European Colonialism in Africa

European Colonialism in Africa

Introduction

The colonization of Africa was an important issue in the colonial period and was at the center of the rivalry between the great colonial empires. More than anywhere else, these empires expressed a desire to civilize the African continent and to help develop commercial institutions. This colonization of Africa by Europe affected the people and the place at greater extent due to which they decentralized and faced hardships for decades.

Discussion

Pre-colonial Africa

From the 15th century, the continent was explored by Europeans: the Portuguese are created trading posts along the Gulf of Guinea. European colonization of Africa has not started immediately. In fact, throughout the first half of the 16th century, Europeans practice slave trade, they sent to the various American colonies. This treatment adds to that practiced by the Muslim Empire. Estimated the slave trades have taken 20 million people in the continent, which may explain the economic and demographic stagnation in Africa (Masanjala, 2006). The 17th century marked the emergence of some organized and prosperous states such as Dahomey (now Benin). These kingdoms, more prosperous, developed until the 19th century, whose toucouleur Empire.

Africa was populated by several different groups: tribes, anarchic societies organized states, etc. Among the largest African peoples, there was the Songhai Empire, founded by the Berber people. Based on the propagation of the Muslim faith, the empire covered an area that included Mali, Niger and parts of Nigeria. It was destroyed in 1591. The Bantu people also conquered part of Africa, in the Congo region (Masanjala, 2006). From the 14th century, the Kingdom of Congo was surrounded by other Bantu states. This civilization was quite advanced and consisted of sedentary farmers. Toucouleurs also formed an empire, always in the region of Mali. The founder of the empire was returning from a religious journey to Mecca. He began a war of religious conquest, to the east. To the west, the toucouleur Empire clashed with French armies (Huillery, 2010). Guided also by the Islamic faith, the Samori Empire tried to resist ardently against European colonization.

Northern Africa was isolated from the rest of the continent first by the gradual drying of the Sahara. This isolation was amplified by a succession of empires in this region: the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Turks. The Arab presence helped early enough to change the face of Africa by organizing, from the 8th ...