Colonization and Independence

​Colonization and Independence

​Objectives/Goals

Vocabulary

1. Identify factors driving European colonization of Africa 

2. Describe the effects of colonization on African societies 

3. Describe the problems caused by colonial borders in Africa

• Adversarial Relations

• Indirect Rule

• Legacy

• Pan-Africanism

• Scramble for Africa

​Essential Questions: How did European colonialism affect Africa?

Open Ended

Where in the World is Comet?

(name, city and location)

Clue 1: This country earned its independence from the British in 1957.

Clue 2: This country's name means "Warrior King".

Clue 3: This city's oroginal name was Anomansah.

Clue 4: This location location was orginally called Sao Jorge da Mina (St. George of the Mine).

Clue 5: This location is a UNESCO World Heritage site and currently functions as a museum honoring the memory of the slave trade.

Where is Comet?

Word Cloud

What are some ways that people in America observe Independence Day (July 4th)?

​Sub-Saharan African Independence Days

• Independence Day: a day of national pride when many nations in Sub-Saharan Africa celebrate their independence from British rule. 

  • September 30, 1966: Botswana Independence Day

    • 55 African colonies gain independence between 1960 to 1980

​Language Analysis

• The Job of a Geographer and the Study of Language

  • How are languages similar?

  • How are languages different?

• Parent Language: the main language from which other languages come from

• Language Families: Languages that come from the same language and have a lot in common

• Physical Geography creates barriers to the spread of languages

  • Water, Mountains, Deserts

• Ethno-linguistic Groups refer to how language is often a part of the ethnicity of a group

  • Ethnicity: a way to describe a group of people who share a common culture, language, and ancestry

    • Many different ethnic groups and language groups live within Africa. 

    • Countries can have more than one ethnic and language group within their borders.

​European Colonization of Africa

• Why did Europeans colonize Africa?

  • The Industrial Revolution and Africa's rich natural resources

    • Gold, Salt, Minerals, Rubber, Copper, Palm Oil, Ivory, cotton, diamonds, etc.

  • Portugal: the first European country to begin exploring Sub-Saharan Africa. 

    • Began as Trading Posts

  • European Countries take control

    • political and economic

    • Strong Militaries

    • Malaria slowed Europe

      • Remedy Quinine

    • Racism - more civilized, superior

  • Some African groups resisted

    • Kinjikitile fought the Germans

    • Samori Ture fought the British and French

      • He lost and burned his city and fled to the interior

​The Scramble for Africa

• 1800s and early 1900s: European countries competed to gain power in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Berlin Confrence - Berlin, Germany (1884)

  • 13 European Countries met and discussed European claims on African countries

  • European Countries divided up Africa and each country took control of those lands

    • No Africans were present

    • European Countries drew new borders

    • Divided African communities and families

    • Combined African groups that were enemies

    • Combined African groups with different languages and ethnicities

    • Forced African groups to compete for resources

Open Ended

Political Cartoons: designed to communicate a political or social message about current events.

What is the message of this policital cartoon?

​Ethiopia and Liberia

• Ethiopia

  • Menelik II: leader of Ethiopia during the Berlin Conference

  • Signed a treaty with Italy that set borders between Ethiopia and Italian-controlled Eritrea

  • Italy did not keep the treaty deal

  • Battle of Adwa: the start of the Italo-Ethiopian War

  • Menelik II was able to keep Ethiopia independent

• Liberia

  • Founded by formerly enslaved people from the Americas

​Colonization in Africa

• Belgium

  • King Leopold ruled the Congo Region

  • Very Harsh and Violent rule

  • Africans were beaten or killed if they did not meet the rubber quota

• France

  • Ruled West Africa

  • Africans were considered Subjects but had no political rights

• Germany

  • Ruled Central and South Africa

  • Adversarial Relations: a relationship between groups of people that is often full of disagreements and conflicts

  • Lost the colonies at the end of World War 1

• Britain

  • Indirect Rule: a system where one nation’s government rules over another nation by giving certain political rights to the people; often allowing local rulers to remain in place.

​African Independence

• Pan-Africanism: a movement in the 1900s that called for unity among African people and a push for independence from European countries

  • Expensive for Europe - Debt from Wars

  • Political Independence began

  • Economic Independence began

• "Year of Africa" - (1960) 17 different African countries gained independence

  • Senegal and Mali: peaceful transition of power; Africans already had leadership in the French government

  • Kenya: gained independence through war

​Legacy of Colonialism

• Legacy: long-lasting impact of ethnic tensions, government issues, and troubled economies

  • Borders: Many African country borders remained the same as European colonizers

  • Ethnic Tensions: Ethnic groups struggle to work together

  • Government: military coups and corruption

  • Languages: Colonizer language was forced to be spoken; loss of traditional languages

  • Economies: stollen resources, destruction of resources, no infrastructure