the white man conquers the land. what is the scramble for africa? the late 19 th century scramble...
TRANSCRIPT
The White Man Conquers the Land
What is the Scramble for
Africa?
• The late 19th century scramble for control over Africa by competing powers
European Relations with Africa Before the Scramble
• Slave trade• Trade• Missionaries • Trading Post Colonies
- colonies set up along the coast for trading• Conquest states
- military forced villagers to give up goods• Informal empires
- military and diplomatic rule
Why do you think the European Powers waited until the 19th century
to scramble to colonize Africa?
• Disease• Lack of knowledge of African terrain
and resources• Lack of technology
• So what changed this???
Disease
Disease• Before certain
breakthroughs in medicine, African explorers were plagued by disease and death, especially malaria
• Solution: Quinine
• Medicine used to prevent and treat malaria, became widespread in use in the 1850s
Lack of knowledge of African terrain
and resources
Lack of knowledge of African terrain and resources
Lack of knowledge of African terrain and resources
• Solution: European explorers, like David Livingstone, who helped to map out Africa and its resources
• Scottish missionary and explorer, • helped to open up Africa to other
Europeans with his great exploration of parts of the continent.
Lack of Technology
Lack of Technology
Solution: Expansion overseas pushed by industrialization, in the form of…
1. Steam navigation
Before
After
2. Railroads
3. Telegraphs
Berlin Conference of 1884-85• In 1884, fourteen ministers of European countries and
the United states met to decide some ground rules for exploiting Africa.
• But why?
Disputes Over the Congo
Leopold II
• King of Belgium
• In 1879-84, before the conference, secretly sent Henry Morton Stanley on “humanitarian efforts”
• By 1882, Stanley had obtained over 900,000 square miles by treaties
France and Portugal
• While Stanley explored, a French marine also traveled the west basin of the Congo and put a flag up
• Portugal also had “rights” to the land due to past treaties
After the Conference
Each country ruled its colonies differently
• Britain mainly ruled by indirect rule
• France mainly opted for creating French elites and spreading its ideals
• Portugal preferred direct, harsh rule
• Leopold II, who personally owned the Congo, is known to have ruled ruthlessly
By 1914