Transcript The Scramble for Africa

The Scramble for Africa
Imperialism
• Imperialism- the seizure of a country or
territory by a stronger country
Africa Before European
Domination
• Powerful African armies were able to keep
Europeans out for 400 years
• European travel to the African interior was
impossible
– African rivers hard to navigate
– Disease made it difficult
• Steam-powered riverboats allowed interior
exploration
Nations Compete for Overseas
Empires
• People who went on expeditions were
explorers, missionaries, or humanitarians
– Commonality= Opposed European & American
slave trade
David Livingstone
• Missionary from Scotland in Central Africa
to promote Christianity
• Missing for several years
• Henry Stanley sent to find him
– “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
Forces Driving Imperialism
Nationalism
• Europeans viewed an empire as a measure
of national greatness
• Racism- Europeans believed that they were
better than other peoples
Social Darwinism
• “Survival of the fittest”
– Those who were fittest for survival enjoyed
wealth and success and were considered
superior to others
• Wanted to “Westernize” and civilize the
peoples of the foreign land
Factors Promoting Imperialism in
Africa
• Technology
– Machine gun
– Steam engine (railroads, steamboats, etc)
• Medicine
– Prevented diseases for Europeans
• Diversity among Africans
– Differences in languages and cultures
discouraged unity
Division of Africa
• European countries were competing for
African territories rich with diamonds and
gold
• Berlin Conference- meeting of 14
European nations to lay down rules for the
division of Africa
– European nations divided the continent with little
thought about how African ethnic and linguistic
groups were distributed
– No African ruler was invited to attend the meeting
Raw Materials
• Europeans needed Africa’s rich mineral
resources to produce goods
– Copper, tin
• Developed cash-crop plantations
– Displaced food crops grown by African
farmers, so many of the natives were starving
South Africa
• Zulus v. British over this territory
• British used their superior guns and other
advanced weapons to defeat the Zulus
Boer War
• British v. the Dutch (Boers) over territory
• First modern “total” war
• British defeated the Boers and controlled
the Union of South Africa
New Period of Imperialism
Influence of European Nations
• Europeans wanted an influence over the
economic, political, and social lives of the
people
• They were determined to shape the
economies of the lands to benefit European
economies
• Also wanted the people to adopt European
customs
Forms of Control
• To establish control of an area, Europeans
used four different methods: colony,
protectorate, sphere of influence, and
economic imperialism
Methods of Management
• Indirect and direct control
• Indirect
– British asked a local ruler to accept British
authority to rule
– Local officials handled daily management and
soon the local population would govern itself
Methods of Management, cont.
• Direct
– Europeans did not believe that Africans could
rule themselves
– Paternalism- policy used by Europeans in
which they governed people in a paternal way
by providing for their needs but not giving
them any rights
– Assimilation- policy where the native country
would adopt the culture and customs of the
European country
British Imperialism in India
British East India Company
• Controlled large portions of India
• Sepoys- Indian soldiers in the British army
• Great Britain considered India its “Jewel in
the Crown” because it was the most
valuable of all British colonies
Indian Raw Materials
• Tea, indigo, coffee, cotton, jute, and opium
• Traded opium to China and exchanged it for
tea, which they then sold to England
Impact of Colonialism
• Negative- British held all of the political
and economic power, with little concern for
Indian natives
• Positive- India was able to modernize
because of new technologies brought by the
British
Sepoy Mutiny
• Many Indians believed that the British were
trying to convert them to Christianity
• British also expressed constant racism
towards Indians
Sepoy Mutiny, cont.
• Rumors spread that the sepoys’ rifle cartridges
were greased with beef and pork fat (Hindus
and Muslims were outraged)
• Majority of sepoys refused to accept the
cartridges and they were jailed by the British
• Soldiers rebelled and captured the city of Delhi
• Rebellion spread and it took over a year for the
British East India Company to take back
control
Turning Point
• British government took direct control of
India in 1858= Raj
• British did not believe that Indians could
rule themselves