history assignment
boomshakalaka
the_conquest_of_africa.pptxThe Conquest of Africa Introduction: contextualize within the broader events of the 19th century
Reasons and why Africa fell quickly to foreign rule
Industrial revolution and search for markets
European pressure groups in Africa: agents e.g. Cecil Rhodes; investors, merchants, etc.
European military campaigns & advantages: campaigns in Ethiopia, Egypt, Algeria, etc
Deadly weapon: machine gun invented in 1860s; 1889– H.S. Maxim invented deadly Maxim gun, used against the Ndebele in 1893; also used in Uganda in 1891. 1889-90, European nations met in Brussels and agreed not to sell arms to Africans
Division of African society made conquest easy; explain
The Berlin Conference (1884-85): major European nations provide some legitimacy to conquest; carved up Africa, etc; recognized King Leopold’s international association as legitimate authority over the Congo Basin; proclaimed the Congo Free State to be his personal kingdom
Attendees agreed that Niger & Congo will be international waterways
Conference talked about the principle of “effective occupation,” which led to numerous treaties with chiefs, the use of agents; a series of treaties during 1890-91 confirmed many of the internal colonial boundaries of the African continent; treaties of friendship and peace became agreements to take over land and control the people
Colonialism was imposed through trickery, fraud, and force.
Colonial powers exploited the division which existed among African groups. Internal factions of empires caused weakness. Some chiefs saw the colonial masters as liberators
Africans cooperated with colonial powers; armies that conquered colonial territories were most made up of Africans, e.g. in Nigeria, the GB used mostly Hausa troops to conquer the south and mainly Yoruba and other non-Muslims to conquer Hausaland
Missionaries played a role; provided intelligence, assisted in the movement of troops, civilizing mission; Whiteman's burden, etc
Several European companies became agents of their home country e.g. George Goldie’s Niger Company became the Royal Niger company; Cecil Rhodes South African company became the Royal South African Company; etc
Conquest of powerful African states:
1890- Segu, main city of the Tukulor Empire fell to the French
1896, the Mossi Empire of Ouagadougou fell to the French; Asante defeated by the Britisk
1898, Samori Turi was defeated
Between 1892 & 1894, Kingdom of Dhomey was occupied
1895, French occupied Timbuktu
1892, British forces took Ijebu
1890s, most of Africa overran
Obstacles to conquest: Samori Turi, son of a Malinke farmer, fought vigorously against colonialism; raised a large army in the Upper Niger, around today’s Guinea area. Established a huge empire, but was captured by the French, and empire destroyed
Rabih ibn Fadlallah, like Samori, Rabih built a strong army and invaded the Chad region around 1891, but he was defeated by the French and killed in 1900
European administration and growth of nationalism: France, Germany, Britain, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium
Direct rule, & indirect rule, explain
France: assimilation, and association; direct rule
Britain, indirect rule; Sir Frederick Lugard- governor of the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria in 1900, and in 1922 wrote, The Dual Mandate
Germany, policies, explain
French & British policies compared
Economic policies & development under colonialism
Rise of nationalism in West Africa
Reasons, taxation, forced labor, cash crops, land
Methods: accommodation, protests, native courts, education, African elite
Pan-Africanism: WEB Du Bois, Sylvester Williams, George Padmore, Casely-Hayford, etc
Impact of World War I
Negritude
British West Africa:
1917, J.E. Casely Hayford, a Gold Coast lawyer, formed the National Congress of British West Africa, explain why
1923, Herbert Macaulay, formed the Nigerian Democratic Party; wanted rights in legislative council
1934, Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik) returned to Nigeria, no job, went to Gold Coast 1935-37, edited newspaper, African Morning Star; later returned to Nigeria and formed West Africa Pilot.
French West Africa
Lamine Senghor, leader of Young African Communists
Young blacks met with socialist, communist, began to assert African identity, rejection of assimilation & acculturation
Black intellectuals and writes promoted African traditional values; published ideas in journals, etc; L’Etudiant Noir (1934), Presence Africaine– this journal launched the idea of Negritude, which is largely a reflection of the black consciousness.
Middle Africa: contextualize
European control: economic policy, railroad, rubber, Africans told not to produce certain crops, e.g. in Kenya, people were told not to produce coffee, the most valuable cash crop; cotton was heavy in Uganda; taxes, loss of land, etc
Nationalism: revolts, loss of land, taxes, forced labor; peaceful: Maji Maji
Impact of World War I
Simon Kibangu, Lower Congo
Harry Thuku, clerk in colonial association formed in 1921, Young Kikuyu Association, Kenyan nationalism; Jomo Kenyatta was member of organization in the 1930s before departing for further studies later.
The Great Depression & impact on colonialism
Africa’s economy was dependent on the outside world; 1929: cocoa provided 79% of all Gold Coast’s exports; groundnuts provided 98% of all Gambia’s exports; cotton provided 80% of all Uganda’s exports; still other examples
Mono-crop economy, explain implications
1929- economic collapse; 1929– total value of exports of the four GB West African colonies was 56 million pounds; by 1931 had collapsed to 31 million pounds
British Central Africa colonies: 1929, the value was 40 million pounds, by 1931 dropped to 21 million pounds
French West Africa: 1929 , value of exports was 30 million pounds, by 1931 dropped to 18 million pounds
By 1932, money paid to cotton growers had dropped by 2/3; that paid to Congo rubber growers had fallen by 90%
Colonial nations responded to the depression by tightening their grip; they cut back on budget for services such as establishment of schools, etc
Conflict among colonial powers: Italy invades Ethiopia; implications
Eve of World War II & changing times.
