Imperialism in Africa

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Imperialism in Africa

• 10/6/10

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Imperialism in Africa
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Motivations of Imperialism

• Imperialism Extending of a nation's control and
  influence over the political, economic, or
  cultural life of other nations
• 1. Economic Motives
• Natural resources (raw materials) such as rubber,
  ivory, oil, cotton
• 2. Political Motives
• Nationalism in 1800s Europe
• Boost place in world
• Rivalries fueled scramble for colonies
• 3. Religious Motives
• Christians wanted to spread their religion
  (missionaries)
• Wanted people to adopt Western culture
• Imperializing Africa became popular in 1870s and
  1880s
• Most frenzied years 1885-1915

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David Livingstone

• 1813-1873 Scottish missionary who reached the
  interior of Africa in the 1840s
• Tried to convert people to Christianity
• Explained horrors of slave trade
• Henry Stanley went to go find him (1871)
• Founder of Congo Free State on behalf of Leopold
  II

David Livingstone
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Scramble for Africa

• Berlin Conference (1884-1885)

• King Leopold II of Belgium

• Resulted in the division of the African continent
  among European imperialist powers
• Dominated by France, Germany, Great Britain,
  Portugal
• Remapped the continent without consideration of
  established indigenous cultural and language
  borders
• The Congo would be under the control of Belgium
  through an International Association

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Map Comparison What Do You See?

• Africa in 1880

• Africa in 1914

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European Advantages and Justifications

• European Advantages

• European Justifications for Imperialism

• Maxim machine gun
• Medical knowledge for malaria and yellow fever
• Telegraph

• Social Darwinism Survival of the fittest
• Racism
• Paternalism
• White Mans Burden

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Belgium and Leopold II

• "Congo Free State" became a massive labor camp
  until 1908
• Made a fortune for himself from the harvest of
  its wild rubber
• Contributed in a large way to the death of
  perhaps 10 million innocent people
• Hacked off hands of people

Children and adults had their hands chopped off
King Leopold II
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Africa by 1914
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Resources

• "Africa, 1914." Map. World History The Modern
  Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Oct. 2010.
  lthttp//worldhistory.abc-clio.com/gt
• "The Berlin Conference Key Question." World
  History The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1
  Oct. 2010. http//worldhistory.abc-clio.com/
• Dummett, Mark. King Leopold's Legacy of DR Congo
  Violence, BBC News, February 24, 2004.
  http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3516965.stm
• "European Imperialism in Africa (Overview)."
  World History The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010.
  Web. 1 Oct. 2010. http//worldhistory.abc-clio.com
  /
• "Foreign Presence in Africa, 1880." Image. World
  History The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1
  Oct. 2010. http//worldhistory.abc-clio.com/
• "Leopold II." Image. Library of Congress. World
  History The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1
  Oct. 2010. http//worldhistory.abc-clio.com/
• "Leopold II." World Geography Understanding a
  Changing World. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Oct. 2010.
  http//worldgeography.abc-clio.com/