Independence and its challenges for Africa · 2019. 10. 3. · fight for independence: 3. African...
Transcript of Independence and its challenges for Africa · 2019. 10. 3. · fight for independence: 3. African...
Independence and its
challenges for Africa
What are common challenges for
African countries?
• When the Age of Imperialism ended and
the European nations began returning
power to the African countries many
challenges faced the new nations.
Turn to your neighbor…
• How does this
political cartoon
show the impact
of imperialism on
Africa?
Turn to your neighbor…
• This cartoon shows
Cecil Rhodes who
wanted to create a
railroad to connect
from Cape Town,
South Africa to
Cairo, Egypt to
connect all of the
British colonies in
Africa.
Factors that led to the
fight for independence:
1.Nationalism - feeling of pride in one’s homeland
2.Pan - African - movement that stressed unity and cooperation among all Africans. Slogan was “Africa” for “Africans”. Tried to unify all ethnic groups to work together to overcome colonization, by putting aside old conflicts and working as one group.
Factors that led to the
fight for independence:
3. African countries demanded independence after they assisted Europeans during the fighting of World War II. They had supplied the Europeans with supplies and allowed the use of airfields.
4. Having colonies was increasing seen as a negative way of ruling. WWII was fought to protect countries’ right to freedom and democracy, became increasingly difficult for the European countries to justify why colonies did not have these as well.
When did most African countries
gain independence?
When did most African countries
gain independence?
In 1960
Or between
1950-1964
• Some countries gained independence
peacefully; others had to fight for
independence. Some used the method of
boycott, when one refuses to buy or use
certain products or services. The new
countries struggled to maintain stable
governments and to deal with issues that
have faced them.
Look at the pictures…
What conclusions might you draw
about subsistence farmers?
Subsistence farming:
little use of technology
small groups of individuals working to grow crops
very limited use of fertilizers
Issues facing African governments:
• European colonies did not develop factories in Africa. Europeans took natural resources from Africa to supply their factories. Most economies in Africa are based on farming and mining. The majority of people in Africa are farmers. Most farmers are subsistence farmers – they grow enough food to take care of their families. Commercial farming is the large scale production of cash crops such as coffee, cocoa, and bananas. About 75% of the economies of Africa are specialized which means they depend on 1 or 2 products. Since they are not diversified they are very sensitive to price changes. Senegal has tried to diversify their economy and not depend on the sale of peanuts, which were 80% of their income in 1960 but only 25% today.
Issues facing African governments:
• African nations are working to improve their
literacy rates. Literacy is the ability to read and
write. African nations on working on improving
their life expectancy, which is how long an
average person will live. African nations are
also dealing with the issues of desertification
(the increase of deserts) and deforestation,
which is the removal of trees to increase
available farmland. This can lead to soil erosion
and then an additional increase in deserts.
4 Journeys to independence
• Nigeria
– British colony
– Independence in 1960
– Severe internal conflicts within and among
regions (civil wars)
– Military coups occurred that changed
leadership of country
– Petroleum industry has helped but still Nigeria
has high unemployment and inflation rates
4 Journeys to independence
• Kenya
– British colony
– Declared independent in 1963
– Jomo Kenyatta – government was a republic
and Kenyatta was president
– 1st decade – multiple conflicts with ethnic
groups, economic growth and diversification,
limits on foreign government
4 Journeys to independence
• Ghana
• British colony
• Gained independence in 1957
• Kwame Nkrumah – first leader but was
overthrown by coup -
• J.J. Rawlings – used funding from World
Bank to help improve the economy
4 Journeys to independence
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Was ruled first by King Leopold then by the government of Belgium
• Has struggled since independence was gained in 1960
• Multiple conflicts with ethnic groups and with groups coming in from other bordering countries has caused continuing problems for country
Summarizing Acrostic
• Write the word INDEPENDENCE on your
paper as an acrostic poem
• Record a fact about African Independence
movements for each letter from your notes