Imperialism

Which places were not colonized and why?

- Ethiopia and Liberia - Ethiopia - was already a Christian empire - Liberia - slaves that were freed from the U.S. could go to Liberia and rule themselves

European Plantation

- European Plantations were when European countries would establish plantations in countries rich in the materials in demand. They would make the native people work as slaves, and would beat and torture them, sometimes until they died.

Who was present at the Berlin Conference and why is that significant?

- European powers were present to debate who would get which parts of Africa, but no Africans were present

How does this Berlin Conference Act protect the rights of Europeans?

- Europeans were in control - they could make laws, trade relations, etc.

Congo - The Story of Rubber and Ivory

- Leopold II (Belgium) wanted to rule a vast empire - settled on the Congo - waged a skillful public relations campaign to promote his "Congo Free State as an effort to stop te Arabs from running a slave trade in Africa (was a ruse) - slave raids carried out by the kingdom of Dahomey in return for European muskets and money gave Leopold II a "humanitarian" excuse for going into the Congo - used Henry Stanley to swindle unwitting native, who were unfamiliar with European contracts and treaties, out of their lands - his men would rape the land of its riches, especially ivory and rubber, and ruthlessly use forced labor to get the job done - at ivory gathering stations, company representatives would pay natives almost nothing for the ivory they could sell for outrageous profits in Europe - villages were burned and converted into rubber plantations (it was easier to clear a village than a deeply rooted jungle) - women were kept hostage to force their husbands to go and gather rubber - rubber was harvested by climbing the rubber tree, tapping into it, letting the sap run all over the slave's body where it would congeal --> later, the slave would peel off the rubber (taking any body hair with it) - rubber harvesters were given impossible quotas each month - in addition to the hardships of gathering rubber in the jungle, many harvesters were killed by wild animals - Africans lost their hands and were victimized by the Belgians - some lost their hands because their wrists were tied to tightly, others because company militia cut it off to claim him as killed and get a reward, other because they did not meet the quota or follow the Belgians orders - Belgian government took the Congo from Leopold in 1908 - atrocities in the Congo killed an estimated 5 million Africans

Peasant Production

- peasant productions were collected, sold and then used (Africans grew crops for the European)

What were the administrator's top two priorities?

-to maintain order - to do so cheaply - administrators were allowed to use violence if they needed to in order to achieve order - one British commissioner in Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, recalls that he had to understand his district and people, keep an eye on them, collect tax if he could, and do anything possible to not worry headquarters

South Africa - The Story of Gold and Diamonds

- 1815 - Congress of Vienna awarded Britain South Africa - there were already several thousand Boers, or Dutch settlers - things went well until the 1830s, when Britain outlawed slavery, which caused the Boers to trek inland and find the Orange Free State and Republic of Transvaal - this worked until gold and diamonds were discovered in the Boers' lands, which triggered an onrush of prospectors and rising tensions between British prospectors and the Boers - Britain intervened to help the Boers in a war against the Zulus and kept trying to increase its influence in the Boers' lands after that --> 1899 - Boer war broke out - Zulus ambushed the British at Islandlwana (1/21/1879) - this was one of the few victories won by indigenous armies against Europeans - then, the British brought in overwhelming firepower and crushed the Zulus - tension grew in 1886 at the discovery of gold, which lead to a rush of outlanders into the Boer republics - it took the British two years to win the war - 1910 - Britain formed the Union of South Africa, which was notorious for its racist system known as apartheid - the government passed many important pieces of segregationist legislation - 1913 - Native Land Act reserved 80% of the arable land in the colony for white farmers; related Africans to rural "homelands" - 1950 - Population Registration Act further divided citizens into "white" and "nonwhite" categories (nonwhite community was then split into "colored", "Asian", and "Bantu", and each group had its own independent homeland) - 1953 Education Act forced Africans out of white mission schools and into state-run schools, where students were taught the significance of ethnic differences being separated into nonwhite communities - other laws limited contact between white and nonwhite communities by reserving employment for white workers and making provisions for separate public facilities for different races; all people that were not white had to carry pass books so the control of employment and free movement could be maintained - Africans did not resist, but could not break the bonds of the Apartheid - March of 1960 - Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) conducted a nonviolent demonstration during which hundreds of people presented themselves to the police in Sharpeville - when demonstrators began stoning police vehicles, however, the police panicked and opened fire on the crowd with automatic weapons - 69 people were killed (including 45 women and children) and 186 people were wounded - many people were shot in the back while running away - news of the massacre led to demonstrations, strikes, and riots throughout South Africa --> government declared a state of emergency --> government mobilized the army, outlawed the PAC and the African National Congress, arrested more than 11,000 people - wasn't until the 1990s that native Africans could abolish apartheid and win complete equality (accomplished by Nelson Mandela)

