The Scramble for Africa
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Welcome to Colonialism Level 1, Lesson 1: The Scramble For Africa
In this lesson, you will learn about:
The impact of enslavement on Africa
The wealth that slavery generated for the nations of Europe
The start of colonialism
Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you will understand:
How multiple African kingdoms collapsed
Why the myth of white supremacy was developed
When the Berlin Conference took place
What happened at the Berlin Conference
Who attended the Berlin Conference
The definition of the term “colonialism”
From the 15th century onward Africa, and in particular the western part of the continent, began to suffer from enslavement by Europeans.
Africans were taken from their homes in droves and transported to North, Central and South America via ships. These extremely cramped vessels were terribly unhygienic and, due to this and the horrible abuses by Europeans, many Africans died before reaching the Americas.
This process of enslavement caused many of Africa’s great empires and kingdoms to collapse. Those of West Africa suffered directly, as citizens were captured by European slave traders. This caused the population of the area to stagnate as millions of engineers, scientists, warriors and musicians were transported and enslaved. The removal of large sections of many empires and kingdoms eventually weakened them to the point of disintegration.
Those not directly affected by European enslavement still found themselves weakened by their activities. Many South, Central, and East African states directly traded with those of West Africa, and with their collapse, these other states also began to falter. Economies based upon the trade between empires were disrupted, causing a decline in the way of life for many people. Additionally, the mass enslavement of West Africans also caused refugee crises across the continent as communities fled to other areas to avoid the horrors of slavery.
Conversely, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade greatly enriched the nations of Europe. Hundreds of years of slave labour produced huge amounts of wealth for these countries, allowing them to develop weapons for further conquest. It was also during this time that the nations of Europe collectively invented the myth of white supremacy, developing false doctrines about the so-called “Negro” race in an effort to justify the enslavement of Africans.
The racist cooperation between the nations of Europe eventually led to them collectively taking over the entire African continent. This process was called colonialism. In the years 1884 and 1885, the nations of Europe, as well as the Ottoman Empire and the USA, met in Berlin. This Berlin Conference was where Europeans decided to divide Africa among themselves, drawing their own borders and renaming each country as they saw fit. This was known as the “Scramble for Africa.” Suddenly many Africa Empires were carved into pieces, and groups who had previously had their own kingdoms were forced to live together under European rule.