1. Imperialists Divide Africa
KEY IDEA Ignoring the claims of African ethnic groups, kingdoms, and city-states, Europeans established colonial claims.

2. Industrialization Leads to Imperialism
Industrialism stirred the ambitions of the Europeans. They wanted more resources to fuel their industrial production.
They looked to Africa and Asia as sources for raw materials and as markets for their products.

3. Africa Before Imperialism
Before the Europeans arrived in Africa, the African people were divided into hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups.
Many continued to follow their traditional cultural traditions while others converted to Christianity and Islam.
There were over 1,000 different languages spoken throughout the continent.
The largest African kingdom was in the west and had a population that exceeded 10 million people.

4. African Defend their Homeland
For nearly 400 years, since the first European explorers had reached Africa, the African were able to keep European from getting to deep within the interior.
Africans had powerful armies to keep Europeans out.
Geography was also important. Africa had very few navigable rivers because of the many waterfalls and cataracts.

5. Europeans Overcome Obstacles
The invention of the steam powered boats made river travel possible into the interior of Africa.

6. Nations Compete for Overseas Empires
In the mid-1800s, Europeans had renewed interest in Africa. This rose, in part, from a desire to create overseas empires, a movement called imperialism. European nations wanted to control lands that had raw materials they needed for their industrial economies.
They also wanted to open up markets for the goods they made. Nationalism fed the drive for empires as well.

7. Europeans learned about the mysterious African continent through books and newspaper articles that were written by explorers and missionaries.
The disappearance of Dr. David Livingstone spurred many Americans and Europeans to embark on their own adventures to Africa.

8. Dr. Livingstone- I Presume!
The disappearance of Dr. David Livingstone, a minister from Scotland, spurred many Americans and Europeans to embark on their own adventures to Africa.
A reporter, Henry Stanley was hired to find Livingstone.
Stanley found Dr. Livingstone alive and well on the shore of Lake Tanganika in South Eastern Africa.

9. Stanley Signs a Treaty with the Chiefs
Henry Stanley returned to the Congo River Valley and convinced the tribal chiefs to sign a treaty offered by Belgium’s king Leopold II.
Leopold promised that if they would agree to allow Belgium to establish colonies, he would put a quick end to the slave trade.

10. The Natives Suffer
Leopold did not keep his word. The natives were exploited and forced to work. They were terribly abused by their Belgium overlords.
In 1908, the Belgium government took its final step towards total control and declared the area to be a possession of Belgium and renamed the area the Belgium Congo.

11. Europeans Embrace Imperialism
The Europeans believed that empire building was a measure of national greatness.
They believed that it was their duty as civilized nations to “civilize” barbarian lands.

12. Racism and Imperialism
The Europeans had strong racist ideas believing that Europeans were superior to the native Africans.
The Europeans twisted Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to justify their domination of the African people. This was called Social Darwinism.
This idea was coined as “Survival of the fittest” which was never written by Darwin.

13. Missionaries Support Imperialism
The missionaries viewed European expansion into Africa as an opportunity to “Christianize” the heathen natives.
They also believed that European rule would bring an end to the immoral slave trade.

14. Technology Wins the Day
Europeans had several technological advantages over the natives.
The Maxin gun (first machine gun)
Steam engine
The discovery of Quinine (a protective treatment against malaria)

15. African Internal Weaknesses
                                  
The large number of languages and cultures made it nearly impossible for the Africans to unite against their colonial overlords.
The Europeans used this weakness to their advantage often pitting one group against another.

16. Diamonds and Gold
After the discovery of gold and diamonds in Africa, the European’s interest in Africa increased. No European power was going to be left out.

17. The Berlin Conference
European countries begin to scramble to make their claim on Africa.
A conference of European nations was held in Berlin with the sole purpose of dividing Africa and avoiding conflict among the competing European nations.
At this conference, they agreed that any European country could claim land in Africa by simply notifying the other nations of their claim. No natives attended this conference and the Africans were given no voice in the matter.

18. European Countries Respond
After Belgium declared its claim on the Congo, other European nations quickly began to claim other regions of Africa.

19. Creation of New Markets?
One of the colonial goals of Europe was that one the Europeans were firmly in control in Africa, the African people would want to begin buying European goods and opening up a whole new market.
This did not happen. The Africans had no interest in European goods.

20. Three Groups Clash Over South Africa
Africans, the Dutch and the British clash over control of South Africa.

21. Shaka- Zulu King
In 1816, Shaka a Zulu king had taken control over most of South Africa. He built a strong army and pushed many of the Europeans out of the region.
His successors however were not able to compete against the new European weapons brought into the region. The British eventually defeated the Zulus.

22. The Boers
The Boers were Dutch settlers who took over the native lands and established large farms.
When the British took over the Cape Colony area in the 1800s, the British and Boers clashed over the British policy regarding land and slaves.

23. The Great Trek
                                                                                                           
The Dutch farmers began to flee from the area of Cape Town to escape the oppression of the British. They soon found themselves up against the Zulu and other native groups.

24. The Boer War
When diamonds and gold were discovered in South Africa in the 1880s, people began coming to the area from all over the world.
The Boers feared that they would lose their political rights as the British would have to control the activity in South Africa.
The Boers started a rebellion against the British.

25. The First Modern War
The Boer war is significant in that it was the first war to employ the use of commando raids and guerilla tactics.
The British countered the Boer’s guerilla tactics by taking women and children as prisoners of war and placing them in filthy concentration camps.

26. The Brits Win
The British won the war in At this time the Boer republics were joined into a self-governing Union of South Africa, controlled by the British.
The establishment of these African colonies signaled a change in the way of life for the Africans. It would not be until the late 1950s that the Africans gained their independence.
Many African nations are still struggling to create a national identity.