Most colonies became producers of one or two advantageous commodities. Why is that significant?

- they were focusing a lot of their attention on obtaining the resources that would be most beneficial to them - For example, Ghana, formerly known as the Gold Coast, was the world's leading exporter of cocoa in 1911, because they had about 1,000 square miles of cacao trees.

Divide & Rule

- when Europeans would divide their colony in half and rule it two different ways --> resulted in miscommunication, tension, and rebellions

Mining

- Mining was when European countries would exploit Africa's minerals and natural resources for their own benefit. - used to extract gold and copper

Soudan/Mali - The Story of Cotton

- 70% of Mali is arid or semi arid, and is thus unsuitable for the cultivation of crops - Europeans visited Mali at the beginning of the 19th century, but showed no interest until the "Scramble for Africa" - was colonized by France - France did not want any of its colonies to be an economic drain on its resources - France wanted the Soudan to provide necessary revenues to support the colonial endeavor - France was interested in using its colonies to support the economic interests of French businesses - Mali had no substantial mineral resources, so the colonial regime turned to agriculture to provide resources and revenues to support the colonial agenda - by the 1920s, the French decided to promote large scale cotton cultivation to form the basis of the colonial economy of Soudan - cotton had been grown in this area before colonialism and had supported a small-scale textile industry that included spinning cotton and weaving threads - large scale farm strategy - NOT THE ROUTE THAT THE FRENCH ENDED UP TAKING - French businesses would have to invest in the creation of large farms; Malian farmers would be forced to sell their land; this strategy would lead to a demand for large numbers of farm workers (the colonial government would have to become involved in recruiting workers from a population that would most likely resist losing access to their land and becoming hired farm workers) - expansion of small-scale cotton production - FRANCE'S FINAL DECISION - colonial officials had to persuade, using un-democratic means, small-scale farmers to cultivate cotton or expand cotton production - if the farmers increased their cotton production, Malian farmers would have to reduce the production of food (rice, millet, sorghum; Malian farmers made little or not profit on their cotton crops --> lead Malian farmers to try to resist colonial government attempts to force cotton production --> in the 1930s, the colonial regime set up the Office du Niger, which put in place a system of forced labor and taxation that made Malian farmers participate in cotton production for export - cotton dominated the Malian economy by the time it became independent in 1960 - Mali was the second largest cotton producer in Africa, but revenues from cotton were not sufficient to support the social and economic expectations of an independent nation - colonial government did little to promote economic diversity --> cotton was and continued to be king of the Malian economy --> no economic system can grow and develop if it is dependent on a single product that in turn is subject to continued price changes in the global market

What was the overriding sentiment about Africans ability for self-government and why?

- Africans were not yet capable of governing themselves - according to the British and many other Europeans, people that were not white were not civilized, and a country had to be civilized before it could govern itself - Europeans believed that once Africans had become civilized and advanced themselves, they would be able to live with the benefits of western culture, like hospitals, better educations, a higher standard of living, modern modes of transportation, and modern communication. - This idea, in combination with the economic, strategic, and political concerns that drove them towards expansion in the first place, is what made Europeans continue to rule their colonies instead of give them independence.

Who organized much of the African education and why? What was their goal?

