HISTORY OF THE

AFRICAN

CONTINENT

THE “DARK” CONTINENT

• “Dark Continent” – racist terminology

referred to both the peoples of Africa and

their alleged ignorance

• In reality, Africa has always had diverse

groups of people with their own unique

cultures and histories

– Civilizations

– Languages

– Religions

GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA

• Continent – not a country

• Continent is three times larger than Europe

• Northern Africa – desert

• Mid-to-southern Africa – diverse

climates and topography

FOREIGN HISTORY IN AFRICA

• Greeks controlled Egypt after conquest by Alexander the Great – Ptolemaic dynasty

• Romans ruled all areas along the Mediterranean coastline, including northern Africa – Mediterranean – “Roman lake”

• West African Trading Kingdoms • Ghana (300 A.D. to 1100 A.D.)

• 7th century - Arab traders converted many Africans to Islam

• gold and salt trade

• Mali (1300 A.D. – 1400 A.D.) • expanded trade

• great leaders: Sundiata Kieta and Mansa Musa

• Songhai (1400s – 1500s)

• Timbuktu became a major center of trade

• great leader: Sunni Ali

The “OPENING UP” OF AFRICA

•Source of slaves for the

Americas from the 17th century

•But little foreign interest in the

interior of sub-Saharan Africa

•Mid-1800s: Missionaries &

explorers sparked foreign

interest in Africa

European Imperialism in Africa This is a map that

shows the colonial

division of Africa as of

1913. Note where

the concentration of

possessions for each

country are.

Video

Definitions

• A. Colonialism – the policy of taking a weaker nation’s land for

self gain.

• B. Imperialism – the domination of one nation over the political,

economic, or social affairs of another nation

• Reasons for the colonization of Africa- refueling ports, slave

trade, mineral and agricultural resources, strategic location

Early Contact - A Slow Start • Europeans had a slow start in colonizing Africa due to natural barriers

and lack of interest… until the slave trade and search for raw

materials drew them to the continent

• 1. (Glory) Explorers - The early explorers at first had little impact on Africans as they

used Africa ports largely for refueling for voyages to India and Asia. Eventually they began

expanding inland and IMPOSED many of their customs and beliefs. Some European communities

got along well with Africans and some clashed. As they began to expand inland and claim more

territory clashes became more frequent. Some Africans liked the modern technology brought by the

Europeans and some thought that it was evil.

• 2. (God) Missionaries – Christian missionaries sought to convert the Africans to

Christianity. Some accepted the new faith, many rejected it and resented the Europeans for not

respecting their gods. Missionaries brought education, modern agriculture, and health care along

with the Bible. Some missionaries were accepted into African society and some were killed for

trying to bring change.

• 3. (Gold) Slave trade and raw materials - The slave traders had a

terrible impact on African society and culture. By trapping and buying many Africans south of the

Sahara, they destroyed individuals, families, and tribes, creating hate of Europeans. The primary

slavery areas were; West Africa (along the coast), Central Africa (Congo River valley), and

southeast Africa (Zimbabwe). Raw materials were needed for European industries and factories –

these resources also drew imperialists to set up colonies.

The Slave Trade This is an etching of the slave trade

DAVID LIVINGSTONE (1813-1873)

• Scottish missionary

• 1841-1873 – lived in central Africa

– Explored Africa

• Named Lake Victoria after the British queen

– Converted many Africans to Christianity

– Wrote books on Africa which piqued foreign interest

• 1871 – reported “lost”

– “Found” by Henry Stanley

– “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

HENRY STANLEY (1841-1904)

• Welsh-American reporter

• “Found” Dr. Livingstone in Africa

– “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

• Explored Africa

– Congo River

– Lake Tanganyika

– Lake Victoria

• Worked with Belgium’s King Leopold II and his

African colonization company

– International African Society

KARL PETERS (1856-1918) • German explorer in Africa

• Organized and propagandized for Germany’s

colonial expansion

– Founded the Society for German Colonization

• Acquired German East Africa (modern-day

Tanzania)

