Contact with Europeans

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Contact with Europeans

• Initial phase 1470s-mid1500s
• Portugese
• Trade in fish, pepper, ivory, gold
• Not colonizers or rulers Africans treated as
  equal partners
  
• Some missionary work Congo but not long-term
  Portugese effort

2

• Introduced crops
• America maize, tobacco, cassava, tomato
  pineapple, sweet potato
  
• Indies orange, lemon, lime, rice, sugar cane
• By end of 15th century, trade mainly gold and
  slaves.

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• Second phase mid1500s-1800
• Other nations entered in
• England, France, Holland
• Trade was focus
• Little scientific curiosity, no interest in
  colonization, attempts to Christianize or
  Westernize abandoned
  
• Emphasis on slave trade

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Demand for Slaves

• Labor intensive enterprises
• Mining and plantations
• Frontier conditions in the Americas
• Africans survived in the tropics
• Africans have same immunities as Europeans
• Slave labor enabled industrialization
• Textiles, sugar refining, distilling

5
Sources of slaves

• Prisoners of war
• Captured in raids
• Domestic slaves and pawns resold
• Criminals

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Effects of Slave Trade

• Africa
• Depopulation
• Hindered economic development
• Atmosphere of fear and insecurity increased war
  and raids
  
• Change in attitudes of Europeans toward Africans

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Colonization of Africa

• 1879 90 of Africa was independent
• 1900 all but a fraction of Africa was governed by
  European powers

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Reasons for the Scramble for Africa

• Economic
• Europeans needed raw materials produced in Africa
  to feed European factories
  
• Africa was to be a new market for goods produced
  by the factories
  
• Promise of mineral wealth wish to gain and
  prevent other Europeans from gaining
  
• Stability viewed as necessary for European trade

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• Political
• Rise of nationalism in Europe, colonies seen as
  mark of national pride and prestige
  
• France eager to restore prestige after loss in
  Franco-Prussian War 1870-71
  
• Practical
• New medicines lowered death rate of Europeans
• New guns made conquest possible

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• Ideological
• European doctrine of innate superiority
• European duty to dominate
• European rule viewed as privilege
• Social Darwinism

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European cooperation

• Berlin Conference 1884-5 and others
• Europeans divided Africa among themselves
• Division reflected power balance among Europeans,
  no relation to situation in Africa
  
• Prevented Africans from playing off one European
  power against another

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Relative ease of African conquest

• European guns superior by 1885 banned
  importation of guns and ammunition
  
• Standing armies rare
• States had dynastic rivalries, subject people
  revolted
  
• Almost total absence of solidarity among African
  groups
  

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African colonialism

• Period of establishment 1885-1915
• Period of active development 1915-1945
• Period of retreat 1945-1955

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British colonies

• The Dual Mandate in Tropical Africa
• Govern in interests of both colonizers and
  colonized
  
• Colonies should be self-supporting
• Colonies should allow expansion of British trade

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British colonial rule

• Indirect rule
• Use of African chiefs and political forms as
  modified by British
  
• African leaders put in difficult middle position
• Led to fossilization and undemocratic systems but
  retained some of tradition
  

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French colonies

• Goal of Assimilation
• Educated could become Black Frenchmen
• Direct rule
• Assumed African institutions unacceptable
• Control by French except on local level

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Ratio of foreign rulers 1930s

• Nigeria
• 1315 British 20 million Nigerians
• French West Africa
• 3660 French 15 million Africans
• French Equatorial Africa
• 887 French 3.2 million Africans

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Education

• British
• Government didnt provide many schools but
  allowed missionaries to open schools.
  
• French
• Held out goal of assimilation but provided little
  education, controlled size of elite
  
• Nothing on African history or culture