- Christian missionaries - they wanted to create literate Christians - However, colonial governments saw this as a way to train Africans to work for them. - While many African children were fascinated by literature and longed to learn, many Africans living in French colonies were not receiving that education. - The schools in British colonies developed into more formal primary schools because they accepted government aid and inspections. - However, anti-religious authorities in French West Africa refused this help and their primary schooling system lagged behind. - In 1950, only 6 percent of children in French colonies went to school, compared to the 16 percent in Nigeria, who was ruled by the British. - Also, until World War II began, governments and missionaries wanted children to be educated so that they would be prepared for village life and practical crafts. By contrast, Africans in these areas demanded secondary education so that they could escape from those jobs. These government systems believed that white-collar employment brought more wealth and a higher status.

What was Africa life before Europeans came?

- Ethnic and linguistic groups lived in clans - there were more than 2,000 ethnicities on the African continent (250 in Nigeria alone), which meant that Africa was very diverse - there were large empires and small villages - Africans controlled trade (gold, ivory, people) - no one lived in bound countries - people could go where they needed to if it meant that they would survive - Africa is the size of 3 United States - Africa had many natural resources, like gold and ivory - long and lively history - made an impressive contribution to man's general mastery of the world - created cultures and civilizations - evolved systems of government and thought - pursued the inner life of the spirit with a passion that has produced some of the finest art known to man - many towns along the East African coast had comfort and wealth - many Africans knew just as much about charts and compasses as Europeans did - were sometimes more civilized than the Portuguese - there were many scholars in Timbuktu (so many that its merchants made a greater profit from books than anything else) - Timbuktu was a center of commerce and learning - Timbuktu was a powerful West African Kingdom - streets in Benin were as wide as in Amsterdam and the king lived in a grand palace - there was one city whose culture depended for much of its life and vigor on trade with other equally well-established African civilizations - Africa has had a long and fruitful record of achievement - Africa has profound and complicated cultural development - Africans had gone far toward taming their continent long before Europeans arrived - Africans developed socially and culturally - Africans conquered their environment out of bitter necessity - Africans depended on spiritual values, which ultimately enabled Africans to build close-knit societies, which they would have perished without - Africans taught themselves to shape and use tools and weapons of stone, which allowed them to hunt - Africa may have been the birthplace of mankind - about a million years ago, Africans become more numerous and diverse - from that time until 60,000 years ago, Africans spread throughout the greater part of the continent - about 30,000 years ago, basic differences in skin color, bone structure, etc. were established (more differences have developed from climate change in different areas) - from 5500 B.C. - 2500 B.C., Africa's climate went from dry to wet, which turned the upper half of the continent into a well-watered prairie - the present Sahara and the dry savannas were lush and green, mountains were covered in trees, and fish and game were plentiful - there were many hungers, farmers, and herdsmen that left behind superb rock paintings - about 4,000 years ago, the climate changed again - rivers dwindled, grass became scrub and sand, forests died, the game and fish went, and the people followed - people went in one of three directions and took their customs, memories, and religion with them - they either went north to the Mediterranean coastland, ,where they merged with people from the Berber culture; to the Nile; or south to the heart of Africa, where they merged with indigenous people - the Sahara's long climatic disaster explains why Africa's history goes in two directions - north of the desert was Egyptian civilizations, south of it people worked alone, and the desert itself remained a daunting barrier - the landscape is diverse with wide grasslands (which were really like tropical savannas), tall mountains, broad rivers, and deep forests - in the tropical savannas, there were six months of heavy rains and six months of relentless sun - the topsoil was stripped of its nutrients and would only grow low-yield crops - forests are dense and dank - the land is infested with the tsetse fly (causes sleeping sickness), malaria, and yellow fever - Africans overcame these obstacles - they were constantly developing and furthering themselves - they would go where they needed to for food, and they developed new ways to hunt and farm - they learned how to mine, refine, and work metals (especially iron)

When and why did Europeans establish contact with Africa?

