An Advantages And Disadvantages Of The Scramble For Africa

Firstly, the scramble for Africa was the invasion and imperialistic takeover of the African continent by European countries in the nineteenth century. In the past, in the eighteenth century, trading of slaves was the main source of profit for the Europeans, but “political instability, lack of transportation, and the unhealthy climate”1 all created disadvantages for the Europeans to move further into the African continent. In the nineteenth century, many things changed. The scramble for Africa was a fairly quick process, the scramble started in the mid-1800s and by the early 1900s pretty much all of Africa had been colonized by Europe, or was currently colonized by Europe. As European countries became more industrialized, and the need for products …show more content…
The scramble for Africa and colonization of African nations caused increased abuse towards native Africans, Africans were stripped of their precious natural resources, African governments became based off of the government of the European country that colonized them, and new technologies from Europe were introduced to native Africans, as well as, new languages and cultural norms. Africans in some colonies were treated harshly. For example, in Portugal, even though native Portuguese people tended to not like Africans, Portuguese men raped African women and had biracial children with them. Even though these children were equally dependent on both their father and mother, the fathers usually never claimed or cared for their biracial children, “[there] was much abuse in this system.”9 Africans in some colonized territories although “free” since they were in their own homes and own country, were still enslaved in the sense that, they had to obey the leaders of the European country that was colonizing them, as well as, follow their rules and laws. In some areas, Africans were even forced into labor. While some European countries like the British treated Africans a bit better than their counterparts, it wasn’t all peachy keen. Another thing the scramble for Africa caused was that it stripped the natives of their countries natural resources. Local native Africans who …show more content…
Every European country that was a part of the scramble for Africa, had a different approach to how they would govern their new region. There were many effects that resulted from the scramble for Africa, some positive, some negative. As industrialization became a greater and greater force in Europe, the Europeans needed more products to create jobs and such to balance out the effects of industrialization. The Europeans wanted to pursue imperialist maneuvers to expand their economic presence in Africa, as well as, appear as a powerful nation to their other European counterparts. The Europeans also wanted to extend their Westernized ideas to the continent of Africa, this led to amplified human rights abuses against Africans, confiscation of valuable African natural resources, the adaptation of Westernized political ideals in African governments, the use of new technologies to make and harvest new products, as well as, the creation of new languages and cultural behaviors within imperialized African