European Colonization of Africa

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European Colonization of Africa
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Why Africa?

• Stories of Africas great wealth are spread
  throughout western Europe (trade)
• Missionaries and explorers are sent to Africa by
  various European countries
• Natural resources - cash crops, minerals, land
• Human resources slaves for colonies

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Early Colonization

• Brits establish Capetown as a rest stop between
  Europe India (East India Co.)
• Portuguese, British, Spanish, French set up forts
  along Africas west coast for trading purposes
• Boers, Dutch farmers, come to southern Africa to
  farm

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Cecil Rhodes

• British explorer/capitalist
• Responsible for the failed Cape-Cairo railway
  project
• Founder of the De Beers Mining Company
• Owner of the British South Africa Company, which
  carved out Rhodesia for itself

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Atlantic Slave Trade

• 1500s Spanish want more laborers for their
  colonies in the Americas
• Slavery was not new to Africa (early kingdoms and
  Arabs enslaved Africans)
• Created civil unrest on the continent tribes
  would capture members of rival tribes and sell
  them to the slave traders
• Triangle Trade (see map) peaks in 18th century
• Europe sold cheap manufactured goods to Africans
  (cloth guns)
• Africa traded humans (slaves)
• Middle Passage (journey b/w Africa Americas
  many slaves do not survive)
• Slaves were sold to the colonists in exchange for
  cash crops
• Cash crops would then be sold in Europe
• Abolishing slavery
• 1794 France is first
• Brits other European countries follow suit
• Demand for slaves in the US still high so slave
  trade cont. (approx 1860s)

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Triangle Trade
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1880s THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

• Who colonized where?

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The Scramble for Africa
Click the name of the colonizing country to see a
list of African colonial holdings
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French Colonies

• Chad
• Djibouti
• Gabon
• Republic of the Congo
• Madagascar
• Comoros
• Mauritius

• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Guinea
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Niger

• Senegal
• Togo
• Cameroon
• Morocco
• Algeria
• Tunisia
• Central African Republic

Colony Map
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British Colonies
Egypt Nigeria Ghana Sierra Leone The
Gambia Zambia Malawi Zimbabwe
South Africa Swaziland Lesotho Sudan Northern
Somalia Kenya Uganda Tanzania
Colony Map
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Portuguese Colonies

• Angola
• Mozambique
• Guinea Bissau
• Cape Verde
• São Tomé and Príncipe

Colony Map
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German Colonies
German Colonies

• Tanzania
• Burundi
• Rwanda

• Cameroon
• Togo
• Namibia

• German colonies were divided among the European
  victors of WWI
• became a British colony
• became a Belgian colony
• became a French colony
• was occupied by South African government

Colony Map
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Belgian Colonies

• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Rwanda (after WWI)
• Burundi (after WWI)

Italian Colonies

• Libya
• Eritrea
• Somalia

Spanish Colonies

• Western Sahara
• Morocco
• Equatorial Guinea

Colony Map
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Independent Countries

• Liberia (often viewed as a US colony)

• Ethiopia

Colony Map
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Decolonization/ African Independence

• Mid 1900s Africans are rebelling against
  colonial rule (nationalism) Europe is losing
  control over colonies
• 1960-1965 27 countries see independence
• Africans are just going to adopt colonial borders
  despite the fact these borders ignore ethnic
  divisions
• Many rival tribes will be left to fight for
  control of the country civil wars erupt all
  over Africa

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South Africa

• Most recent independence
• 1994 - gained independence
• from the white Afrikaner
• government known for its
• apartheid practices
• Nelson Mandela
• First president of an independent South Africa
• Had been jailed by the Afrikaner govt for 27 yrs
• President from 1994 1999
• Won Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle to end the
  injustices of apartheid in 1993

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Post Independence Problems facing Africa today

• Overpopulation/ Population Density
• Lack of technology infrastructure development
• Low GDP GDP per capita
• Disease malaria AIDS
• Corrupt governments
• Civil War
• Famine
• Poor use of natural resources
• Still western imperialism economic imperialism