- Europeans had established contact with Africa in the 1450s for slave trade tot he western hemisphere - they were only really on the exterior - they were scared of diseases in the rainforest and they did not know how to survive in the desert; they were also not interested because they were just looking for a "rest stop" on their way to Asia - by the 1880s, only 10% of the continent was controlled by Europeans - however, in the 1600s, Europe (the British and Dutch) took control of South Africa - Europeans had a false view of Africans - royal chanceries and business houses were reluctant to publish - dishonesty of literary hacks who concocted nonsense for gullible public - the debasing effect of the slave trade - Africans were different - Africans seemed mysterious and perverse - Africa was a puzzle - Africans were looked at as savages and inferior beings - European travelers rarely went far inland and their descriptions of the places they visited were mere fragments - Europeans often embellished their tales with myths and monsters from European folklore - Europeans did not really understand enough of any African languages to be able to ask questions about what they saw or to comprehend the answers - Africans were believed to be monsters with souls as black as their skin - it was reposted that they ate each other, gave birth in litters, and did not look like the rest of the human race (some said that they didn't have heads or had their eyes and mouths on their chest) - Africans were referred to as "children who never grew up" - it was easy for Europeans to assume that all of African life was backwards because they were technologically simple

Why were Europeans 'vulnerable' in Africa?

- Europeans were aware of their vulnerability going into their explorations - Africans were a lot tougher than most people gave them credit for - One British explorer recalled that they were "something like a million fairly intelligent, slightly civilized n****** of warlike tendencies, and possessing about 10,000 to 12,000 guns." - Many European fables focused around how Africans were uncivilized, weak, and underdeveloped. So, this British explorer's remark on how they were fairly civilized, intelligent, and fierce can be interpreted that Africans were very developed, civilized, and strong, and were a force to be reckoned with. - They were not immune to malaria, yellow fever, and other common diseases in the interior of Africa. - However, they later developed medicines that made them immune and expanded the variety of places they could explore safely. - Their military was quite weak. - This, however, drove them to improve their weaponry to make machine guns, breech loading rifles, and light field artillery, which allowed them to overcome more African armies.

Introduction: Map Work

- Geography: many rivers in the South, none in the North; the majority of the North is desert; the middle is mostly grasslands and forests - Social/Cultural Grouping: there are different "clumps" of Islamic regions; 8 Ethnic groups; the North is highly populated; there are a lot of different tribes; there are many languages - Political Organization: there are different "clumps" of Islamic regions; the North is highly populated, the population is about 142 million - Resources and Economic Development: there are various trade routes; most resources are along the coast; there is a lot of iron, gold, cattle, and Kola nuts - Advantages: plentiful and various resources; divers in languages, ethnicities, and religions; many different types of vegetation; many trade routes - Disadvantages: diverse; resources are only on the coast; the North is all desert - Who would be interested: in the present, historians and geographers would be interested to learn about history; in the past, farmers would be interested for resources and to know where their crops will grow the best; wealthy people would be interested so that they could find slaves' merchants would be interested in the trade routes, and people in power would be interested for all of those reasons

What is the role of Guns, Germs and Steel in modern Africa? Why does Singapore matter?

- Singapore matters because it teaches up that geography can play a large role in a particular country's success - Singapore and Malaysia are tropical, like Africa, and once suffered from horrible sickness and death that malaria brought, also like Africa - however, 50 years ago, Singapore and Malaysia realized how their geography was affecting them, so they changed their society and economy, and are now very successful countries that have gotten rid of malaria as a problem

Military Motives for Imperialism

- a subordinate state's manpower could be used to expand colonie's armed forces - a subordinate state's natural resources could provide necessary raw materials for manufacturing modern weapons - a subordinate state's geographic location could have strategic value, allowing the control of trade routes and the ability to refuel and re-supply its armed forces

How does this Berlin Conference Act protect the rights of the natives?

