Transcript Scramble for Africa

Imperialism in Africa
10/6/10
Imperialism in Africa
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
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
Scramble for Africa
Berlin Conference
(1884-1885)
 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

King Leopold II of
Belgium
Map Comparison: What Do You See?
Africa in 1880
Africa in 1914
European Advantages and
Justifications
European Advantages
 Maxim machine gun
 Medical knowledge
for malaria and
yellow fever
 Telegraph
European Justifications
for Imperialism
 Social Darwinism:
“Survival of the
fittest”
 Racism
 Paternalism
 “White Man’s Burden”
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
King Leopold II
Africa by 1914
Resources
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"Africa, 1914." Map. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1
Oct. 2010. <http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/>
"The Berlin Conference: Key Question." World History: The Modern Era. ABCCLIO, 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. ABCCLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Oct. 2010. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/
"Leopold II." Image. Library of Congress. World History: The Modern Era. ABCCLIO, 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/