History of the African Continent

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History of the African Continent
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THE DARK CONTINENT

• Dark Continent racist terminology referred to
  both the peoples of Africa and their alleged
  ignorance
• In reality, Africa has always had diverse groups
  of people with their own unique cultures and
  histories
• Civilizations
• Languages
• Religions

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GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA

• Continent not a country
• Continent is three times larger than Europe
• Northern Africa desert
• Mid-to-southern Africa diverse
• climates and topography

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FOREIGN HISTORY IN AFRICA

• Greeks controlled Egypt after conquest by
  Alexander the Great
• Ptolemaic dynasty
• Romans ruled all areas along the Mediterranean
  coastline, including northern Africa
• Mediterranean Roman lake
• West African Trading Kingdoms
• Ghana (300 A.D. to 1100 A.D.)
• 7th century - Arab traders converted many
  Africans to Islam
• gold and salt trade
• Mali (1300 A.D. 1400 A.D.)
• expanded trade
• great leaders Sundiata Kieta and Mansa Musa
• Songhai (1400s 1500s)
• Timbuktu became a major center of trade
• great leader Sunni Ali

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The OPENING UP OF AFRICA

• Source of slaves for the Americas from the 17th
  century
• But little foreign interest in the interior of
  sub-Saharan Africa
• Mid-1800s Missionaries explorers sparked
  foreign interest in Africa

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European Imperialism in Africa
This is a map that shows the colonial division of
Africa as of 1913. Note where the concentration
of possessions for each country are.
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Video
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Definitions

• A. Colonialism the policy of taking a weaker
  nations land for self gain.
• B. Imperialism the domination of one nation
  over the political, economic, or social affairs
  of another nation
• Reasons for the colonization of Africa- refueling
  ports, slave trade, mineral and agricultural
  resources, strategic location

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Early Contact - A Slow Start

• Europeans had a slow start in colonizing Africa
  due to natural barriers and lack of interest
  until the slave trade and search for raw
  materials drew them to the continent
• 1. (Glory) Explorers - The early explorers at
  first had little impact on Africans as they used
  Africa ports largely for refueling for voyages to
  India and Asia. Eventually they began expanding
  inland and IMPOSED many of their customs and
  beliefs. Some European communities got along
  well with Africans and some clashed. As they
  began to expand inland and claim more territory
  clashes became more frequent. Some Africans
  liked the modern technology brought by the
  Europeans and some thought that it was evil.
• 2. (God) Missionaries Christian missionaries
  sought to convert the Africans to Christianity.
  Some accepted the new faith, many rejected it and
  resented the Europeans for not respecting their
  gods. Missionaries brought education, modern
  agriculture, and health care along with the
  Bible. Some missionaries were accepted into
  African society and some were killed for trying
  to bring change.
• 3. (Gold) Slave trade and raw materials - The
  slave traders had a terrible impact on African
  society and culture. By trapping and buying many
  Africans south of the Sahara, they destroyed
  individuals, families, and tribes, creating hate
  of Europeans. The primary slavery areas were
  West Africa (along the coast), Central Africa
  (Congo River valley), and southeast Africa
  (Zimbabwe). Raw materials were needed for
  European industries and factories these
  resources also drew imperialists to set up
  colonies.

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The Slave TradeThis is an etching of the slave
trade
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DAVID LIVINGSTONE (1813-1873)

• Scottish missionary
• 1841-1873 lived in central Africa
• Explored Africa
• Named Lake Victoria after the British queen
• Converted many Africans to Christianity
• Wrote books on Africa which piqued foreign
  interest
• 1871 reported lost
• Found by Henry Stanley
• Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

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HENRY STANLEY (1841-1904)

• Welsh-American reporter
• Found Dr. Livingstone in Africa
• Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
• Explored Africa
• Congo River
• Lake Tanganyika
• Lake Victoria
• Worked with Belgiums King Leopold II and his
  African colonization company
• International African Society

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KARL PETERS (1856-1918)