- abolished the slavery - allowed free trade - said that no one was allowed to impact native tribes - protected certain institutions - spread Christianity (this was part of Europeans' justification for the Act, but it was not necessarily what the natives wanted)

Indirect Rule

- basis for British administration in western Africa - not all British territories used indirect rule - some thought it made chiefs too powerful and got in the way of the labor supply - however, it was used most of the time in British colonies - British leaders would use local rulers to maintain control and carry out colonial policies, and local rulers could maintain prestige and influence their people - influenced other colonial governments - when Belgium took Rwanda and Burundi from Germany after World War I, they ruled though Tutsi monarchs - in 1917, the Government-General of French West Africa wanted to recruit chiefs that had true authority over their people - however, they said that the chief had to remain "our instrument" - this was the French practice in Morocco and Tunisia, where colonial officials protected local rulers in theory, but actually blatantly exploited their prestige - less traumatic for Africans than direct rule - only somewhat successful

Nigeria

- colonized by Britain - 1807 - Britain outlawed slavery - British freed some slaves on the West African coast, who then assisted the British in overpowering other groups - in order to get a group's land, the British persuaded that group's enemies to help fight them (the winning African groups might be open to British control) - later, the Royal Niger Company gained control of the palm-oil trade along the Niger River - 1884-1885 - the Berlin Conference gave Britain a protectorate (state that is controlled and protected by another) in lands along the Niger River - 1914 - British claimed the entire area of Nigeria as a colony, but in this new age of imperialism, it was necessary to not only claim the territory but also the govern the people living there - one of the most culturally diverse areas in Africa - about 250 different Ethnic groups lived there - three largest were the Hausa-Fulani in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest, and the Igbo in the southeast - many languages, cultures, and religions - Hausa-Fulani people were Muslim and accustomed to a strong central government - Igbo and Yoruba peoples relied on local chiefs or governing councils for control - Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba were traditional enemies - Britain did not have enough troops to govern such a wide and complex area --> turned to indirect rule --> British relied on local administrations and chiefs to keep order, avoid rebellion, and collect taxes - functioned well in northern Nigeria - traditional government was most like the British style of government - did not work as well in eastern or southwestern Nigeria - chiefdoms and councils had trouble with British indirect rule (British appointed chiefs where there had not been chiefs before and then restricted their powers --> left the chiefs with little real status and led to problems governing the area)

What impact did Europeans have on African development?

- economic - did not really allow Africans to grow or develop economically (they stripped Africa of its resources and did not teach them to solve their own economic problems --> there were no materials or resources that Africans could build their economic status off of after they gained independence)

Technological Motives for Imperialism

- for the first time, technology was available to penetrate deep into Africa, Asia, and the Pacific - steamships could travel upstream - better rifles provided better protection against hostile natives - telegraphs sent messages more quickly - railroads make economic exploitation of the interior possible - new medicines made it easier to resist tropical diseases

Northern Rhodesia - The Story of Copper

- from 1920-1950, large deposits of high quality copper ore were found in Northern Rhodesia - this discovery happened at a time when the expansion of electrification and the electronic industries in Europe and North America created a strong demand for copper - in this time, Northern Rhodesia become on of the leading producers of copper in the world - colonized by Britain - the Copperbelt, a large urban area, developed around the copper mines - by 1950, Northern Rhodesia had the largest urban population in Africa (before 1920 it was overwhelmingly rural) - large underground mines depended on many workers (skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled) - a lot of semi-skilled and unskilled workers were recruited from Northern Rhodesia - labor migration and urbanization led to a dramatic increase in the demand for food - 1930s and 1940s - small, but significant, group of European settlers were encouraged to grow maize and raise cattle to meet the food needs; these farmers were sold choice land that was taken away from African subsistence farmers, who were forced to move to less productive land; in order to protect European settler farmers' market, colonial governments made it difficult for African farmers to sell maize and cattle to urban markets - considerable suffering in areas of Northern Rhodesia where workers were recruited to work in mines - before 1945, African workers were poorly paid - after paying for food and lodging, they had little left for their families in their rural homes where their absence negatively affected food production - substantial reduction in food production around the mines --> widespread malnutrition and poverty-related disease in this area - 1964 - Northern Rhodesia gained its independence as Zambia - even though their mines had produced over a billion dollars of sales and profits for the mining companies outside the Copperbelt, there was little evidence of Zambia's wealth - majority of profits had been taken out of the country by Anglo-American and Roan Select Trust - colonialism had done little to develop economic infrastructure outside the commercial farming areas dominated by European farmers - less than 1/3 of children completed primary school - less than 10 secondary schools in Zambia - very little of the copper wealth was reinvested in Zambia

