New Imperialism In Africa

Colonialization of European countries into African territory is known as “new imperialism.” This period lasted roughly from the late 1800s into the early 1900s. During this time, countries such as France, Portugal, Britain, and Germany wanted to “civilize Africa” because they felt they were culturally inferior. This mindset of inferiority led to not only Africa fighting for independence, but also advocates for colonial expansion in Africa. For the sake of this assignment, I will be discussing six different advocates, whom in the primary sources explain their views towards colonialism in their native countries. The first is Friedrich Fabri in “Bedarf Deutschland der Kolonien?” from 1879. Just by his name and the title, I caught on that this …show more content…
John G. Paton wrote a letter in 1890 to James Service on his 9 reasons why the British government should support colonial expansion. “The reasons are: prior possession of Fiji, New Hebrides wanting protection, islands wit rich soil and missionaries, British support and dependency, labor traffic, or for the fact to call it their property.” Paton prays for this to be given to Queen Victoria and the government so Great Britain can take possession of this property. Birmingham’s approach was lengthier compared to the previous. Joseph Chamberlain gave a speech to the West Birmingham Relief Association on January 22, 1894. He starts off by saying, “We must look this matter in the face.” In this, he approves “the continued occupation of Egypt.” Doing so will expand the influence and is for the greater good of Africa. This appealed to the people of Birmingham because it was a speech, which is more intimate and personable. France’s arguments for colonization were given in an appeal by Jules Ferry to the country for building the 2nd Colonial Empire in 1890. Ferry claims that this is just a step in the right direction because “colonial policy is the child of the Industrial Revolution.” In order to move on with the next stages of development, it is crucial to know what belongs to who and enforcing tariffs based off that information for manufactured goods. Like Birmingham’s methods to have their country follow, it is the best for the …show more content…
I think the principle justification for colonization was this idea I mentioned earlier, “the greater good.” European countries felt that Africa needed their help and could not have made it without their influence. I disagree with that belief, because what I have gathered in my reading from Khapoya, Davidson, and Achebe is that European expansion affected the development of Africa. They did not give the continent much of a chance before they stomped in and called it their