Chapter 8 - Lesson 4 - Colonization and Independence in Africa Flashcards
1.(a)COLONIALISM is defined as a “POLICY” whereby one country seeks to rule other areas. How would you define “colonialism”? (Explain and cite an example.)
I would define colonialism as a policy that a country holds. This policy is used to colonize and hold control of other countries or regions to use them for labor, resources, and economic opportunities. For example, Britain was a colonialist country because it had colonies all over the world and was overpowering. It had parts of Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.
1.(b)What was the “IMPACT” of colonialism on African nations? Do the “gains” for Europeans outweigh the “negative effects” for the African nations? Explain.
Colonialism has a significant impact on African nations. Colonialist countries took Africa’s resources, money, labor and land, but they provided modern healthcare, transportation and a link to Europe. Even though these benefits sound great, the amount of negative effects colonialism had on Africa outweigh the benefits.
2.PAN-AFRICANISM….a political and social movement to unite black Africans around the world. (Take what you know about the Civil Rights Movement and apply here.)
Pan-Africanism is similar to the Civil RIghts Movement in the sense that it was freeing black people from historical and current problems with segregation and discrimination, but Pan-Africanism was for the whole world to reunite people whose family’s were enslaved in the past. On the other hand, the Civil Rights Movement was freeing African-Americans from current segregation and discrimination happening in the USA.
3.How was independence gained? Explain the process through the lens of an African nation.
Independence in African countries was gained by strong African leaders leading movements against European rule. These African leaders were fed up with being led by Europe and they fought for their independence.
4.Relate the term “apartheid” in South African to “segregation” in the USA. Please define in your own words.
From learning in the textbook, apartheid feels like an extreme version of segregation. While both of them are separation of multiple things, Aparthied is specifically for race, whereas segregation can be any separation. Also, when there was segregation in the US, people were separated but theoretically they had the same opportunities. In South Africa, aparthied truly separated black people from white people and they weren’t even offered the same things.
What was the Berlin Conference?
The Berlin Conference was a conference that held all the strong European leaders in 1884 to discuss distribution of Africa. All of the leaders wanted colonies, and they distributed Africa as if it was a commodity.
How was the Berlin Conference unfair to the African people?
The Berlin Conference was unfair to African people because there were no Africans at the conference to discuss their nations, and the conference gave Europeans the power to control Africa, instead of Africa controlling Africa.
What happened to the continent of Africa as a result of the Berlin Conference?
As a result of the Berlin Conference, Africa struggled to gain independence for their countries, and those newly independent countries had no resources left to use and struggled to develop.
How did Leopold II convince the other nations to allow him control of the Congo?
Leopold II convinced the Berlin Conference to allow him to control the Congo by assuring them that he would spread Christianity and “bring civilization” to the Congo.
What was the recent profitable discovery in the Congo region that could propel an accumulation of wealth for King Leopold II?
In the Congo, rubber was found which was highly valuable at the time of the Berlin Conference. This rubber accumulated a ton of wealth for King Leopold II because he had access to a lot of it which he could sell or use.
What finally brought an end to this barbaric reign of King Leopold II?
Leopold II was forced to end his reign over Congo because there were photos of the terrors he had created and there were citizens around the world that got extremely angry at him for doing these terrible things.
Independence was difficult:
Why?
Independence was especially difficult for African colonies because Europe was such an overpowering power, so to get independence in the first place was difficult. But once colonies had gained independence, they didn’t have very many resources because Europeans had taken them instead. So the newly independent countries struggled to start developing.
