Scramble for Africa
During the Berlin Conference from 1884-1885 the European powers divided up the continent of Africa in order to avoid wars amongst the European powers. However, not a single African leader was invited to the Berlin Conference. The leaders of the native African kingdoms reacted to European imperialism by clearly expressing their opposition to the European officials, highlighting how strange and hypocritical European culture was, and implementing any means available to fight the Europeans. The African leaders elucidated that they would never give in to European imperialism. Prempeh I, an Ashanti leader, clearly stated that he would never allow Britain to conquer the Ashanti kingdom (Doc. 2). Prempeh …show more content…
Menelik II, emperor of Ethiopia, appealed to the great powers of Europe to have mercy on Ethiopia in sight of their common faith (Doc. 3). He believed that his appeal to their shared faith would cause the Europeans to rethink their actions, but Menelik II did not understand that the Europeans regarded material wealth as more important than their faith. Ndansi Kumalo described how the British treated the Africans like animals, and they had superior weapons (Doc. 4). Ndansi Kumalo and his people did not understand that the British had superior weapons, so they were defeated and bewildered by the horrendous treatment they received from the British. Mojimba, an African chief recounted a battle against the British and African mercenaries, and he described how the Europeans had rifles (Doc. 9). Mojimba believed that the Europeans were more evil than the Africans were, and he realized that the Europeans were more evil than the Africans were, and he realized that the Europeans were hypocritical in the Christian faith with their malevolent actions. Menelik II’s option that the European powers would not attack his country because they shared the same faith was influenced by his faith as a fellow Christian and his understanding of Christianity that Christian powers should be friendly toward one another. The African leaders had a difficult time understanding the European culture and