The European powers blended with the African society and inflicted them by their supposedly superior way of life. This caused an immense amount of tension within the regions. Africans were stripped of many rights such as freedom, speech, and religion. In addition, Africans lost the right to work for themselves and were forced by the Europeans to do labor inside mines or to collect rubber plus other plants from the wild. Homes and land were transferred to the power of the British and the natives could not do anything about it.
The exploitation of the resources of Africa, 'animal, vegetable and mineral', for the sole benefit of the colonial powers and their mercantile, mining and financial companies in the metropolitan countries were the primary motivation for colonialism as they had overtime had some level of influence in the continent. These Africa Countries were seen as a way out of the depression with the creation of more market and selling of their overproduced goods. They also needed larger amount of raw materials at a cheaper rate due to the progress of the Industrial Revolution so they invested their surplus capital in those places where they could get cheap labors and in turn make more profits in
The Western Europeans gain power over Africans, however the way they controlled their power, with inhumane, racist and selfish actions mean’t the colonies were bound to failure. In the conquest for colonies racism and ethnocentrism played a role in how the Europeans went about with their Imperialistic conquest, however it wasn’t the original
Having the use of trade available to different nations made it easier to focus on aspects of receiving the raw materials to make countries more valuable. According to a reliable source, “Overseas colonies could serve as reliable sources of raw materials not available in Europe that came into demand because of industrialization” (911). This meant that they could get rubber from rubber trees in the Congo River basin and Malaya and use it to make many things, from tires to pipes. Tin came from colonies in southeast Asia and copper came from central Africa. Tin and copper were mostly used to make tools and weapons.
This change in rate of growth for exports in Great Britain was a cause for competition in Africa among the European countries with the resources Africa was providing such as copper, zinc, lead, and coal. Which were used for coins, metal alloys, electrical wiring, rust protection, and ammunition fuels. A lot in which Great Britain was lacking in. (Doc
European nations scrambled to take control of Africa due to the opportunity of exploiting resources and colonization. European imperialism was in Africa partly present because of the rivalry for power between Britain, France, and Germany. These countries were each trying to increase their status by accumulating countries located elsewhere on the continent. European countries entered Africa to claim territories, since owning multiple territories with colonies showed their power. Britain.
Many of the Europeans who emigrated enjoyed being superior because they believed they were doing the right thing (Document K). With the increase of technology and development during the industrial revolution, the Europeans believed it was their duty to “assist” the Africans. In the poem, “The White Man’s Burden,” by Rudyard Kipling he writes, “Take up the White Man's burden; Send forth the best ye breed; Go bind your sons to exile; To serve your captives' need.” (Document P). This poem is proof that racism was a major selling point of African imperialism and is another example of paternalism, the idea that what they were doing was for the best of the Africans. Paul Leroy Beaulieu wrote, “It is not natural for the civilized people of the west to gather the marvels of science, art, and civilization and not share the opportunities with the savages in need.
By the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, had been colonized by European powers. The European imperialist push into Africa was motivated by three main factors, economic, political, and social. It developed in the nineteenth century following the collapse of the profitability of the slave trade, its abolition and suppression, as well as the expansion of the European capitalist Industrial Revolution. The imperatives of capitalist industrialization—including the demand for assured sources of raw materials, the search for guaranteed markets and profitable investment outlets—spurred the European scramble and the partition and eventual conquest of Africa. Thus the primary motivation for European intrusion was economic.
The lack of machinery, as well as a land dominated by inferior natives was said to be a backward economy, compared to a powerful economy of the Europeans with heavy machinery and dominated by civilised beings, it was concluded that Africa was a slow rhythm of life (Balandier, 1982). The colonial powers justified their invasion in Africa through the investment of transport infrastructure and economic investments of which African entrepreneurs benefited from (Austin, 2007). The ideology of “The White Man’s” burden also applies here because the colonial powers saw their invasion as a moral task to rescue the native people from poverty and suffering, they viewed it as an act of kindness. The Europeans built industries which provided job opportunities for the indigenous people, they learnt new skills and discovered new tools that they did not know about prior, which improved their daily tasks. For example, they were taught new measures of growing crops faster, with fewer effects but with a great profit.
The European powers only had the slave trade with the Africans along the shores of West Africa and African leaders still ruled most continent. According to Saul David, “Until the 19th century, Britain and the other European powers confined their imperial ambitions in Africa to the odd coastal outpost from which they could exert their economic and military influence…. As late as the 1870s, only 10% of the continent was under direct European control....” Joshua D. Settles in his research titled The Impact of Colonialism on African Economic Development also indicates that African economies were advancing in various fields, especially in the trade aspect. Nonetheless, everything changed in the late 1900s. With the development of technology and the discovery of quinine, the European powers started to expand their territories in Africa.