In the Caribbean and South America the slaves died often and did not reproduce, but in North America the slaves survived longer and were growing in numbers. Demographic Patterns: 1. The trans-Saharan slave trade concentrated on women being used as concubines, but the Atlantic slave trade concentrated on men. 2. The slave trade impacted Africa’s population, turning it into half of what it was expected to be in 1850.
In chapter 17, Prelude to the European conquest of Africa, British abolitionists create a colony called Freetown were freed African slaves settled. It was a safe haven for freed slaves. This was sort of a shift from what Europeans originally used Africa for, which was the trading of slaves and gold. Everything Europeans needed was accessible on the Western coast of Africa, resulting in the interior to rarely be ventured. One man who argued that slavery was inefficient was Scottish philosopher Adam Smith.
The Rise of Colonialism in Africa Between 1870 and 1900, Europe set out to colonize Africa for their raw materials. Africa was up against invasions of Europe's military and diplomatic pressures. This did not happen without a fight, and Africans were not happy about this attempt to be colonized. With the exception of Ethiopia and Liveria, Africa had been colonized by Europe by the early twentieth century. Europe wanted to set up and colonize in Africa, mainly because of Africa's raw materials it was purely economic.
Sub-Saharan Africa had much longer exposure to Islamic culture influences than to European cultural influences. Scholars and merchants learned to use the Arabic language to communicate with visiting North Africans and to read the Quran. Islamic beliefs and practices as well as Islamic legal and administrative systems were prominent in African trading cities on the southern edge of the Saharan and on the Swahili coast. During the three and a half centuries of contact between Europe and Africa before 1800, Africans yielded minimal territory to Europeans. Local African kings scrutinized the European trading posts that they permitted along the Gold and Slave Coasts and collected profitable rents and fees from these traders and merchants.
To what extend was the colonisation and decolonisation of Britain’s Africa driven by individuals within Africa? Before the 1870’s Africa was largely unknown to the outside world but, in the 1880’s the scramble of Africa began, where European counties, especially Britain all wanted to colonise Africa. Was the whole reason for British colonising Africa economically or strategically driven or was it led by individuals in Africa (men on the spot) or was it more of a top down process led by the government in Britain? And even though Britain fought so hard to control large parts of Africa it is clear that after World II Britain’s empire was declining especially after India gain independence in 1947. However, the British did try to revive their African empire in the late 40’s and early 50’s but their sudden fall into a steep imperial decline with the Suez crises saw individuals like Macmillan to acknowledge that decolonisation was the only way forward, as it would be more beneficial for Britain to decolonise than to resist the rise of nationalism.
“American factories are making more than American people can use… We will establish trading posts throughout the world as points for American products” (excerpt by Senator A. J. Beveridge) once the Americans have a high position in the trading business they try to establish trading posts and become the major importer of goods world wide. In the regions of Africa there was a large amount of a variety of materials, ranging from iron, rubber, and tin. These vital products led to advancements in the industrialization of Europe. Iron was used to make steel which was a stronger and lighter metal; this increasingly helped the improvement of machinery. In New Imperialism the seeking for more raw materials wasn’t their main goal, the Europeans wanted to sell their products Asian foreigners.
Dr. Ivan Van Sertima speaks of Christopher Columbus’ diary, which spoke of his many voyages and discoveries. After his second voyage, the Portuguese informed Columbus of Africans in large boats with merchandise sailing west of the Cape Verde islands. The Portuguese were aware of African navigation because they had been in Africa since 1415. Not only did the Portuguese tell Columbus of Africans but Natives in the Olmec civilization spoke of Africans as well. The Olmec civilization, was the first civilization established in the Americas.
How far do you agree that changing attitudes to Empire within Britain explain both expansion and the dismantling of British imperial power in Africa? The British Empire began to expand into Africa in 1880 and by 1913 the empire had control over 458 million people and 25% of the world's land. However by 1981 the British Empire had come to an end after it could no longer afford the maintenance of such a big Empire. British involvement in Africa was a period that saw many changes, some economic, some international and political changes, which in turn led to many adjustments in Africa itself. In turn these changes affected attitudes of the British government and public opinion and undoubtedly influenced key decisions about both expansion and dismantlement in Africa.
African exports consisted primarily of gold, ivory, and pepper. However, over 175,000 slaves were also taken to Europe and the Americas during this period. In 1600, with the involvement of the Dutch and English, the magnitude of the slave trade grew exponentially. From the time of their arrival on the shores of Sierra Leone in 1460, and until their gradual decline as leaders in world exploration in the sixteenth century, the Portuguese had an ambiguous relationship with their African trading partners. Disembarking at cities that were equally large, complex, and technologically advanced as Lisbon at the time, the Portuguese actually experienced far less culture shock than we might
After witnessing two thriving centers of capitalism, Nkrumah returned home with hopes of turning his homeland around. One thing that was occurring in Africa and not the United States was a process known as “balkanization”. The United States were strong because they realized that even a confederacy was not adequate to maintain a successful capitalist state. Africa was continually being exploited due to the many isolated governments that could be swayed by powerful foreign investors. One of the examples Nkrumah used was cocoa production.