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 done-

many 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

1. The seven students at the front of the room represented…

2. The groups that you formed at the beginning represented..

3. The papers you signed represented…..

4. 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….