CHAPTER FIVE

Africa and the outside World to 1900s

5.1 Genesis, development and Consequences of trans- Atlantic Slave trade

 The background to the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade had been set up by the
voyage of Christopher Columbus to the new continent, America in 1492.
 Soon afterwards, the Spanish conquerors and other adventurers entered the territory of
North, Central and South America.
 In these areas, very large plantations were established by the Europeans.
 The native Americans, the American Indians, called Red Indians by Europeans in the
past, had been brutally exterminated by the Europeans.
 Those Red Indians who escaped the brutal extermination were forced to work in the
European plantations and mine fields under dreadful conditions.
 This was completely unknown to the natives of America in their traditional way of life.
 When they tried to rebel in mass they were suppressed with great atrocities.
 Most of the American Indians died from European diseases and harsh treatment.
 As a result, a severe shortage of free labour was created in the European plantations.
 The Europeans tried to solve the problem by transporting the indentured white slaves
from Europe.
 However, the white slaves were unable to resist the hardships. Therefore, the idea of
transporting the natives of West Africa originated at this critical point.

The Slaves from West Africa

 Portugal was the first European country that began the slave trade in Africa.
 Then Spain followed. The Portuguese and the Spanish had already transported a limited
number of West African slaves to their own countries before the demand for free labour
arose in the American plantations.
 After the demand for slaves grew in the American plantations, they now began to export
West African slaves across the Atlantic Ocean to the American continent.
 In Africa, the slave trade was conducted for over 300 years. During these years, the
Atlantic slave trade passed through three distinct phases.

The first phase ( piratic slave trade)

 It began in the 15th C and continued up to the quarter of the 16th C.

 In this phase the traders who hunted slaves in West Africa were individual merchants,
adventurers, navigators or sea robbers.
 In this phase, European governments did not take part in the slave trade nor did they give
official support to their citizens engaged in this evil business.

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 The second phase (Monopolistic Slave Trade),

 It began in the 1580’s.

 In this phase the trade was conducted by monopolistic slave trading companies,
which were officially chartered by their respective governments.
 The slave-hunting ground was widened and the volume of the trade also increased.
 Slave merchants and companies made enormous profit.
 The price of a slave in Africa was 100-200 francs. But in America the market price of
the same slave was 1000-2000 frames.
The second phase is also known as the triangular trade, because the route of this
trade tied, in somewhat a triangular shape three continents-the Americas, Europe and
Africa. From western European parts, goods such as cotton, alcoholic beverages,
metal wares and firearms were transported to West Africa, where they were
exchanged for slaves. African slaves were transported across the Atlantic to be sold to
the plantation owners in exchange for sugar, tobacco, rum and other products which
in turn were taken back to Europe and sold at high prices.
 The West European nations accumulated enormous wealth as a result of the triangular
which helped the industrialization of Western Europe starting from the 18th century.

The third phase ( free trade )

 It began in the second half of the 17th century.

 In 1689, the British government took a legal action by instituting free trade.
 The law provided for every individual of the British Empire the right of participation in
any kind of business, including the slave trade.
 Several men joined the slave trade on an individual bases. The increasing number of
slave dealers, incited a fierce competition between the companies as well as among the
individual traders.

The Horrors of the Salve Trade

 First, slaves were captured like beasts.

 Then they were chained and hurried, often bearing heavy burden of ivory, to the coastal
ports which might be located hundreds of miles from places of origin.
 The African slaves underwent a bitter hardship in the voyage across the Atlantic. The
following description given by one scholar seems to give us some idea about the
hardship.
 The last stage of the horror, which was a lifelong hardship, began in the American
plantations.
 They toiled daily from dawn to dusk, often in chains.
 During this lifelong torture, their owners provided them only with basic necessities barely
enough to keep them alive and work.

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  Death was preferable to living and working in the plantations.

