European Imperialism In Africa Dbq

According to the overview, “between 1500 and 1800, European nations traded for slaves, gold, and ivory along the west coast of Africa, but they did not go deeply into the continent.” In 1884, fourteen countries met in Berlin to discuss the division of Africa to prevent war from breaking out.. This meeting would come to be known as the Berlin Conference led by Ottoman Bismarck. Up until 1885, they stated that if a leader wanted to control a certain part of Africa, then they must prove that they have control over that area and that was it. This was the beginning of European imperialism in Africa. Based on the documents, expanding empires and having a new source of materials was the driving force of imperialism in Africa. On the map in document A, it shows the partition of Africa among the European countries. Out of the eight countries that are shown the

The Europeans realized that if they could take control of Africa, they would have access to resources without having to pay the expensive price and they would gain land at the same time. Africa was the richest continent in terms of resources back then. Document D shows African colonies that were then controlled by Europeans and their exports. All of the colonies that are shown have various valuable exports. It also shows that Great Britain had the most valuable colonies, because those colonies had resources that had multiple uses. In document E, a bar graph shows the difference between Great Britain and South Saharan Africa’s imports and exports in 1854 and 1900. Great Britains exports to South Saharan Africa went from well under five million British pounds in 1854 to a little over twenty million British pounds in 1900. The imports from Africa also went up from four million British pounds in 1854 to almost eight million British pounds in 1900. This serves as evidence that imperialism increased both the exports and imports for Great