• German explorer in Africa
• Organized and propagandized for Germanys
  colonial expansion
• Founded the Society for German Colonization
• Acquired German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania)
• Convinced Otto von Bismarck to take over German
  East Africa and increase Germanys colonies in
  Africa

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CECIL RHODES (1853-1902)

• British businessman and politician in southern
  Africa
• Made a fortune from African diamond mines
• Established South African Company
• Land later became Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
• Prime minister of Cape Colony (1890-1896)
• Wanted British control over South Africa
• Wanted Cape-to-Cairo Railroad
• Architect of British imperialism in southern
  Africa
• Great Britain became leading colonial power in
  southern Africa

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KING LEOPOLD II OF BELGIUM (1835-1909)

• Took over land in central Africa
• Berlin Conference (1885)
• Leopolds control over Congo Free State
  recognized by major powers
• Belgian Congo (1908)
• Leopold criticized for the cruelty of his rule in
  the Congo
• Leopold forced to sell Congo Free State to
  Belgian government
• Renamed Belgian Congo
• Created European race for African colonies
  Scramble for Africa
• Diamonds, foodstuffs, gold, ivory, rubber

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The Berlin Conference - 1885

• The purpose was to reduce the potential of war
  between European countries for rival claims to
  land in Africa. This race to claim land was
  started by King Leopold of Belgium who claimed
  Zaire.
• No Africans were invited
• Results
• 1. Belgiums right to the Congo Free State were
  recognized.
• 2. Free trade on the Congo and Niger rivers
• 3. No European country could claim any part of
  Africa without first setting up a government
  office there.
• 4. Europeans began to divide up Africa
• The entire continent was partitioned or divided
  up over the next 20 years with the exception of
  Ethiopia and Liberia. Europeans began to exploit
  (take advantage of) Africa.

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BRITISH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

• 1815 British took Cape Colony from the Dutch
• Boers moved north
• Transvaal
• 1886 gold discovered and British moved in
• 1881 and 1895 British attempted to take
  Transvaal from the Boers
• Orange Free State
• Boer War (1899-1892)
• Dutch led by President Paul Kruger
• British won

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UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA

• Created in 1910
• Included Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Natal,
  and Transvaal
• Self-government

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BRITISH COLONIES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

• Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
• Named for Cecil Rhodes
• North of Union of South Africa
• Bechuanaland (now Botswana)
• 1885 became a British protectorate
• Kenya
• 1888 became a British protectorate

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BRITISH IN NORTH AFRICA

• Egypt in name ruled by Ottoman Turks, but
  largely independent
• European capital investments
• Suez Canal opened in 1869
• Built by the Egyptians and French
• Taken over by the British (1875)
• British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
• Bought shares in Suez Canal Company from Egypt
• Egypt was nearly bankrupt from the expense of
  building the Suez Canal
• British government became largest shareholder

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EUROPEANS IN EGYPT

• 1870s with the Egyptian government bankrupt,
  the British and French took over financial
  control of the country
• Egyptian monarchs (technically Ottoman viceroys)
  ruled as puppet leaders
• 1882 Egyptian nationalist rebellion
• France withdrew its troops
• Great Britain left in control of Egypt
• Lord Cromer introduced reforms
• De facto British protectorate
• Made official in 1914
• Independence came in 1922

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BRITISH IN NORTHERN AFRICA

• Sudan
• Area south of Egypt
• Under Anglo-Egyptian control
• Cotton needed for British textile mills
• Entente Cordiale (1904)
• Great Britain controlled Sudan
• France controlled Morocco
• Cape-to-Cairo Railroad
• Idea of Cecil Rhodes
• Would secure Great Britains dominance in Africa
• Never completed sections missing through modern
  Sudan and Uganda

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Cape-to-Cairo Railway Crossing over Victoria
Falls
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FRENCH IN AFRICA

• Algeria
• 1830 invasion
• 1831 annexation
• Tunis
• 1881 controlled by France
• Led Italy to join the Triple Alliance with
  Austria-Hungary and Germany during World War One
• Morocco
• 1881 large part under French control
• 1905 and 1911 nearly sparked a European war
  between France and Germany