Direct Rule

- highly centralized - highly authoritarian - practiced especially by the French, Belgian, and Portuguese officials - they believed in the centralization of power - they saw hereditary rulers as nothing more than parasites - Africans were not seen as future players in the world, but rather as a security risk - therefore, any powerful African was dangerous and had to be eliminated or at least removed from power

Social Motives for Imperialism

- in the past, states have been lead into "missionary" activities to spread "civilization", the "true" religion, a particular culture, or a dominant political or economic creed - imperialism is justified by the country in power trying to share the benefits of its culture and ideology on people who beliefs are seen as less advanced, underdeveloped, or inferior - power has been obtained and maintained in many ways - these methods include violence and peaceful practices - national pride - European countries wanted to gain colonies to show their power, prestige, and national superiority - therefore, imperialism represented nationalism - racial superiority - Social Darwinism - those who are the wealthiest and the strongest are superior to others - they wanted to tame the barbarians (Africans) - they wanted to civilize them - they wanted to educate them - they wanted to westernize them - The "White Man's Burden" - believed that it was their duty to improve the world - competition and balance - when one country obtained a new colony, the other countries felt obliged to do the same in order to maintain a balance of power

"White Man's Burden"

- many Europeans thought they were superior to those who were technologically less advanced - they thought that their superiority came with a responsibility to civilize the backward inhabitants of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific - Europeans wanted to spread Christianity to people they considered to be barbarians - these attitudes reinforced their belief in the superiority of their race (racism) - these racist ideas were further supported by the concept of Social Darwinism. which claimed that some societies were more successful than others because their cultures were superior

Economic Motives for Imperialism

- many states have attempted to achieve economic gains using force - the creation of modern and industrialized nations has made using force as a mechanism more common - industrial societies seek raw materials (metals, minerals, and crops), a labor force for mining and farming, capital, the opportunity to invest and continue to grow for increased profit, and markets where products can be sold - it is easiest for them to dominate weaker societies - Industrial Revolution: - Europeans needed natural resources and raw materials for their factories; they wanted new markets where they could sell their manufactured products - colonies - places where excess capital could be invested and there would be cheap labor - they had the desire for economic dominance in the Industrial Revolution - they wanted to find resources - raw materials - minerals - crops - labor - they wanted to develop more markets for finished goods - they wanted to take control of important trade routes

What are the positive legacies of Imperialism?

- modernization - Africans gained exposure to the larger world; were given tools of education and training in western ways that would make it possible for them to enter the modern world (learning to speak, dress, and think like Europeans would pay off) - access to western education was especially important - Europeans left behind important public works - railroads, bridges, highways, airports, telegraphs, telephones, harbors, sewage treatment plants, dams, power stations, irrigation projects, hospitals, schools, orphanages, asylums, courtrooms, government buildings, and system of self-government

What are the negative legacies of Imperialism?

- powerful rulers and ancient kingdoms were unable to withstand the technological superiority of European armies --> they were all forced to succumb - Africans no longer controlled their own countries - colonial boundaries established by Europeans pain no heed to traditional boundaries between kingdoms or groups of people - some kingdoms were split between two European powers, hostile groups were forced into contact - tough obstacle to overcome - modern nations require that each person's loyalty be given first to the nation, not to one's village or family group - hard to unite people who spoke different languages, dressed differently, had different beliefs, and thought that others lived the "wrong" way --> for the new nations for survive, Africans had to learn to think of themselves as citizens of the nation, for example, as Nigerians rather than as Yorubas, Ibos, Soninke, and Fulanis - economic suffering (loss of human resources, had been stripped of its mineral wealth, agricultural products, and any substance they could make a profit from) - labor did not allow Africans to be educated - there were few, if any, trained technicians, designers, engineers, surveyors, managers, or accountants - everything that was done for Africans was really done to shape African workers; western buildings were built for the comfort of Europeans; hospitals and sanitation projects were designed to protect the health and safety of Europeans only; commercial development and transportation systems were made to make Europeans richer - Africans were never consulted about anything - negative self-image - were told that Christianity was superior to their local beliefs; were referred to as "pagan"; were told that their leaders and governments systems were backwards and that they should learn the democratic system; told that their way of life was "primitive", their customs were "savage", and their rites of passage were "barbaric"; it took years for them to rediscover their personal and collective pride in themselves and in their country

