Early Colonial Exploration and Expansion

AFRICA

Pre-Colonial Africa

Reasons for European Expansion

• 1. Curiosity• 2. Search for new trade routes• 3. Desire for natural resources and wealth• 4. Pride

Portugal

• Why were the Portuguese the first Europeans to travel to Africa?

– Prince Henry the Navigator (west coast)– Bartolomeu Dias (Cape of Good Hope)– Vasco Da Gama (India)

PORTUGUESE EXPLORATION

Exploring Africa

• 1. The Gold Coast• 2. Western Africa• 3. East Africa• 4. Mozambique

The Early Slave Trade

• 1. Islamic Empire controlled the slave trade.

• 2. Intra-African Trade• 3. Establishment of Trade Posts (later for

slave trade) – 40 along the West Coast• 4. European expansion to the New World

leads to increased demands for slaves.

Slave Trade• Years Number of Slaves % of overall trade

1450 -1500 81,000 -1500 – 1600 328,000 2.01601 – 1700 1,348,000 12.01701 – 1800 6,090,000 54.21801 – 1900 3,466,000 30.9____________________________________________Total 11,233,000 100.0

Where Did the Slaves Go?

The Decline of Portuguese Influence

• Few permanent settlements• Racial Assimilation• Annexation by Spain• Political Instability• Colonial Wars (Mozambique and Angola)• International Competition

Colonial Africa

• The Scramble for Africa (1880 – 1900)– Britain– Italy– France– Germany– Spain– Belgium– Netherlands

THE BRITISH COME TO AFRICA

• 1553 - British ship brings back gold from Guinea• 1650s – British begin building forts on the West

Coast of Africa, including the fort at Cape Coast• 1700s – 1800s – British become heavily involved

in the slave trade• 1807 – Britain abolishes the slave trade• 1817 – Britain begins to take control of people

living on the coast with the consent of the Ashanti state.

THE FRENCH COME TO AFRICA

• 1624 – France est. trading posts in Senegal

• 1774 – 1815 - Conflict with Britain destroys French colonialism

• 1830 – France invades Algeria

BERLIN CONFERENCE

• 1884 – Portugal requests Otto von Bismark solve the “Africa Problem”

• 14 countries invited– Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France,

Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway (unified from 1814-1905), Turkey, and the United States of America.

– Germany France, G.B. and Portugal are the major players

Carving Up Africa

• 80% of the continent was self-governed• Africa is carved into 50 countries and

superimposed over the 1000 indigenous cultures.

Who Got What?• Great Britain – Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya (British

East Africa), South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana (Rhodesia), Nigeria and Ghana (Gold Coast)

• France – Mauritania to Chad (French West Africa), and Gabon and the Republic of Congo (French Equatorial Africa)

• Belgium – Democratic Republic of the Congo (Belgian Congo)

• Portugal – Mozambique, Guinea and Angola• Italy – Somalia (Italian Somaliland) and Eritrea.• Germany – Namibia (German Southwest Africa) and

Tanzania (German East Africa)• Spain – Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni)

Colonial Africa After WWI

Colonial Africa After WWII