1. The Partition of Africa
25.2
The Partition of Africa
Racheal Treadway

2. Africa in the 1800s Africa was still a mysterious place
Europeans knew the coastline because of their trading posts, but interior was a mystery
Very culturally diverse
Many different tribes and cities with different beliefs
Different regions of Africa ruled by different people/empires

3. Explorers & Missionaries
People begin expeditions into Africa
Europeans were not able to explore the interior of Africa before the 1800s
Geography & diseases like malaria made it too difficult
New technologies developed (steamships, medical advances) that would change all this.
Fascinated with the geography and adventure Africa presented

4. Explorers & Missionaries
Missionaries followed after the explorers
Built schools, hospitals, and churches
Also concerned about slave trade
Wanted to guide Africans to salvation
Pushed for westernization
Encouraged rejection of their traditions

5. Dr. David Livingstone Missionary/Explorer
More sympathetic towards the African people in his writings than most other Europeans
Thought the interior of Africa should be opened to trade and to Christianity.
Blazed trails that other explorers followed
Journalist Henry Stanley spent 2 years looking for him.
“Dr. Livingston, I presume?”
Spent 30 years exploring Africa and its people

6. The Scramble Begins
King Leopold II hires Stanley to explore Congo River.
Wants to control for profit
Other countries soon follow after
Hold a conference in Berlin in 1884 to avoid wars
Leopold could have Congo Free State, but there should be free trade along Congo and Nile
European powers must have a government office in place before they could claim a territory
No Africans were present
People rushed in to get their share of Africa
Meanwhile Leopold took the riches of the Congo & treated the people savagely
Belgian government eventually steps in & takes control of it

7. Dividing the Continent
France takes large areas of Africa, but loses many soldiers
Britain content with taking smaller areas rich in resources
Boer War
Boers=Dutch farmers pushed inland by British
Gold & diamonds discovered in their republics
British fight bitterly for it from
End up combining it with other colonies to form Union of South Aftica

8. Resistance to Foreign Powers
All of the European Powers faced resistance from native people
Algerians fought the French
British faced the Zulus and the Astantes
Maji-Maji Rebellion of 1905 caused the Germans to resort to starving locals
Ethiopia & Liberia stay free
Menelik II adopted western ways and was prepared for invasions.
Later in the 1900s nationalist movements would pose more threats