New Imperialism In Africa

New Imperialism in Africa

“Judging from the experience of the European War, imperialism renders no great benefit to any nation, whereas liberty for all nationalities is the only principle by which humanity will ever be saved,” Sun Yat-sen, the first president of the Republic of China, emphasizes destruction created by the introduction of imperialism in Africa. As a part of the Republic of China, Yat-sen provided an unbiased opinion towards the conflicts that were occurring in different regions of the world. From periodization Five, 1750 to 1900, to periodization Six, 1900 to present day, imperialism contributed to the continuous suffering of Africans due to the Europeans domination of political, economic, and cultural affairs in Africa. It

During the succession of periodization Five (1750 C.E.-1900 C.E.) leading into periodization Six (1900-present day), there were many causes and consequences of new imperialism in Africa. New imperialism was caused due to the Europeans’ desire to acquire new land and resources, along with the introduction of social darwinism. The consequences of new imperialism were the denial of natural rights to Africans, as well as the religion of Christianity rising to become a more eminent feature of African society.

To begin with, Europeans believed that in order to build on their acquisitions and improve the availability of new resources they would need to conquer Africa. At the time, Europe’s external conflicts were increasing significantly. Countries, such as England, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Holland, and Spain, all began the race to conquer and divide the continent among themselves. This is portrayed in the political cartoon “The Mad Scramble for Africa” by David Bainbridge (Doc 4). The cartoon shows European countries in a fight for different regions of Africa. Bainbridge also shows the desire and endeavor the countries put in to colonize the land. The Europeans

Social Darwinism was considered to be the fourth G after gold, glory, and god. It applied Charles Darwin’s ideas about natural selection and survival of the fittest to human societies and argued that the Europeans were superior to others. Karl Pearson (1857 – 1936) was a British professor of mathematics, who is recognized for writing and delivering the excerpts from a lecture entitled, “National Life from the Standpoint of Science,” in 1900. This time period is known to be the pinnacle point of new imperialism and the conflicts displayed in Africa. Europeans were continuing to grow alliances and colonize Africa. In the excerpt, Pearson is considered to be addressing and informing those wanting to learn about social darwinism, as well as his college students. He states, “History has shown me one way, and one way only, in which a high state of civilization has been produced, namely, the struggle of race with race, and the survival of the physically and mentally fitter race”. Pearson supported Social Darwinism and wanted to educate the younger generations with similar philosophies. He emphasized that all races were not equal and that the Europeans should hold more power over all other colonies. This increased the urgency of the Europeans to conquer Africa. In addition, document 3A, written by J.A. Hobson, supports the idea that Europeans believed they were more