a system of complete racial segregation that would remain in force until 1993.

Lasting Effects of Britain

Portuguese- large colonies in Angola and Mozambique

Italy- Across Mediterranean to occupy Libya and then pushed to the southern end of the Red Sea.

Germany- Land in eastern and southwestern Africa.

Other Nations Join the Scramble

The Algerians battled the French for years. Samori Toure fought the French forces in West

Africa, where he was building his own empire. The British battled the Zulus and the Asante

in West Africa. German battled the Yao and Herero in East

Africa. Maji- Maji Rebellion- 1905

Scorched Earth policy

Africans Resist Imperialism

• One African nation that resisted colonization was the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia.

• Reforming ruler Menelik II modernized his country, purchased weapons, and hired Europeans to plan roads and bridges.

• In 1896 he defeated an attacking Italian force and remained independent.

During the Age of Imperialism- a western-educated African elite emerged.

Some middle class Africans admired western ways and rejected their own culture.

Others valued their African traditions and condemned western societies.

By the early 1900s, African leaders were forging nationalist movements to pursue self-determination and independence.

New African Elite