Destiny Ponzo / History 1023 / April 5th 2017
Primary Source Essay #2 / Chapter 18: The Scramble for Africa
The three sources I viewed in chapter eighteen have a similar perspective when looking towards the Scramble for Africa: Europeans simply wanted absolute control and power over African men. Source 18.1 focuses more on the need for control in order to move freely around the continent. In this perspective, the Europeans wanted access to the Indian Ocean trade on the opposite side of Africa. The second image is again similar to the first, however the focus is on European control through technologies and innovation. Rhodes stands across a vast and empty Africa, one foot in Cape Town and the other in Cairo, with a telegraph and rifle in …show more content…
This source depicts Africa as a small continent with no major cities, buildings or monuments but rather only small villages and huts, with animals and nature surrounding them. However this was not accurate, especially during the 1880’s when the ‘Scramble for Africa’ took place. The same situation previously occurred when the Europeans had taken over the Americas. To justify stealing the land, they had to show it as though it were empty and belonging to no one. What Europeans witnessed in the African continent was a civilization completely different from their own, and could not compare to the major cities of their own countries; thus they assumed this new civilization knew and understood less than they did and therefore deserved to be ruled …show more content…
An incident in 1906 is one example of how the British were disrespectful and destructive to the counties they were in control over. In an incident in 1906, British soldiers had begun shooting pigeons and local villagers simply for recreation, created a cause for argument between the villagers of Denshway and the soldiers, and finally ended with the death of a soldier. This was an outrage among the British authorities and resulted further in the humiliation and hanged death for dozens of African people. There are symbols in the source telling this story: pigeons faded into the background, the British soldier standing on a pile on bones with a whip in his hand, and finally there is one of the villagers hanging behind him in the
Primary Source Essay #2 / Chapter 18: The Scramble for Africa
The three sources I viewed in chapter eighteen have a similar perspective when looking towards the Scramble for Africa: Europeans simply wanted absolute control and power over African men. Source 18.1 focuses more on the need for control in order to move freely around the continent. In this perspective, the Europeans wanted access to the Indian Ocean trade on the opposite side of Africa. The second image is again similar to the first, however the focus is on European control through technologies and innovation. Rhodes stands across a vast and empty Africa, one foot in Cape Town and the other in Cairo, with a telegraph and rifle in …show more content…
This source depicts Africa as a small continent with no major cities, buildings or monuments but rather only small villages and huts, with animals and nature surrounding them. However this was not accurate, especially during the 1880’s when the ‘Scramble for Africa’ took place. The same situation previously occurred when the Europeans had taken over the Americas. To justify stealing the land, they had to show it as though it were empty and belonging to no one. What Europeans witnessed in the African continent was a civilization completely different from their own, and could not compare to the major cities of their own countries; thus they assumed this new civilization knew and understood less than they did and therefore deserved to be ruled …show more content…
An incident in 1906 is one example of how the British were disrespectful and destructive to the counties they were in control over. In an incident in 1906, British soldiers had begun shooting pigeons and local villagers simply for recreation, created a cause for argument between the villagers of Denshway and the soldiers, and finally ended with the death of a soldier. This was an outrage among the British authorities and resulted further in the humiliation and hanged death for dozens of African people. There are symbols in the source telling this story: pigeons faded into the background, the British soldier standing on a pile on bones with a whip in his hand, and finally there is one of the villagers hanging behind him in the