Political Motives for Imperialism

- states have looked for control over others for political gains - there is often a "cost" for giving up control - few leaders are willing to handle losing a possession - imperial conquests could give nations many political advantages - prestige of having many possessions → pride and respect - domestic support from successful colonial exploits - leaders use aggression and force to distract citizens from domestic problems - military advantages - expansion of armed forced - increase in natural resources provides more raw materials for weaponry - geographic location of conquered lands could add strategic value → gain control of trade routes and refuel and resupply armed forces - there was competition by Europeans for political supremacy - Nationalism was on the rise - Nationalism is patriotic feelings, efforts, and principles - Europeans viewed their empires as a measure of national greatness - they had a desire for military ports and strategic advantages in the world - they wanted to prevent their rivals from gaining more

Paternalism

- supported by Belgium - they said that it was the most effective and enlightened system - Belgians viewed themselves as "fathers" to the "uncivilized" Congolese people - wanted to help the Congo's economic development and the natives' welfare, but political rights (even for Belgians living in the Congo) did not exist - no one had the right to vote and there was no elected assembly, meaning that there were no political rights - some Africans' economic situations did improve under this system - Belgians developed the copper-rich province of Katanga - colonial administration's efficiency allowed locals to achieve one of the highest standards of living in Africa - Belgians thought that the fact that they had promoted such a high standard of living meant that people in the Congo did not want political rights - they were wrong

Assimilation

- supported by France - wanted to make all colonial people Frenchmen and give them French rights and privileges - promised dual citizenship to people in their colonies - French never separated themselves from the Africans they were colonizing - opposite of the British - no color bar - no pronounced racial discrimination - wanted to integrate African economies into the French economy - consisted of French colonists growing produce for the French market - official policy was clear, but applied unevenly - French wanted to be close with Africans - self-rule was more of a promise than what actually happened

Gradualism

- supported by the British - administration was carried out by British officials who would guide Africans rulers toward European standards of a good government - implied that colonial areas were supposed to gradually develop the abilities to govern themselves and run their own affairs - with the use of tariffs, or taxes on foreign trade, direct taxation of colonial people was unnecessary - encouraged Africans by allowing councils to give them some government jobs - this made everyone hope that Africans would accept British ideas and make a peaceful transition to a modern society

Tariffs

- taxes on foreign trade - were a more permanent method for individual governments in different colonies to maintain power - Since Europeans were the minority in Africa, the Europeans needed Africans' help ruling their colonies. - In places like South Nigeria where work was peaceful and foreign trade was pretty developed, the colonial government would be financed by tariffs so that direct taxation was not needed. - In this system, Colonial officials would guide African leaders towards European standards of a good government. - That way, everything was being run how Europeans wanted it to be run, and there wasn't much resistance. - This system was called gradualism, which implies that colonies were supposed to gradually develop the abilities to govern themselves

Why were Europeans able to imperialize Africa?

