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Imperialism DBQ - AFRICA

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European Imperialism: Was the overall impact positive or negative?

IN AFRICA

Background Essay:

Because of radical developments in science, technology, industry, agriculture, communication, and weaponry, many Western countries were able to force their ideas and control on countries, communities, and empires around the world. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, European powers controlled about 20% of the world’s land area and over 150 million people!

Imperialism in some form or another was not new to the world stage. For most of history some groups of people have fought to control other groups of people for economic, political, or social gain. However, this “new imperialism” was different in a few key ways.

Bureaucracy – Along with the developing idea of the “nation” came ideas of service and support for national identity and supremacy. People were now willing to travel long distances away from family and their known society to serve the greater good of the country or empire. This enabled a greater level of control to spread to greater distances.

Racial Superiority – Europeans believed that they were not only superior people, but that their society was superior and it was their duty to spread their moral code and ideology around the world to “less civilized” countries.

Infrastructure – Many times Europeans would develop the technology and infrastructure of a country and thereby radically alter a country or areas economics to the point where they would be forced to turn to the European country for guidance on how best to run their country and economy.

Business Imperialism – European companies would invest in local economies and industries to the point where they were compelled to protect their monetary investments through political or social action.

Colonies and Protectorates – If none of the less direct actions were successful, sometimes European countries would simply move in and

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take over a country or an area. They would establish a new government (annexation) or they would work out a one sided agreement with a figurehead government whereby the figurehead could keep their power as long as they implemented the policies the Europeans thought best for the country.

Overall, the question remains, were the policies good or bad for the areas that were impacted by the imperialism of Europe?

We will look at two case studies to determine:

Was the overall impact of European Imperialism good or bad?

For Africa? For India?

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Doc A: Letter from the southern African king, Lobengula, to Queen Victoria.

“Some time ago a party of men came to my country, the principle one appearing to be a man called Rudd. They asked me for a place to dig for gold, and said they would give me certain things for the right to do so. I told them to bring me what they could give and I would show them what I could give. A document was written and presented to me for signature. I asked what it contained, and was told it was my words and the words of those men. I put my hand to it. About three months afterwards I heard from other sources that I had given by the document the right to all the minerals of my country.”

Doc B:

Doc C: J.A. Hobson published the book, Imperialism: A Study in 1902. Hobson was a British economist who was the reporter for the Manchester

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Guardian in South Africa during the Boer War. He made connections between imperialism and capitalism.

“The period of imperialism has witnessed many wars. Most of the wars have been caused by attacks of white races upon so-called “lower races.” They have resulted in the taking of territory by force…The white rulers of the colonies live at the expense of the natives. Their chief work is to organize labor for their support. In the typical colony, the most fertile lands and mineral resources are owned by white foreigners. These holdings are worked by natives under their direction. The foreigners take the wealth of the country. All the hard work is done by the natives.”

Doc D:

Doc E: Ahmed Sekou Toure was an African nationalist who fought for the independence of Guinea from France. Eventually he went on to become the President of Guinea from 1958 to 1984.

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“Colonialism’s greatest misdeed was to have tried to strip us of our responsibility in conducting our own affairs and convince us that our civilization was nothing less than savagery, thus giving us complexes which led to our being branded as irresponsible and lacking in self confidence.”

Doc F: George H.T. Kimble, in a 1962 The New York Times Magazine article, “Colonialism: the Good, the Bad, and the Lessons.” Kimble was a college professor, geographer, and world traveler.

“…they [the colonial powers] failed to provide the African with sufficient [preparation]… None of the newly independent countries had enough skilled African administrators to run their own…or enough African technicians to keep public utilities working…And no country had an electorate that knew what independence was all about…For all its faults, colonial government provided security of persons and property in lands that had known little of either…It was the colonial powers who were largely responsible for the opening of the region to the lumberman, miner, planter, and other men of means without whom its wealth would be continued to lie fallow [uncultivated].”

