Africa in the 1800s

Scramble for Africa

• In the late 1800s, European powers, including Britain, France, and Germany, engaged in a scramble for African territories.
• Within approximately 20 years, Europeans had divided the continent and dominated millions of Africans.
• Groups like the Yao resisted, but were unable to prevent European conquest.

Africa in the Early 1800s

• To understand the impact of European domination, it's important to look at Africa before the scramble for colonies began.
• Africa is a large continent, nearly three times the size of Europe.
• The people spoke hundreds of languages.
• Varied governments existed: some lived in large centralized states, while others lived in village communities.

North Africa

• North Africa includes the Sahara and the fertile land along the Mediterranean.
• Much of North Africa was part of the Muslim world and under the rule of the declining Ottoman Empire before and in the early 1800s.

Islamic Crusades in West Africa

• By the early 1800s, an Islamic revival spread across West Africa.
• It began among the Fulani people in northern Nigeria.
• Usman dan Fodio, a scholar and preacher, denounced the corruption of local Hausa rulers.
• He called for social and religious reforms based on the sharia, or Islamic law.
• Usman inspired Fulani herders and Hausa townspeople to rise up against their rulers.