Scramble for Africa DBQ Sample
3
Scramble for Africa DBQ During the Berlin Conference from 1884-1885 the European powers divided up the continent of Africa in order to avoid wars amongst the European powers. However, not a single African leader was invited to the Berlin Conference. The leaders of the native African kingdoms reacted to European imperialism by clearly expressing their opposition to the European officials, highlighting how strange and hypocritical European culture was, and implementing any means available to fight the Europeans. The African leaders elucidated that they would never give in to European imperialism. Prempeh I, an Ashanti leader, clearly stated that he would never allow Britain to conquer the Ashanti kingdom (Doc. 2). Prempeh I demonstrated an extreme amount of courage to stand up to one of the strongest European powers, but his unwillingness to submit to Britain was greater than his fear of defeat. Yaa Asantewa made a speech to the chiefs, telling them that they needed to muster their courage to fight the British soldiers (Doc. 6). She adamantly believed that the chiefs of West Africa should never give in despite the doubt and fear they might feel. Samuel Maherero, a leader of the Herero people, told another African leader that he needed to resist the Germans because they were ruthless (Doc. 7). He knew that the Germans could easily defeat him militarily, but he still deemed it important to resist German imperialists. Samuel Maherero’s opinion that the African leaders needed to resist the Europeans was influenced by his attempt to be obedient to the Germans, which failed, and his observance that the Germans would show no mercy to the Africans. The African leaders adamantly resisted the European conquests of Africa. The leaders of Africa tried to understand the culture of the Europeans, but they found it strange and often hypocritical. Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia, appealed to the great powers of Europe to have mercy on Ethiopia in sight of their common faith (Doc. 3). He believed that his appeal to their shared faith would cause the Europeans to rethink their actions, but Menelik II did not understand that the Europeans regarded material wealth as more important than their faith. Ndansi Kumalo described how the British treated the Africans like animals, and they had superior weapons (Doc. 4). Ndansi Kumalo and his people did not understand that the British had superior weapons, so they were defeated and bewildered by the horrendous treatment they received from the British. Mojimba, an African chief recounted a battle against the British and African mercenaries, and he described how the Europeans had rifles (Doc. 9). Mojimba believed that the Europeans were more evil than the Africans were, and he realized that the Europeans Farvour Jason 5/11/11 7:11 PM Farvour Jason 5/11/11 7:13 PM Comment: Somewhat weak main argument, but three great controlling ideas. Comment: Good POV statement that demonstrates where the authors’ opinion originated and how it is reflected in the document. DBQ author uses the POV in a timely fashion after they have already used the document (Doc. 7) as evidence within the paragraph.
Transcript of Scramble for Africa DBQ Sample
Scramble for Africa DBQ During the Berlin Conference from 1884-1885 the European powers divided up the
continent of Africa in order to avoid wars amongst the European powers. However, not a single
African leader was invited to the Berlin Conference. The leaders of the native African kingdoms
reacted to European imperialism by clearly expressing their opposition to the European
officials, highlighting how strange and hypocritical European culture was, and implementing
any means available to fight the Europeans.
The African leaders elucidated that they would never give in to European imperialism.
Prempeh I, an Ashanti leader, clearly stated that he would never allow Britain to conquer the
Ashanti kingdom (Doc. 2). Prempeh I demonstrated an extreme amount of courage to stand up
to one of the strongest European powers, but his unwillingness to submit to Britain was greater
than his fear of defeat. Yaa Asantewa made a speech to the chiefs, telling them that they needed
to muster their courage to fight the British soldiers (Doc. 6). She adamantly believed that the
chiefs of West Africa should never give in despite the doubt and fear they might feel. Samuel
Maherero, a leader of the Herero people, told another African leader that he needed to resist the
Germans because they were ruthless (Doc. 7). He knew that the Germans could easily defeat
him militarily, but he still deemed it important to resist German imperialists. Samuel Maherero’s
opinion that the African leaders needed to resist the Europeans was influenced by his attempt to
be obedient to the Germans, which failed, and his observance that the Germans would show no
mercy to the Africans. The African leaders adamantly resisted the European conquests of Africa.