• Convinced Otto von Bismarck to take over

German East Africa and increase Germany’s

colonies in Africa

CECIL RHODES (1853-1902) • British businessman and politician in

southern Africa

• Made a fortune from African diamond mines

• Established South African Company

– Land later became Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)

• Prime minister of Cape Colony (1890-1896)

– Wanted British control over South Africa

– Wanted Cape-to-Cairo Railroad

• Architect of British imperialism in southern

Africa

– Great Britain became leading colonial power in

southern Africa

KING LEOPOLD II OF BELGIUM

(1835-1909) • Took over land in central Africa

• Berlin Conference (1885)

– Leopold’s control over Congo Free State

recognized by major powers

• Belgian Congo (1908)

– Leopold criticized for the cruelty of his rule in

the Congo

– Leopold forced to sell Congo Free State to

Belgian government

– Renamed Belgian Congo

• Created European race for African

colonies – “Scramble for Africa”

– Diamonds, foodstuffs, gold, ivory, rubber

The Berlin Conference - 1885

• The purpose was to reduce the potential of war between European countries for rival claims to land in Africa. This race to claim land was started by King Leopold of Belgium who claimed Zaire.

• No Africans were invited

• Results:

• 1. Belgium’s right to the Congo Free State were recognized.

• 2. Free trade on the Congo and Niger rivers

• 3. No European country could claim any part of Africa without first setting up a government office there.

• 4. Europeans began to divide up Africa

• The entire continent was partitioned or divided up over the next 20 years with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia. Europeans began to exploit (take advantage of) Africa.

BRITISH IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

• 1815 – British took Cape Colony from the Dutch

– Boers moved north

• Transvaal

– 1886 – gold discovered and British moved in

– 1881 and 1895 – British attempted to take Transvaal from

the Boers

• Orange Free State

• Boer War (1899-1892)

– Dutch led by President Paul Kruger

– British won

UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA

• Created in 1910

• Included Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Natal,

and Transvaal

• Self-government

BRITISH COLONIES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

• Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

– Named for Cecil Rhodes

– North of Union of South Africa

• Bechuanaland (now Botswana)

– 1885 – became a British protectorate

• Kenya

– 1888 – became a British protectorate

BRITISH IN NOTH AFRICA

• Egypt – in name ruled by Ottoman

Turks, but largely independent

• European capital investments

–Suez Canal opened in 1869

• Built by the Egyptians and French

• Taken over by the British (1875)

– British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli

»Bought shares in Suez Canal Company from Egypt

• Egypt was nearly bankrupt from the expense of building the

Suez Canal

»British government became largest shareholder

EUROPEANS IN EGYPT

• 1870s – with the Egyptian government bankrupt,

the British and French took over financial control

of the country

– Egyptian monarchs (technically Ottoman viceroys)

ruled as puppet leaders

• 1882 – Egyptian nationalist rebellion

– France withdrew its troops

– Great Britain left in control of Egypt

• Lord Cromer introduced reforms

– De facto British protectorate

• Made official in 1914

• Independence came in 1922

BRITISH IN NORTHERN AFRICA

• Sudan

– Area south of Egypt

– Under Anglo-Egyptian control

– Cotton needed for British textile mills

– Entente Cordiale (1904)

• Great Britain controlled Sudan

• France controlled Morocco

• Cape-to-Cairo Railroad

– Idea of Cecil Rhodes

– Would secure Great Britain’s dominance in Africa

– Never completed – sections missing through modern

Sudan and Uganda

Cape-to-Cairo Railway: Crossing over Victoria Falls

FRENCH IN AFRICA

• Algeria

– 1830 – invasion

– 1831 – annexation

• Tunis

– 1881 – controlled by France

• Led Italy to join the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and

Germany during World War One

• Morocco

– 1881 – large part under French control

– 1905 and 1911 – nearly sparked a European war

between France and Germany

FRENCH IN AFRICA

• Madagascar

– 1896 – controlled by France

• Somaliland

– 1880s – partly under French control

• West Africa

– Late 1800s – largely under French control

• Sudan

– 1898 – met Britain’s area of control and nearly went to

war

– Entente Cordiale settled British-French disputes in Africa

FRENCH IN AFRICA

• By World War I – 1914

– France controlled 3,250,000 square miles in Africa

• 14 times the area of France

– France ruled 30,000,000 Africans

• 75% of the population of France

GERMANS IN AFRICA

• Togoland (now Togo and Ghana)