Doc G: Richard St. Barbe Baker, Kabongo: The Story of a Kikuyu Chief, Oxford: George Ronald, 1955, pp. 109-110. This is an English translation of an interview conducted in Kikuyu with Chief Kabongo. The interview was conducted by Mothungu wa Miti, and then rendered into English by Richard St Barbe Baker. Chief Kabongo lived from about 1870 to 1950.

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It was in these days that a Pink Cheek man came one day to our Council. He came from far away, from where many of these people lived in houses made of stone where they held their own Council.

He sat in our midst and he told us of the king of the Pink Cheeks, who was a great king and lived in a land over the seas.

“This great king is now your king,” he said. “And this land is all his land, though he has said you may live on it as you are his people and he is your father and you are his sons.”

This was strange news. For this land was ours. We had bought our land with cattle in the presence of Elders and had taken the oath it was our own. We had no king, we elected our Councils and they made our laws. A strange king could not be our king and our land was our own. We had had no battle, no one had fought us to take away our land as, in the past, had sometimes been. This land we had had from our fathers and our fathers’ father, who had bought it. How then could it belong to this king?

With patience, our leading Elder tried to tell this to the Pink Cheek and he listened. But at the end he said, “This we know. But in spite of this, what I have told you is a fact. You have now a king – a good and great king who loves his people, and you are among his people. In the town called Nairobi is a council or government that acts for the king. And his laws are your laws.”

Doc H: African proverb

“When the whites came to our country, we had the land and they had the Bible; now we have the Bible and they have the land.”

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Doc I: Sheldon Gella, “The Colonial Era,” in Africa, Phyllis M. Martin and Patrick O’Meara, editors, 2nd Edition, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.

“Despite the unpopularity of colonial rule, most Africans wound up accepting the authority of the colonial state. Indeed, some African leaders and ethnic groups collaborated very closely with the colonizer for liberating them from slavery and rule by other ethnic groups. Moreover, many westernized Africans saw colonialism in Africa as a progressive and “civilizing” force which, despite its many abuses, had eliminated slavery, human sacrifice, and internecine warfare while providing opportunities for Africans with modern skills to rise socially and economically regardless of previous low social status…”

Doc J:

Growth of the Railroad and Road Network in Colonial Kenya

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Growth of the Postal Service in Colonial Kenya

Doc K: Colonial Rule in Africa – Secondary Source

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By 1914, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal had divided up Africa. Native peoples who dared to resist were simply devastated by their superior military force of the Europeans.

Most European governments ruled their new territories with the least effort and expense possible. Indirect rule meant relying on existing political elites and institutions. The British especially followed this approach. At first, in some areas, the British simply asked a local ruler to accept British authority and to fly the British flag over official buildings.

The concept of indirect rule was introduced in northern Nigeria, beginning in 1903. This system had one good feature in that it did not disrupt local custom and institutions. However, it did have some unfortunate consequences.

The system was basically a fraud because British administrators made all the major decisions. The native authorities served chiefly to enforce those decisions. Another problem was that indirect rule kept the old African elite in power. Such a policy provided few opportunities for ambitious and talented young Africans from outside the old elite. In this way British indirect rule sowed the seeds for class and tribal tensions which erupted after independence came in the twentieth century. Most other European nations governed their African possessions through a form of direct rule. This was true in the French colonies. At the top was a French official, usually known as a governor-general. He was appointed from Paris and governed with the aid of a bureaucracy in the capital of the colony. A French ideal was to assimilate African subjects into French culture rather than preserve native traditions. Africans were eligible to run for office and even serve in the French National Assembly in Paris. A few were appointed to high positions in the colonial administration.

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DocPro or Anti Imperialis

m or Both?

What does the author say was the

impact of imperialism?

Does this source have a bias? Is the source reliable?

Why? Cite evidence from the text to

support your ideas.

A

B

C

D

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m or Both?





support your ideas.

E

F

G

H

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m or Both?





support your ideas.

I

J

K

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