Driving Force Behind European Imperialism In Africa

The definition of imperialism is an action by a strong nation to take control of another country.

Beginning in the mid 1800’s, the scramble for Africa proved to be one of the most important events in World History. The term “scramble for Africa” describes the rush and uttermost important desire that European countries had to imperialize the countries in Africa. Imperialism is the dominance of a stronger country over a smaller one politically and economically. Stronger countries imperialize weaker countries in order to gain new resources and acquire a better trade system. The Europeans desire to imperialize Africa was driven by their perception of god, gold, and glory. The imperialism in Africa was triggered due to the abundance of natural resources discovered in Africa, the Europeans desire to spread their culture that they believed was

By the year 1885, European imperialism in Africa was in full flight. Imperialism is the belief that a person or a group of people is superior to another person or group. Europeans strongly believed they were more important than the Africans. Because of this, they took Africa for themselves. Strong driving forces during this imperialism was resources, power, and technology.

Between the 300 Years of 1500 and 1800’s European nations traded slaves, gold and ivory throughout the west coast of Africa. It changed when I the 1800’s people moved into central Africa and by the 1880’s Africa was being attacked by almost all of the world's nations. So what was the driving force behind imperialism in Africa. It was all made up from economics, morality and revolution.

During the 19th century many European explorers began exploring the interior of Africa. As a result many European countries wanted to colonize Africa.There were many reasons for Europeans wanting to imperialize Africa. Some of the driving forces behind European imperialism were economic, nationalism and White Man’s burden.

In the race of European imperialism, European countries dominated innocent African colonies. The driving force behind this? Africa’s bountiful resources. Before Africa’s colonization, the European presence in Africa was extremely limited, mainly due to lack of exploration and diseases (Background Essay). However, this changed as European prominence became largely influential through the discovery of Africa’s resource rich lands.

The  Imperialism of Africa is a world nation over political, economic and cultural affairs of other countries and  region. The European Imperialism was caused by the loss of The American colonies during 1700s and 1800s. According to the passage, document B John Ruskin born in 1819 and 1900 stated that England must do to again a source of light, a center of peace, meaning to find the colonies as  fast as possible this was economic and political reasons. The Europeans took over Africa at which it was shown on Document A, every land has been taken over by the Europeans except for Libya and Ethiopia. According to this  continuous with the passage Europe and  the number one trade and sea power, another man named Fabri believed that Saxon British colonies would begin competing.

Why Was There So Much Imperialism Going On European’s taking control over Africa in a new way, called imperialism! Africa definitely changed from the European imperialism but it also benefited from it. Of course not in a fantastic way most of the time. The driving force behind European imperialism in Africa was a serious matter back in the 19th century that changed it for the better, even if it did cause a lot of controversy.

In the 19th century imperialism was an important part of building European empires. The four major motives for imperialism are economic, strategic, religious and political. These motives helped great empires expand their territory and brought new cultures and languages to both the colonised countries and the countries colonising them. European countries such as Britain and France would use their colonies in Africa for economic gain. They would be able to exploit the country’s natural resources and bring them back to the “mother country” to sell and use.

Europe and Africa had similar mindsets when it comes to imperialist views because they had interactions much before Europeans came into contact with societies from the Americas. Europeans and Africans had boats fit for travelling longer distances, unlike colonies in the Americas. As a result, Europeans and Africans could travel through oceans, unlike Native Americans. For example, Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal was one of the first to venture to Africa in hopes to find better trade routes and wealth. As a result, ideas from Africa and Europe were formed, and alliances were created between certain nations.

The only thing Europeans loved more than political power was increasing their trade. In the 1800’s European nations had a desire to get a lead to widespread imperialism in Africa. With the end of slavery in 1833, European interest in Africa shifted to seizing colonies. King Leopold of Belgium acquired a private country in Africa that was 95 times bigger than Belgium and his purpose was to make money by taking out ivory and rubber.

Within the 1800’s European Explorers forced their way through the insides of western and central Africa. Along the west coast of Africa, European nations traded for slaves, ivory, and gold. Africa was under full assault by the 1800s, as European nations competed with one another for control of the continent. Europe wanted to imperialism (take over) Africa and the forces (what they did) that helped them succeed is the new technology, Nationalism, and lastly the most important industrialism.     Europeans invented many different things in order to help them take control of Africa.

The United States and Japan were also imperialist powers; however, neither was involved in colonizing Africa. Economical, political, and social causes were the roots of imperialism. Economical causes included materials and markets. Materials were a cause as countries wanted to depend on themselves for raw materials.

The industrial revolution propelled African imperialism to a level the world had never seen before. During the late 19th century, borders in Europe became difficult to alter and the only way to expand was in other continents like Africa. Europe exposed Africa’s weakness and preyed on them, leaving the continent in disarray. The industrial revolution induced African imperialism for economic prosperity, the rise in cultural and social power, and political motives. Economic prosperity had a major impact on the advancement of African imperialism.

European expansion into Africa created great controversy. Within approximately half of a century, Europeans had gained control of all African lands except for Ethiopia and Liberia, (Doc. 4). By taking their land and power, European nationalism had occupied full control of the continent. Technology also played an important role in the removal of many occupations. Since machinery was taking the place of workers, factories needed less workers to operate the equipment.