European Imperialism Dbq Analysis

Once in the early 1880’s, King Leopold of Belgium was the first to colonize, or own, a private country in central Africa known as the Congo Free State, kicking off European imperialism. However, the way he managed and took over that region was controversial among European leaders such as Otto von Bismarck, who as a result of King Leopold’s actions, proposed for a conference to be held regarding the standards for claiming land. This conference was known as the Berlin Conference of 1884. From this event, multiple standards and regulations were created, one of those including the rule of occupation which stated that a nation or country had to have treaty agreements, buildings, soldiers, and administrators on the ground to support its’ claim. Additive
Simply put, in order for Europe to support its’ thirst for resources, it had to take over African countries such as Angola (Background Essay). As a matter of fact, Angola contained resources such as cotton, oils, coffee, and sugar to which Europe used for its’ fabric and food processing industries. Hence why Angola, later, became a European colony due to the economic benefits its resources provided for the Industrial Revolution (Doc D). Another snippet of proof to support that Europe required more resources, includes a chart adapted from Trevor Lloyd’s, The British Empire, which demonstrates that between the years 1854 and 1900, Great Britain spent approximately 2 million more pounds on African imports, illustrating that Great Britain was, indeed, in need of more African resources (Doc E). With all this evidence in mind, European nations such as Great Britain were definitely in need of more resources to which Africa was plentiful
To reflect, it was stated at the Berlin Conference that the nations would improve the moral and material well-being of Africans. Now this belief was very prominent, as it was a principal agreed upon by a majority of the European nations. Such weight this belief carried, that it even manifested into European journalism. For instance, according to Rudyard Kipling, an English journalist, “Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half child… Take up the White Man’s burden- The savage wars of peace- Fill the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease.” Comprehensively, when Kipling used the lines new caught, sullen peoples, he’s referring to Africans, more specifically, slaves. Thus when he referred to them as half-devil and half child, he meant that Africans were children who needed to be taught by the white man, or Europeans. Hence, why it is the “White Man’s burden,” as Europeans believed it was their moral duty to colonize or help Africa and its people. Briefly put, the European nations’ promise to improve the moral well-being of Africans was very potent, proving to be a powerful motivator for European