The gap between the rich and the poor was larger than ever, and homelessness was on the rise as cities became extremely dense and overpopulated. Britain didn’t want this surplus population to go to waste, so the colonization of Africa was a good excuse to export these people so that they could help in taking over Africa. Overall, the reason for Britain’s colonization campaign for Africa was to show superiority to other nations, for natural recourses, and oversight on African trades. It’s clear that they were driven by economic and strategic
One of the largest forced movements of humans was via the Trans-Atlantic slave trade route between the mid-fifteenth century and nineteenth centuries, which transported about 10-12 million African slaves into the Americas. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade formed a devastating relationship between the Europeans and Africans through slavery, an inhumane act of forcing drudgery among other humans. At first Africans themselves were enslaving each other through the freehold system. The freehold system was a way for African slave owners to employ slaves by giving them land in exchange for their labor. By 1441, Portuguese began to abduct Africans and forced them to work in Portugal as slaves with the help of African slave traders.
However, the African labourers were used to the tropical climate and resistant to tropical diseases. Consequently, most Africans sold into slavery were destined to work on plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas, where huge areas of the American continent had been colonized by European nations. Products such as sugar or tobacco would be produced at cheaper rates by the slave labourers, intended for consumption back in Europe. Henceforth, I will accentuate the key events that occurred during the era of the slave trade. The legacy of Eurocentrism that endured in African countries like Sudan.
European imperialism had, at one time, been on every all but one continent, at its peak in the 20th century, 40% of people lived under colonial rule (Roser, no date). The impact of this can still be seen around the world, but the fact of the matter is that this impact is not always a positive impact, particularly in Africa. The negative impact began as early as the slave trade, when the Portuguese began taking African slaves to the Caribbean and America (Fenske et al, 2017). Other negatives include the destruction of African culture and religion, as well as the countless deaths caused by European imperialists (History and Theory of Genocide, 2011). The effects in Africa were not all bad, Europeans brought new technology to Africa, allowing
Many people think that this is due to all the natural resources such a rubber,cotton,iron, and coppor found in Africa. The natural resources that were found by the Europeans were able to be sold and made a profit of. Africa had many factors that led to the Europeans imperialism, cultural benefits, greater political security, and economics. Economic factors was a driving force behind imperialism because the imperialists were in need for natural resources to improve their technology and their national pride. Another factor for imperialism was political competition.
Thoe Europe was imperialising africa so was Germany, Portugal, France, Britain, and other countries. The rise of the industry during the Industrial Revolution contributed to imperialism by giving Europe more reasons to invent and control other nations. Europe used imperialism to be the stronger nation and wealthier nation. Europe was taking over Africa for political reasons. The reasons for political was that if you have more land then you 'll have more men for battle and more power.
The imperialism began from Africa. Imperialism basically means expanding nation’s power or influence by direct control of a territory or by controlling economy and politics. Between 1500 and 1800, Europeans were only seen in Africa to buy and sell slaves from local chiefs. As in Africa there was a huge problem of contagious malaria and other harmful diseases. Europeans became helpless to these diseases, so by 1833, the British government banned the slavery.
The Europeans especially fought hard to reverse the marginal place they held in trade throughout history by participating in the Atlantic Zone of Commerce, which supplied settlers in the Americas with slaves from Africa and a vast supply of natural resources such as sugar, minerals, tobacco, chocolate, gold and silver mines which provided the European colonialists with means of which to trade in high profit markets. The Europeans’ ability to mobilize people and resources allowed these empires to grow their connections in trade with the rest of the world. The Columbian Exchange also brought domesticated animals and cheap, nutritious food such as potatoes to Europe, causing the population to grow from 60 million in 1400 to 390 million in 1900. Russia also benefited from their expansion as they acquired pelts, agricultural land, and minerals from Siberia. The Ottoman Empire’s growth and expansion caused major connections that brought many cultures throughout Eurasia in contact with one another.
Before the Europeans colonised Nigeria, it was extremely hard and inconvenient to visit. With the new rail roads and roads they built, it became a more accessible place for all people to go there (“The Colonial Economic Legacy”). This was one of the other reasons that Nigeria became better known. The Nigerian government is currently working on a multibillion dollar project which is focusing on upgrading existing rail road transportation (Schilling). The Europeans introduced this concept of railroad transportation and the evidence above illustrates the importance and value of this idea.
The Atlantic Slave Trade was the most prolonged and progressing intercontinental pilgrimage in human history. When the Atlantic Slave Trade began a new era of agriculture, trade, economic strength, and discrimination inaugurated. European nations transported slaves from the West African Coast to European colonies in the Americas, originating in British colonies until 1838. The ships sailed to the Americas to trade slaves for agricultural products - extracted by slave labor - which were sold in Europe after the return journey (Understanding Slavery Initiative). Various types of slavery included debt bondage, sexual slavery, forced labour and chattel slavery (The Mercury News).