European Imperialism Essay

875 Words4 Pages
Andy Bartlett 11-19-06 DBQ Imperialism in Africa In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries European imperialism caused its countries to divide up the rest of the world, each country claiming bits as its own. Due to its large amounts of resources, Africa was one of the main areas in which European nations established colonies. Imperialism in Africa had both positive and negative results for not only the Africans in the colonies, but the European colonizers as well. Some positive effects on Africans were that they were provided with security by their ruler and new technology was brought to them. Some negative effects from them were the Africans loss of freedom, slavery, the loss of their land and natural resources to the colonizer, and a decrease in African nationalism. Some positive effects on Europeans were that they were able to make a profit from Africa’s natural resources and were able to further their financial gain because they did not have to pay the African workers. A negative effect for the Europeans was that European rulers often lost money in supporting their colonies. Imperialism in Africa had positive and negative consequences on both the Europeans and the Africans. European imperialism caused Africans to suffer many negative consequences. An effect of imperialism which was negative for the Africans was that they lost many freedoms. Africans were stripped of many rights such as freedom of speech, religion, and the right to live a full life (Doc. 3). Also, Africans lost the right to work for themselves and were forced by the Europeans to labor in mines or collect rubber and other plants from the jungle. If the Africans were unable to fulfill the demands of the European soldiers, they were punished severely; many had their hands or ears cut off and some were killed. Another negative effect was that many Africans were brought to the Americas to
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