AP World HistoryPOD #16 – New Imperialism in Africa

Consequences of

New Imperialism

Class Discussion Notes

Bulliet – “Scramble for Africa”, pp. 744-752

Historical Context

“Until the 1870s African history was largely shaped by internal forces and the spread of Islam. Outside Algeria and southern Africa, only a handful of Europeans had ever visited the interior of Africa, and European countries possessed small enclaves on the coasts. As late as 1879 Africans ruled more than 90 percent of the continent. Then, within a decade, Africa was invaded and divided among the European powers in a movement often referred to as the “scramble” for Africa.” (Bulliet, p. 774)

Berlin Conference

Called by the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1884-1885

The major European powers agreed to a set of rules for the partition of and colonization of Africa

Effective Occupation – would replace the former trading relations between Africans and Europeans

Every country with colonial ambitions had to send troops into Africa and participate in the division of the spoils

Borders were created not based upon the multitude of diverse religious, ethnic, and linguistics divisions within the Continent, but rather based on the acquisition and division of the vast supply of profitable natural resources and geographic benefits

The Collaborators

Some groups welcomed the invading Europeans as allies against local enemies

These collaborators sought employment in government service or with European firms (typically they sent their children to mission schools)

In return these collaborators were often the first to receive benefits such as clinics and roads

The Resisters

Peoples with a pastoral or warrior tradition were often extremely resistant and fought tenaciously to prevent European domination

In the end, however, all of the resisters eventually came into conflict with European military led expeditions and were defeated (courtesy of the machine gun)

Resistance in Ethiopia succeeds Menelik became emperor in Ethiopia in

1889 – at that time his empire was being threatened by Sudanese Muslims to the west and by France and Italy to the east

For years Ethiopia had been purchasing modern American and European weapons

1896 the Italian invasion force of 20,000 was defeated at Adowa by a larger and better trained Ethiopian army

Social Consequences

“Most Africans neither joined nor fought the European invaders but tried to continue living as before. They found this increasingly difficult because colonial rule disrupted every traditional society. The presence of colonial officials meant that rights to land, commercial transactions, and legal disputes were handled very differently and that traditional rulers lost authority, except when Europeans used them as local administrators.” (Bulliet, p. 749)

African Land & Labor

European masters proclaimed any land not farmed to be vacant and gave it to private investment companies

Europeans encouraged the growth of cash crops and taxed the harvest

Native inhabitants were forced to become squatters, sharecroppers or ranch hands and in South Africa they were sent to reservations

European masters wanted this cheap labor refusing to pay high enough wages – for example miners in South Africa were paid 1/10th of the wage given to whites for equal work

Taxes were imposed on huts and heads and had to be paid regardless of income level

Christian Missionaries

Africans had more contact with missionaries than with any other Europeans. Missionaries, both men and women, opened schools to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic to village children.

Boys learned craft skills - carpentry and blacksmithing

Girls learned domestic - cooking, laundry, and childcare

Christianity proved successful in converting followers of traditional animist religions but had very little luck in converting Muslim communities