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FRENCH IN AFRICA

• Madagascar
• 1896 controlled by France
• Somaliland
• 1880s partly under French control
• West Africa
• Late 1800s largely under French control
• Sudan
• 1898 met Britains area of control and nearly
  went to war
• Entente Cordiale settled British-French disputes
  in Africa

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FRENCH IN AFRICA

• By World War I 1914
• France controlled 3,250,000 square miles in
  Africa
• 14 times the area of France
• France ruled 30,000,000 Africans
• 75 of the population of France

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GERMANS IN AFRICA

• Togoland (now Togo and Ghana)
• Cameroons (now Cameroon and Nigeria)
• Southwest Africa (now Namibia)
• East Africa (now Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania)

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ITALIANS IN AFRICA

• 1882-1896
• Eritrea (along the Red Sea)
• Somaliland (along the Indian Ocean, part of
  todays Somalia)
• 1896
• Defeated in attempt to conquer Abyssinia
  (Ethiopia)
• 1912
• Won Tripoli from Ottoman Turks

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BELGIANS IN AFRICA

• 1908
• Belgium gained control of Congo (Congo Free
  State) from King Leopold II
• Leopold was infamous for the cruelty of his rule
  in the Congo
• Congo Free State (todays Democratic Republic of
  Congo)
• 80 times the size of Belgium
• Source of uranium

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PORTUGUESE IN AFRICA

• Under old imperialism Portugal gained African
  territory and led the early trans-Atlantic
  African slave trade
• Angola
• Mozambique

Portuguese territory in Africa, 1810
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SPANISH IN AFRICA

• Spain had very few possessions in Africa
• Tip of Morocco
• Rio de Oro
• Rio Muni

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AFRICANS IN AFRICA

• By the time of the First World War (1914)
• Only 2 independent African countries
• Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
• Ruled by dynasty stretching back to at least the
  13th century
• Last emperor was Haile Selassie, deposed in 1974
• Home to Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church
  (strongly tied to Egyptian Coptic Church)
• Liberia
• Formed by freed slaves under auspices (support)
  of the United States government

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Famous Leaders of the Independence Movement

• A. Menelik II - late 1800s, independence from
  Italy for Ethiopia
• B. Kwame Nkrumah gained independence for Ghana
  on the west coast of Africa from England. Pushed
  Pan-Africanism (all Africans working together)
• C. Jomo Kenyatta led the independence movement
  in Kenya from England. His name means burning
  spear
• D. Julius Nyerre led the independence movement
  from Germany for his country of Tanzania on the
  southeast African coast.
• E. Leopold Sedar Senghor Senegal's famous
  poet/politician who led the Senegalese
  independence movement and inspired many African
  independence movements with his poems of freedom
  and African pride. Senegal attained its freedom
  from France as a result of his work.
• F. Mobutu Sese Sekou Belgium suddenly gave the
  Congo its independence in 1963. This resulted in
  a long tribal Civil War broken up by U.N. troops.
  Joseph Mobutu, an army general took over and
  restored order and set up the first national
  government. (authoritarian and corrupt)

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Problems of New African Nations

• A. Tribalism continuing loyalty to tribes and
  prejudice against other tribes
• B. Poverty massive unemployment or under
  employment
• C. Subsistence Agriculture many tribes,
  villages, families, exist on what they produce
• D. Disease epidemics of malaria, ebola virus,
  parasites, nutritional diseases, yellow fever,
  sleeping sickness, STD, and HIV/AIDS
• E. Hunger vast numbers are hungry daily

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Problems (cont.)

• F. Sanitary Conditions lack of knowledge of the
  link between cleanliness and disease prevention
• G. Lack of Communication with over 800 major
  language groups, intertribal communication
  remains a problem
• H. Lack of Educational Opportunities rural
  villages and cities lack the educational
  resources to properly educate the young
• I. Desertification the spread of the deserts

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Video
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Communication Problems

• These are the 6 major language classifications
  which is further divided into over 800 major
  language groups (not including dialects). This
  hinders communication.

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Reflection

• Which of these problems that Africa is facing do
  you believe is the most challenging? Why?