The Abolition of the Slave Trade

 With the growth of the abolitionist movement by religious people and humanitarians in
Europe, the volume of the slave trade started to show a marked decline.
 As a matter of fact, it was only when they found that the abolition of the slave trade
served their economic interest that the European governments began to take action
against the slave trade.
 One of the leading European nations to champion the abolitionist movement was Great
Britain.
 In 1807, Britain abolished the trade in slaves in her empire and put pressure on other
European nations to follow suit.
 This change in the British policy was the result of industrialization. The profit of the
slave trade had helped Britain to build modern industries.
 British economic interest shifted from slave trade to the search for cheap labour power,
raw materials and markets, for industrial products.
 Their economic interest could be served only with the abolition of the salve trade.
 African manpower had to remain in Africa to be used by Europeans to extract raw
materials inside Africa for the European industries.
 Therefore, Britain organized a military campaign which was supported by the British
navy.
 It was this concerted action that brought the Atlantic slave trade to an end in the middle
of the 19th century.

Consequences of the Slave Trade

 More than 15 million young Africans were exported to the Americas.As a result, Africa
lost its most valuable human resource.
 With the industrialization of Europe and America, the markets, of Africa were flooded
with cheap industrial products that ruined the traditional crafts of the continents.
 The livelihood of African craftsmen had also been ruined.
 The political consequences of the slave trade were equally fatal for the continent.
 African chiefs and kings acquired a large amount of firearms. The possession of this large
quantity of firearms intensified war and conflict in Africa.
 On the eve of European colonial expansion, there was severe division among peoples and
states of Africa.
 As a result, the Africans could not put up a united resistance against the European
colonizers. In this way, the Atlantic slave trade helped to open the way for the
colonization of Africa.

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 5.2. Scramble of Africa

 Before 1870, the Europeans had trade relation with Africa.

 The trade items were gold, ivory, coffee, salve, and so on.
 But with the development of capitalism (1769-1870), the need for raw materials and
market places for finished goods (surplus products) became very important.
 Meanwhile, the slave trade and unexplored part of Africa became obstacle to fulfill their
need in Africa.
 On top of this, the major European powers were preoccupied with domestic problems.
For instance, Germany and Italy did not complete their unification until 1870, France had
revolutionary out breaks in 1789, 1830, 1848, and in1870-71.
 Among major powers Britain did not fall in the internal political disturbance.
 Thus, Britain was busy in colonizing and giving more attention to Far East and South
East Asian region like India, New Zealand, and Australia.
 This region seemed to be more attractive, rich and had less resistance than Africa.

The Occupation of Coastal areas of Africa

 In 1830 France occupied Algeria and later Senegal.

 On the other hand, Britain also occupied Cape colony and Gold Coast (Ghana).
 Portugal was deeply involved in Mozambique and in Angola.
 However, all colonial powers did not establish firm administration in the above areas
except in Cape Colony and in part of Algeria.
The coastal posts had been established primarily to serve the purpose of trade
particularly, the Atlantic slave trade. The names given to these posts indicated that the
Europeans were more involved in trade activities than colonization before Industrial
Capitalism. Thus, some of these trading posts were named as Slave Coast, Gold Coast,
Pepper Coast and the like.

Factors for the growth of the desire for the colonization of Africa in the Middle of 1880s

 The first was the British takeover of Egypt in 1882.

 The Second factor was the involvement of two European powers, Germany and Belgium
in the colonilzation of Africa.

The British takeover of Egypt

 Since the opening of Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt had become the focus of British and
French political and economic interest.
 The canal was built by the French engineer called Ferdinand de Lesseps.
 Thus, France owned a big share in the Canal Company.

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  Britain had also bought the Egyptian share of the company from Khedive Ishmael, the
then ruler of Egypt, sold the share to overcome the bankruptcy he faced.
 Moreover, the opening of the Suez Canal increased the importance of Egypt especially to
Britain.
 The Canal was a strategic link with British Indian Empire and the Far East.