The leaders of Africa tried to understand the culture of the Europeans, but they found it
strange and often hypocritical. Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia, appealed to the great powers of
Europe to have mercy on Ethiopia in sight of their common faith (Doc. 3). He believed that his
appeal to their shared faith would cause the Europeans to rethink their actions, but Menelik II did
not understand that the Europeans regarded material wealth as more important than their faith.
Ndansi Kumalo described how the British treated the Africans like animals, and they had
superior weapons (Doc. 4). Ndansi Kumalo and his people did not understand that the British
had superior weapons, so they were defeated and bewildered by the horrendous treatment they
received from the British. Mojimba, an African chief recounted a battle against the British and
African mercenaries, and he described how the Europeans had rifles (Doc. 9). Mojimba believed
that the Europeans were more evil than the Africans were, and he realized that the Europeans
Farvour Jason ! 5/11/11 7:11 PM
Farvour Jason ! 5/11/11 7:13 PM
Comment: Somewhat weak main argument, but three great controlling ideas.
Comment: Good POV statement that demonstrates where the authors’ opinion originated and how it is reflected in the document. DBQ author uses the POV in a timely fashion after they have already used the document (Doc. 7) as evidence within the paragraph.
were hypocritical in the Christian faith with their malevolent actions. Menelik II’s option that
the European powers would not attack his country because they shared the same faith was
influenced by his faith as a fellow Christian and his understanding of Christianity that Christian
powers should be friendly toward one another. The African leaders had a difficult time
understanding the European culture and religion.
The African leaders were ready to do whatever it took to fight the Europeans. They
Royal Niger Company created a standard form to be signed by multiple African leaders that
would cede all of their countries and people to the Royal Niger Company (Doc. 1). The form
must have enraged the rulers that the Europeans would not even treat the African rulers as
individuals, and this must have caused them to call together all their resources to fight the
Europeans. The Ethiopian painting illustrated how the Ethiopians had plenty of guns and men to
fight against the Italians (Doc. 5). This illustrates how the Ethiopians understood the threat of
war and prepared themselves with the guns and army that they needed to fight the Europeans.
The German military officer described how the chiefs made up a story to tell their people in
order to embolden them to fight against the Europeans (Doc. 8). The native Ethiopian painter’s
opinion that the war was a great national success was influenced by his ethnicity as an Ethiopian
and his strong national pride of defeating the Europeans. This illustrated how the African leaders
took any means necessary to fight against the Europeans.
To improve the understanding of African reactions and responses to the Scramble for
Africa, additional documents would be helpful. A diary entry of another educated member in an
African kingdom that described the treatment of Africans once they were conquered would give
greater insight into the treatment of the Africans both before and after conquest. A government
letter from a British army official to another British army official would have demonstrated how
the Europeans felt about conquering the Africans and further explained military motivations for
the Scramble. The African leaders reacted to European imperialism of Africa by strongly
resisting the expansion of Europeans, expressing confusion at European culture and using
whatever means necessary to fight the Europeans.
SCORE: 9/9
Farvour Jason ! 5/11/11 7:16 PM
Farvour Jason ! 5/11/11 7:18 PM
Farvour Jason ! 5/11/11 7:19 PM
Comment: Again, a good POV. DBQ author fully explains why the tone of dismay or disbelief in the document (Doc. 4) would have shown itself once the document author was shocked that a fellow Christian treated the Ethiopians so poorly.
Comment: Again, the pride demonstrated in a positive tone within the painted document is addressed as to its origin and influence on the content of the painting. This is a great POV for showing how to address POV in documents that are not written. POV assessment also relates back to body paragraph topic extremely well.
Comment: Both document requests explain WHY the type of author is needed, clearly state a specific type of document needed that makes sense for the type of author selected, and also explain WHY the content is needed.
Author did everything right, correctly, and answered all of the prompt. Used documents
persuasively as evidence. Excellent work.
