Motivation for European Imperialism in Africa Essay

Imperialism is a practice of extending power and dominion particularly by territorial acquisition or through gaining economic and political control in other areas. Imperialism of Africa by the European took place between the 1880s and 1914. Africans were subjected to diplomatic pressures, imperialist aggression, military conquest and finally colonization. However, at the same time, Africans reacted with all sorts of resistance against an attempt to colonize their culture by the European. By the 18th century, most African colonies exception of Ethiopia and Liberia had been imperialized by the European powers. The paper aims to explore factors that motivated the European to colonize African and the consequences of such colonization on Africans.

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The imperialism was significant in that; it brought a lot of change on both the European side and the Africans side. Political, economic and cultural aspects were significantly altered after and before the imperialism since these factors are some of the major reasons for European quest to colonize Africa (Henry, pg. 195) The dynamics and the diversity of the African and the European cultures were surrounded with a lot of controversies since Africans valued the culture and the Europeans as well wanted the Africans to adopt their culture. This proved intense anxiety among African societies leading to frequently staged resistant wars in various African countries

Jules Ferry is representing the period of imperialism by the French; Fredrick Lugard is emphasizing on the colonization activities of the British on Africa while the letter from King Leopold II of Belgium is representing the colonies that Belgium colonized. In summary, the authors of the books above have a common point on European influence on the African colonies. Factors that motivated imperial expansion includes; economic factors, political factors, and exploratory factors. First, the European colonies wanted to maximize profits outside their countries, and they had identified African countries as a productive prey for boosting their economies due to cheap labor and free access for the market for their products.

The struggle for supremacy and patriotism prompted European countries to scramble for colonies in Africa. Notably, the political motives were mostly triggered by the response of perceiving threats and attacks to the stability of imperial powers. Lastly, is the exploratory reason (Lugard, 585-587). European powers wanted to explore the horns of Africa and to discover something that was new and unique in these colonies that could bring positive impact to their colonies back at home. Often, exploration was accompanied by intense research and hence acting as a sense of adventure.

The authors have a common viewpoint on the native Africans, as they assert that, African natives were inferior races as compared to the Europeans who were superior races. Moreover, the authors further indicate that the superior races are in a position to civilize the inferior races since they enjoy some rights. Africans being inferior they were subjected to slavery. The authors suggest that European imperialism will disrupt native Africans social structures and cultures and with time they will adopt most aspects of the European culture and eventually become civilized as the Europeans.

The Europeans used various tactics to colonize Africa such as, formation of treaties like the trade treaties, use of missionaries to pave way for the colonist and the use of explorers and adventurers, for instance Stanley and Speke who gave an exaggerated finding to their home governments concerning the mountains and lakes in Africa that eventually attracted the colonist. Imperialism was not a walk in the park since the European powers were faced with various challenges. First was the challenge of the language barrier in the vast African colonies. These prompted some territories like Britain to send out missionaries first in Africa so that they could be taught the English language in various mission schools. Africans were viewed by these authors as primitive and were only aware of their local languages; they did not know how to read and write English.

Moreover, the challenge of starvation and unfavorable weather and climate caused starvation and various diseases to the Europeans. Nature was indeed against them due to lack of their familiarity with the African topology hence causing serious challenges such as wild animal's attacks (Henry, pp. 196-197). The actions of the European didn't represent the will of African. This because, the manner of European invasion was different in respect to various African colonies, but a similar common feature entails the Europeans invading African through friendly tactics such as coming as tradesmen, missionaries and explorers. However, with time, circumstances starts to unfold, and Africans are the force to resist in order protecting their culture.

Many African societies resisted the Europeans invasion. After the Berlin conference of 1884-1885 in which many of the European colonies came to a consensus on the rules for laying claims to particular countries, the British, Germans, Portuguese, Italians, French among others colonies set long-term strategies on how they wanted to occupy Africa fully. Consequently, various African leaders knew that their authority was going to be undermined and hence staged resistance against the European powers despite a few leaders peacefully collaborating and accepting European colonization on their subjects. For instance, many African societies resistant were mostly on cultural and religious protection.

The consequences of European colonization on Africans had both the negative and the negative impacts. African was impacted politically, socially and economically. For instance, some of the positive impacts of colonization on the natives were the introduction of Christianity which creates the development of many mission schools that Africans could learn how to read and write the English language (Lugard, pp. 69-75). Moreover, the Europeans offered protections to the Africans by giving them ammunition to protect themselves during attacks. New technologies, for instance, new farming techniques were introduced besides new crops like maize. These led to abundant food supply in many African countries. Lastly, infrastructural facilities like medical facilities, communication facilities, and transport facilities in the form of railway constructions were enhanced.

On the other hand, the negative consequence comprised; the European got cheap labor for their plantations as Africans have become slaves on their land and they were subjected to work without any form of payments. For instance, the Europeans grabbed land from the Africans and for plantations for growing cash crops and forced the Africans to provide free labor in the farms. In addition, African culture was interfered with. The tradition was disregarded, and their way of life was breached. For example, the African worshiping shrines like under big trees were destroyed and replaced by mission churches besides teaching Africans on dressing and eating lifestyle.

Moreover, African families were disrupted leading to new boundaries which eventually caused the present conflict and slave trade. In addition; the African s were forced to occupy the inferior position of the colonial administration and also occupying unproductive lands. They had no say in their territories. Notably, the true focus of European interest in Africa was actually for economic purpose. They wanted to build their economies and hence the reason for the scramble of some African colonies that were rich in minerals. The European countries were competing among themselves in terms of economic superiority, for instance, the British and the German, hence the main reason for imperialism of Africa. African did not have otherwise but to resist the imperialism since the odds were against them, the resistance further led to severe consequences like series of death, and in the long run, imperialism tools its course in many African colonies. This prompted Africans to submit unto imperialisms since they were not capable of resisting anymore due to such factors as lack of enough weapons to fight back. Besides, not all aspects of imperialism were negative hence making the Africans, in the long run, to become submissive to colonialism. Imperialism in Africa was more brutal as compared to the rest of the globe.

Conclusion

European Imperialism entails seeking control over African territories. However, many African colonies were against the European imperialism making them stage resistant to this move since it would lead to the dilution of their culture. Unfortunately, European imperialism took its cause after a series of staged resistance which led to massive loss of lives. The imperialism brought both positive and negative consequences with some positive including the introduction of Christianity and a negative impact, introduction of the slave trade.

Reference

Wesseling, Hendrik Lodewijk. The European Colonial Empires: 1815-1919. Routledge, 2015.