African Historical Understandings SS7H1 The student will analyze continuity and change in Africa leading to the 21st century. a. Explain how the European partitioning across Africa contributed to conflict, civil war, and artificial political boundaries.

Europeans first became interested in Africa for trade routes. Europeans wanted to bypass taxes of other empires, like the Arabs and Ottomans. Sailing around Africa was an excellent solution, but it couldn’t be done without stops. Trade ports in Southern and Eastern Africa were created so European traders could restock on food and water before the long voyage across the Indian Ocean.

Europeans also became interested in Africa through their interest in the slave trade.

From 1518 to 1850 around 11 million slaves were shipped from Africa to the Western Hemisphere, of these 500,000 or 5% were imported into areas that are now North America.

Many Europeans also wanted to protect trade and transportation routes. Imperialism is a system were a strong country takes wealth and raw materials from another. Raw materials, like rubber, timber, diamonds, and gold were found in Africa. Europeans eventually decided to found colonies in Africa to exploit and export these resources Many Europeans also wanted to protect trade and transportation routes.

Berlin Conference 1885-1886 the European Nations divided Africa amongst themselves and drew lines that stayed until 1914. This is often referred to as the “Scrabble for Africa” Remember Europeans wanted to protect their trade routes and have access to the natural resources in Africa. Great Britain won the most land in Africa and was “given” Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, and South Africa after defeating the Dutch Settlers and Zulu Nation.

Berlin Conference and Imperialism Europeans had difficulty penetrating the interior of Africa, because of disease and relied on assistance from Tribal leaders. In order to establish their “indirect rule” Europeans used local chiefs as their enforcers in the colonies. Europeans also tried to assimilate Africans or have African people give up their own African customs and adopt European customs.

Before WWI Europeans had colonized many parts of the world

After WWII, and especially during the Cold War and Civil Rights movement African Nations began to demand their independence. 1950-1960  27 African Countries became independent. 1960-1975  all 47 African Nations liberated. Do you remember the difficulty the founding fathers of the USA had? Image how difficult it was to start new countries with old colonial boundaries and tension.

African Nations still face numerous problems. One of the most serious is that Europeans split tribes, kinship groups, and ethnic groups when they partitioned Africa. When African nations finally gained independence most often former colonial boundaries remained. People in Africa speak many languages and practice many customs and religions which make forming governments difficult. There have been about 50 Ethnic Conflicts in Africa since WWII as a result of the colonial lines drawn by Europeans.

Government corruption remains a powerful issue in Africa. Many who attained power or keep power do it through undemocratic means, like bribery and intimidation. Poor government structures and tribal and religious distrust remain from colonial days. Most of these problems cannot be solved overnight and after 40-70 years many countries are still poor, despite their many natural resources. http://pslarson2.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/conflictmapnoriver.jpeg

European Interest in Africa 3. Imperialism: Natural Resources-like timber, gold, diamonds, and rubber Colonies with Artificial Political Boundaries are formed with many different Ethnic and religious groups 2. Access to the Slave Trade 1. Trade Routes: Easy access to Asia-India and China Independence and Nationalist Movements result in decolonization Ethnic Conflicts continue to this day Most people do not see the abundant resources that their countries have Corrupt Governments are common