• Cameroons (now Cameroon and Nigeria)

• Southwest Africa (now Namibia)

• East Africa (now Burundi, Rwanda, and

Tanzania)

ITALIANS IN AFRICA

• 1882-1896

• Eritrea (along the Red Sea)

• Somaliland (along the Indian Ocean, part of today’s

Somalia)

• 1896

• Defeated in attempt to conquer Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

• 1912

• Won Tripoli from Ottoman Turks

BELGIANS IN AFRICA • 1908

– Belgium gained control of Congo (Congo Free State) from

King Leopold II

– Leopold was infamous for the cruelty of his rule in the Congo

• Congo Free State (today’s Democratic Republic of

Congo)

– 80 times the size of Belgium

– Source of uranium

PORTUGUESE IN AFRICA

• Under “old imperialism” Portugal gained African

territory and led the early trans-Atlantic African

slave trade

• Angola

• Mozambique

Portuguese territory in Africa, 1810

SPANISH IN AFRICA

• Spain had very

few possessions

in Africa

• Tip of Morocco

• Rio de Oro

• Rio Muni

AFRICANS IN AFRICA

• By the time of the First World War

(1914)

–Only 2 independent African countries

• Abyssinia (Ethiopia)

– Ruled by dynasty stretching back to at least the

13th century

– Last emperor was Haile Selassie, deposed in

1974

– Home to Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church

(strongly tied to Egyptian Coptic Church)

• Liberia

– Formed by freed slaves under auspices

(support) of the United States government

Famous Leaders of the Independence

Movement

• A. Menelik II - late 1800’s, independence from Italy for Ethiopia

• B. Kwame Nkrumah – gained independence for Ghana on the west coast of Africa from England. Pushed Pan-Africanism (all Africans working together)

• • C. Jomo Kenyatta – led the independence movement in Kenya from England. His

name means “burning spear”

• D. Julius Nyerre – led the independence movement from Germany for his country of Tanzania on the southeast African coast.

• • E. Leopold Sedar Senghor – Senegal's famous poet/politician who led the

Senegalese independence movement and inspired many African independence movements with his poems of freedom and African pride. Senegal attained it’s freedom from France as a result of his work.

• F. Mobutu Sese Sekou – Belgium suddenly gave the Congo it’s independence in 1963. This resulted in a long tribal Civil War broken up by U.N. troops. Joseph Mobutu, an army general took over and restored order and set up the first national government. (authoritarian and corrupt)

Problems of New African Nations

• A. Tribalism – continuing loyalty to tribes and prejudice against other tribes

• B. Poverty – massive unemployment or under employment

• C. Subsistence Agriculture – many tribes, villages, families, exist on what they produce

• D. Disease – epidemics of malaria, ebola virus, parasites, nutritional diseases, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, STD, and HIV/AIDS

• E. Hunger – vast numbers are hungry daily

Problems (cont.)

• F. Sanitary Conditions – lack of knowledge of the link between cleanliness and disease prevention

• G. Lack of Communication – with over 800 major language groups, intertribal communication remains a problem

• H. Lack of Educational Opportunities – rural villages and cities lack the educational resources to properly educate the young

• I. Desertification – the spread of the deserts

Video

Communication Problems

• These are the 6 major

language

classifications which is

further divided into

over 800 major

language groups (not

including dialects).

This hinders

communication.

Reflection

Which of these problems that

Africa is facing do you believe is

the most challenging? Why?