The Partition of AfricaChapter 24, Section 2

Africa in the early Africa in the early 1800s1800s

North Africa: Into the early 1800s, north Africa was part of the declining Ottoman Empire (primarily Muslim)

West Africa: Islamic revival spread among among tribes, wanting social and religious reform based on Sharia (Islamic law). This inspired many to try to rebel against their European colonists

East Africa: Also Muslim, and had a huge slave trade to the Middle East, along with ivory and copper, in return for cloth or firearms from India

Southern Africa: Lots of war and conflict among tribes and the “boers” (descendants of Dutch farmers)

Impact of the Slave Impact of the Slave TradeTrade

In the early 1800s, European countries slowly began to outlaw the slave trade in Africa, but it took years. Slave trade to Asia and the Middle East continued

Some people helped freed slaves go back to Africa British began Sierra Leone as a colony for former slaves on the

west coast Ex-slaves from the U.S. settled in Liberia on the west coast

European Contact European Contact IncreasesIncreases

Africans were happy to trade with Europe, but were not happy when Europe began to stay in the country

European explorers and missionaries were some of the first people to enter the interior of Africa Catholic and Protestant, built schools, churches, and medical

clinics Viewed Africans paternally they saw Africans as in need of

guidance

Dr. David Livingstone was the best-known explorer. He traveled for 30 years in Africa, writing about the people he met. He opposed the slave trade and also wanted to spread Christianity

A Scramble for A Scramble for ColoniesColonies

King Leopold of Belgium was the first to grab land inside Africa, in the Congo, and it spurred France, Germany and England to do the same.

The Berlin Conference—In 1884, European leaders met in Berlin, Germany to discuss Africa. (No Africans were invited.) This was the beginning of official colonization.

Belgium quickly began to exploit the Congo for copper, rubber and ivory Reports of brutal treatment, savage beatings and mutilation of

workers The Congo and its people were viewed as a possession to be

exploited, and had no representation or say in the government on their land

France and Britain France and Britain Join the ScrambleJoin the Scramble

France grabbed a giant piece of North Africa by waging war in Algeria and Tunisia Cost thousands of French and African lives At its height, the French empire in Africa was as big as the U.S.

British control was more scattered across Africa, and was in more populated areas with more resources, such as Egypt, with the Suez Canal, and the Sudan

In the south, the British clashed with the Boers, when gold and diamonds were discovered in Boer land. Led to the Boer War, which lasted from 1899 to 1902. England won.

Germany, Italy and Portugal also raced to grab land for themselves

Africans Resist Africans Resist ImperialismImperialism

Africans did not take colonization quietly. They resisted everywhere.

Algerians resisted the French, and women led two resistance movements against the British

The Germans were only able to take over after using the scorched-earth policy and forcing thousands of locals in East Africa to starve to death.

Only one country was able to resist Europe: Ethiopia. It was already Christian, and had a modernizing ruler before Europeans came. He had the weapons and technology to resist Europeans.

An African Elite An African Elite EmergesEmerges

During the Age of Imperialism, an upper class of Africans appeared

They were Western-educated, and some admired the West and rejected their own traditions, while others resented Europe’s treatment of Africans.

By the early 1900s, many of these African leaders were beginning to organize nationalist movements to try to regain independence.