Colonization of Africa

19th Century Colonization of Africa By the end of the 19th century Europe had colonized Africa. The only exceptions that didn’t get colonized were Liberia and Ethiopia because they were already independent themselves. The Europeans had many reason for why they wanted to colonize Africa. They were generally all political and economic reasons. It was easy for Europeans to colonize and take over Africa because slave trade had made the Europeans believe that Africans were inferior to them. This was in fact the justification for the Europeans to have such an imperialistic way of thinking. One motive for the Europeans to colonize Africa was the demand for raw materials. They wanted to use Africa as a method to guarantee their sources of raw materials. The reason being was because industrialization was growing rapidly and spreading throughout Europe; therefore there was now a competition for raw materials. Another motive was a need for markets. This motive was mostly given by the industrialists. They encouraged their government to colonize Africa so that they could protect markets for their industrial goods. Last but not least they wanted to civilize Africa because they felt Africans were not civilized. Europeans felt that trade and commerce in Africa was one of the main elements that would civilize Africa. This was something that was pushed to the government mainly by Christian mission societies and other advocates. Once Africa was colonized by the Europeans they learned economic activity in Africa was very diverse. A very positive thing about Africa was the Mineral Exploitation it had. Mineral Resources was definitely a plus for the economy. The large farms that took place in East and Southern Africa were owned by Europeans. For the most part the economies were dependent on mining, settler agriculture, or the small scale production of a single cash crop. All in all, the Europeans had various motives to colonize Africa. It was in there best interest especially because they were in a time where industrialization was rapidly growing. Once they did colonize Africa they learned it was very beneficial and the economies were doing good.

Works Cited:
Exploring Africa. Web. 10 Jan. 2012. <http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/students/curriculum/m9/activity4.php>.
"Europe & Africa in the 19th Century." West Chester University 's - On-line Web Courses. Web. 10 Jan. 2012. <http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his312/lectures/19thcent.htm>

Cited: Exploring Africa. Web. 10 Jan. 2012. &lt;http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/students/curriculum/m9/activity4.php&gt;. "Europe &amp; Africa in the 19th Century." West Chester University 's - On-line Web Courses. Web. 10 Jan. 2012. &lt;http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his312/lectures/19thcent.htm&gt;