25.2

 European nations explored Africa in the late 1800s and learned that:  It is about four times the size of Europe  It was very diverse and included many different cultures and languages

 North Africa  In the 1400s, North Africa was mainly ruled by Ottomans.  By the 1800s, the Ottomans were losing control of Northern Africa.  West Africa  Islamic reform- Muslim leaders tried to revive Islam  Several new Muslim states arose.  East Africa  Also influenced by Islam  Shipped slaves to the middle east via trade ships  Southern Africa  Shaka united the Zulu

 European nations began outlawing slavery in the early 1800s.  British freed some slaves and some U.S. slaves settled in Liberia.  Liberia became an independent nation.

 Mungo Park and Richard Burton were interested in the geography of Africa such as the Niger, Niger, and Congo rivers.

 Catholic and Protestant missionaries all tried very hard to spread Christianity throughout Africa.  They sincerely wanted to help the African people, and built schools and medical clinics as well as churches.

 Berlin Conference  In 1884, European powers met at a conference in Berlin, Germany to discuss Africa.  They called for free trade on the Congo and Niger rivers.  Agreed that if there was not a government office present in Africa, that country could not control the area.  After 20 years, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained independent.

 Wealthy Belgians exploited the Congo’s resources.  Horrifying stories about the terrible treatment of workers there soon left the region.  Because of this outrage, the Congo was turned over to the Belgian government in 1908.

 France took a large part of Africa in the early 1800s, which at one point was larger than the U.S’s hold on Africa.  Britain had more heavily populated areas, but it’s claims were smaller and more spread out.

 The discovery of gold and diamonds in the Boer republics began the Boer war in the late 1800s.  The war lasted from 1899 to 1902, and eventually the British won.  British united Cape Colony and former Boer republics into the Union of South Africa.  Racial segregation remained until 1993.

 Nehanda of the Shona in Zimbabwe was a woman who became an African military leader and inspired others to fight for their own freedom.  Maji-Maji rebellion. The Germans only won in the end by using a scorched earth policy and leaving the local people to starve.  Ethiopia however, successfully resisted by being well prepared for Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1896.

 In the end, some Africans rejected their own culture and traded it for western ways.  Other Africans stuck to their own African traditions.  In the early 1900s, African leaders were attempting to gain independence for Africa.