- technological superiority - weapons - maxim gun (1884) - mode of travel - steam engine, new ships - medical advances to combat tropical diseases (Quinine for malaria) - there was no unity among Africans - many languages - many cultures - small tribal groups - some areas were isolated from others - there were treaties that Africans could not read or undrestand

Religious Motives for Imperialism

- the desire to spread the dominating power's religion to weaker nations - The White Man's Burden - Europeans though they were superior to those who were less technologically advanced, like those living in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific - they wanted to spread Christianity to those regions because they considered the people living there to be barbarians that needed help - basically wanted to Christianize the world - they thought that this would save people's souls - this would educate people - this would combat Islam

Imperialism

- the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies - typically a developed nation taking over a less developed nation (but not always) - widely used to describe attempts by one state to dominate another for exploitative purposes - most commonly used to describe situations where a dominant state has established formal political control, or sovereignty, over a subordinate state. - has also been used to describe indirect forms of political, economic, or social control or influence by one community over another - has, in recent years, become part of the propaganda battle between states with differing political and economic interests - has been used to criticize any state which is seen to control or influence another, regardless of their intent - has become on of the most powerful slogans of this time, used indiscriminately against any state or group regarded as harmful to a speaker's interest - is sometimes called colonialism because it often involves the acquiring of colonies

Why were Africans able to thrive in the interior of Africa and Europeans could not?

- they did not know what they were heading into - they were unaware of the native African tribes they would later encounter - the entered Zulu territory without knowing - the Zulus were highly developed (had land, a military, and an economy) and were a ferocious group of people - however, when they went for a rematch, the Europeans were more prepared and ultimately won - geography played a large role - Europeans did not know how to work the land - all European animals died - European crops had thrived in the Cape because the latitude of the Cape part s of Europe were the same --> when they crossed the Topic of Capricorn and entered the Tropics, them, their crops, and their animals faced a huge culture shock - they didn't know how and were not evolved to the Tropics' climate - they didn't know how to survive the rainy and dry seasons - Africans had evolved themselves to their climate - Europeans became deathly ill and didn't live long enough to be able to flourish, while Africans did not suffer the same symptoms - geography did not allow the Europeans and their cattle to be exposed and build up a resistance to diseases and germs before this point

Why were railroads important for colonial success?

- they made the large-scale exploitation of Africa's minerals possible - Tin, gold, and diamonds were extracted from the Earth in South Africa and Northern and Southern Rhodesia. - In 1938, 45 percent of Europeans' total investments in the sub-Saharan region went to South Africa, 12 percent went to the Belgian Congo, 8 percent went to Northern and Southern Rhodesia, and the rest (35 percent) went to the the other colonies. Most of that was railroad investments. - The ability to travel by railway was vital to the establishment of colonial agriculture in the highlands of eastern and southern Africa.

Why did Europeans face challenges converting indigenous and Islamic Africans to Christianity?

- they were very resistant - Indigenous Africans were unwilling to throw away their idols and give up their beliefs like their European colonizers wanted them to. - They wanted to continue to believe in their own gods in addition to the the Christian god. - So, they wanted to adopt a new culture without getting rid of their current one. - Islamic Africans were even more resistant than Indigenous people. - Many traveled to Mecca in Saudi Arabia when Europeans arrived and tried to force their beliefs onto the Islamic Africans. - Those that did stay were very reserved and off-putting towards their colonizers, making British and French rulers very suspicious.

Direct Taxation

- was introduced by the British to their colony in Nyasaland in 1891 - requires every adult male to pay the amount of money they would make in one or two months - became common in East Africa because tax collection was seen as both a source of revenue and as a "sacrament of submission" - when taxation first started, tax collections would use a lot of violence, to which Africans responded with resistance - One example of this was in 1898, when villagers revolted against a tax placed on their homes and stores, called the Sierra Leone Hut Tax War. Men in Uganda have committed suicide because they did not have the money to pay their taxes. - tended to be a lot less of a hardship than forced labor

Forced Labor

- was the most widespread abuse of this time period - Africans were forced to do things like work as porters of cargo on long journeys. If they were living in French colonies, they would have to work unpaid for up to twelve days a year. Also, in these colonies, Africans would be drafted for long periods of paid labor and military service. - During World War I alone, roughly 500 thousand African men were drafted from across the continent. - Angola, who was colonized by Portugal, used forced labor up until the time it was abolished in the 1960s. - ended, for the most part, in the 1920s in British colonies - placed a huge burden on all Africans by dislocating African men from their families and communities