quiz 2

What factors and actors drove colonization on the eve of the 1885 Berlin conference?

In Europe, nationalism, competition, missionaries, the White Man’s Burden, and the rise of British supremacy led to European governments shifting away from only trade agreements with African countries, and instead wanted to control territory, resources, and people themselves. They believed they had a “responsibility” to colonize the world under British rule. Although some European politicians had concerns about costs and self-sufficiency of the colonies, supporters of colonization believed it could be maintained if it were done as “cheaply” as possible with little investments in money and administrators. It was at this point in history where several European powers agreed to a set of borders to divide up Africa.

What was the African colonial state built to do?

The African colonial state was built to extract wealth and resources for Europe as cheaply as possible. The Europeans used the metropolitan advantage and the self-sufficiency of the colonies to maintain rule. They also imposed a head tax that pushed Africans into cash-paying jobs that supported colonization. In addition, Africans were forced to do labor on farms, mines, work projects, and transportation of goods. To maintain rule, the Europeans focused on customary law and an indirect rule (man-on-the-spot) instead of conducting a large colonial administration.

.

.

.

.