The British and French Dual control over Egypt

 To secure their loans, Egypts two big creditor’s Britain and France created Dual
Control over Egypt since 1879.
 The Egyptian nationalists who opposed foreign influence rose up in armed rebellion.
 This revolt was led by a senior Egyptian officer, Colonel Ahmed Urabi (Arabi
Pasha).
 In May 1882, Urabi and the Egyptian nationalists successfully gained control of
certain part of the country.
 At this stage of time the British force intervened in the internal affairs of Egypt and
crushed the force of Urabi.
 Due to change of government in France and the French could not participate in the
intervention.
 Therefore, Britain alone intervened and occupied Egypt in June 1882.
 Then, France as European power moved to act quickly to make colonial conquests in
other parts of Africa.

The Involvement of Germany and Belgium in the Colonization of Africa

 Germany involved in colonial rivalry, mainly to intensity the colonial competition

between France and Britain.
 Thus, Bismarck hoped that the rivalry between the two powers would divert the French
from a war of revenge for their humiliation in the defeat of 1870-71 by Germany.
 But after involvement national interest and prestige and hope of economic advantage
forced Germany to continue with policy of colonial conquest.
 The other power in the colonial, rivalry was King Leopold II of Belgium, independently
of the Belgian Government, King Leo Pold II employed H.M. Stanley, the famous
explorer to explore the Congo basin since 1876.
 The appearance of Germany and King Leopold of Belgium made other powers like
Britain, France and Portugal-already engaged in African coastal areas to move quickly in
to the interior before the whole continent was occupied by the new rivals.
 Meanwhile, there occurred clash of interests among these colonial powers in many parts
of Africa.
 The first of such conflicts arose over the Congo basin, In order to solve the Congo issue
and other crisis an international conference was held at Berlin in 1884-85.

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 The Berlin Conference (1884-85) and Its Outcome

 It was arranged by Otto Von Bismarck of Germany.

 In the conference held at Berlin the representatives of fourteen European powers as well
as the USA were present.
 This conference remained in session for six months.
 At the end the conference two important resolutions were passed.
 The first and most important resolution was the part that dealt with the colonial conquest
of Africa.
 It was agreed that all powers had to notify others about their claim over a portion of
territory and to establish “effective occupation” in these areas.
 Thus, the Berlin conference paved the way for African colonization or “legalized” the
partition of Africa.
 This conference enabled European colonialists to partition Africa without going to an
armed clash amongst each other.
 The second resolution was about the right to trade on the Congo River.
 The partition of Africa had already been started before the Berlin Conference.
 Thus, Leopold II of Belgium was able to get international recognition over the Congo
Free State in 1884.
 The Belgian king won recognition by promising an unrestricted freedom of trade in the
Congo basin for all.

5.3 Colonial Rule

 In 1883, France had controlled territories in the Upper Niger.

 But the same move of France in the lower Niger failed. In subsequent year, France and
Britain partitioned West Africa between themselves.
 Between 1883 and 1885 Germany occupied many terriers in South West Africa, Togo
land, the Cameroon and East Africa.
 Britain moved Northward from South Africa to central and East Africa.
 Britain also moved southward from Egypt and controlled Eastern Sudan.
 The rest of Africa was portioned among Europeans in the last years of the nineteenth
century.
 By 1900, with exception of Ethiopia, Morocco (until 1912) and Liberia, the whole
continent of Africa was virtually under European colonial rule.

The British Administration Policy

 The British Administration policy came to be known as “indirect rule”.

 The architect of this policy was Lord Frederick Lugard. He had practiced this policy on
large scale for the first time in Nigeria as colonial governor there.
 Due to shortage of the administrative staff, he exercised this policy.

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  Thus, behind the traditional rulers the British governors directed the system of
administration.
 The British also practiced a divide and rule policy, which was very important to weaken
African resistance against the British colonialism.

The French Colonial Policy

 The French policy of colonial administration came to be known as “direct rule”.

 This policy was designed by the French colonial Minister, Albert Sarrout.
 According to this system, French officials filled administrative posts in the colonies.
 The French also believed in the policy of assimilation or association.
 This was designed to make Africans copy French culture and French way of life so as get
French citizenship.
 In short, this policy was designed for the elites to denounce their culture and identify
themselves with France.
 Other European colonial powers like Portugal, Italy, Belgium and Spain followed largely
preferred direct rule.

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