By the end of the 19th century, the map of Africa resembled a patchwork quilt of different colonial empires. A supreme court was established in 1853, and led to British common law becoming enforced. What ultimately resulted was a hodgepodge of geometric boundaries that divided Africa into fifty irregular countries. British Colonizing in Nigeria In the late 19th and early 20th century, Europeans had raced to colonize the country Africa. Secondly, the African population was not satisfied with the way that Europeans imposed on their governing system without any proper representation, thus the maintenance of peace under the African population was made an important priority for the colonial government. Of the four powers in North Africa at the beginning of the 19th century, only Tunis and Morocco survived as independent states into the second half of the century to encounter the heavy pressures that Europe then brought to bear on the region for free trade and legal reform, measures originally leveled against the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. In 1900, a final uprising took place when the British governor of Gold Coast (Hodgson) unilaterally attempted to depose the Ashantehene by seizing the symbol of his authority, the Golden Stool. In 1873, the Second Ashanti War began after the British took possession of the remaining Dutch trading posts along the coast, giving British firms a regional monopoly on the trade between Africans and Europe. “The Scramble for Africa and the Berlin Conference”. The later addition of British Togoland creates borders for the colony that are essentially those that exist for modern Ghana. The Spanish ruled small parts of Morocco and coastal areas along the Atlantic Ocean. The prominence of Africans from inland areas of the continent pictured in Foà’s photographs reveals this legacy. At the beginning of the 19th century, Africa was still a continent almost unknown to Europeans. Overview As the imperial powers of Europe set their sights on new geographic regions to expand their spheres of influence in the 19 th century, Africa emerged as a prime location for colonization due to its wealth of natural resources and purportedly undeveloped economies ripe for exploitation. With this creation came the formation of modern civilizations, common languages, belief and value systems, art, religion, lifestyle and culture. Before colonisation, Africa was characterised by widespread flexibility in terms of movement, governance, and daily lifestyles. The Portuguese held Angola and Mozambiq… Results of colonisation of the Ashanti kingdom and Britain. Despite its neutrality, part of the Kongo Basin became a personal Kingdom (private property) for Belgium’s King Leopold II and under his rule, over half of the region’s population died. The British were victorious and reoccupied Kumasi permanently. The establishment of British law and jurisdiction in the colony was a gradual process, but the 1844 Bond with the Fante is popularly considered to be its true beginning. .Christianity would therefore provide the moral principles that would guide Africans, while education and commerce would encourage Africans to produce their own goods to trade with Europeans. For … Their primary concern was the conversion of people to Christianity. In 1850, a Governor was appointed to Gold Coast who was not also Governor of Sierra Leone, and this is how the colony of Gold Coast was born. Men mainly left the household to work in mines and on plantations, leaving their wives and children behind. In addition to this, the Ashanti people lost their independence. The French directed their attention to the active economies of the Niger Delta, the Lagos Hinterland and the Gold Coast. “A brief history of European Colonisation in Africa”. The Scramble for Africa took place during the New Imperialism between 1881 and 1914. Due to cheap labour of Africans, Europeans easily acquired products like oil, ivory, rubber, palm oil, wood, cotton and gum. At the Berlin Conference the European colonial powers scrambled to gain control over the Interior of the Continent. Missionaries were among the earliest explorers of central and southern Africa. The coast of West Africa before the arrival of Europeans. The focus of this lesson will be on the causes and results of European colonisation of the African continent, with special focus on the Ashanti kingdom (colonised by the British as the Gold Coast, and today the independent African country of Ghana). People were forced off their land onto farms or factories which ultimately made the British richer. The 17th-century Dutch presence at the Cape of Good Hope has evolved into Britain's Cape colony and two independent Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. Some nations were worse than others, but the two common themes that tied African imperialism together were racism and exploitation. The fortunes of Highveld inhabitants, occupiers, and passers-by fluctuated without periods of calm, and turned advantages to few. Although they were responsible for raising the money for their own colonies, they still lacked the incometo properly develop and maintain a successful governing system. In March 1901 Governor Matthew Nathan visited Kumasi, and he deported 16 Ashanti leaders and imprisoned 31 at Elmina. He formed an unfavourable opinion of the Asante, and began the long process of attempting to bring them under British control. Arabic texts mention that from the late 8th century Ghana was considered 'the land of gold'. Africa before European colonialism Image source, The use of iron tools marks a significant turning point in African civilization. While Islam was widespread in Africa prior to the coming of colonialism, it also benefited from colonialism. In those societies that were not stateless, the chiefs ran the daily affairs of the tribe together with one or more councils. During colonialism, urbanization occurred fairly rapidly in many African colonies. European countries fought over African countries mainly for their natural resources. For most of the 19th century these pressures had been predominantly British, but in the 1870s French companies began to offer effective competition to the British traders not only in Upper Guinea, where they had always been strong, but also on the Ivory Coast, in the ports immediately to the west of Lagos, and even in the lower river and delta of the Niger. Governor Hodgson reached Cape Coast on July 10. The British then spent money on things that will improve their ability to remove wealth and natural resources from the Gold Coast. Mali also possessed great wealth. The indigenous African population had no immunity or resistance to these diseases and thus weakened the African population. An outbreak of new diseases made an appearance during the late 1890’sand the first one was a range of smallpox epidemics. The British held large sections of West Africa, the Nile Valley, and much of East and southern Africa. Lastly, the principle of “divide and rule” meant that policies that intentionally weakened indigenous power networks and institutions were implemented. The combination of these three elements, Livingstone believed, would end human suffering in Africa, and the ultimate level of civilisation would be achieved within the continent. Filed Under: African – History Effects Of Climatic And Environmental Changes On Ancient African Civilisations It… Read More; Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania Missionaries felt that education and schools were essential to their mission. Britain had had some success in halting the slave trade around the shores of Africa. The coast of West Africa before the arrival of Europeans, The city of Elmina, located in the Gold Coast West Africa, in the late 19th century. Lines were drawn through African communities which had existed for many years, and these lines can presently be seen as national borders. During this time of colonisation, an economic depression was occurring in Europe, and powerful countries such as Germany, France, and Great Britain, were losing money. In addition to this plague, the cattle plague broke outduring the 1890’s which killed cattle, sheep and goats. Secondly, and partly due to the first consequence, the dislocation of families also occurred. The colonial state was the machinery of administrative domination established to facilitate effective control and exploitation of the colonized societies. Because the iron tools allowed Africans to flourish in their natural environment, they could live in larger communities which led to the formation of kingdoms and states. At the same time, West African trade slowly expanded towards Egypt and possibly India. Iron tools enhanced weaponry, allowed groups to manage and clear dense and thick forests, plough fields for farming, and making everyday life more convenient. The Ashanti and their early contact with European traders and explorers. These kings and chiefs were competing with each other to be the richest and most powerful within their tribes. They accomplished this by using more powerful weapons, and had the advantage of the newly invented machine gun called the Maxim gun which was invented in the 1880’s. The reasons for African colonisation were mainly economic, political and religious. Since the 15th century there have been some incursions into Africa, especially by the Portuguese, but always in the coastal areas. Missionary work in central and southern Africa began in the early 19th century, before Europeans had colonized those regions. In 1896, the British government formally annexed the territories of the Ashanti and the Fanti. On June 23 three officers and 150 made a sortie and managed to escape. The Ashanti kingdom had emerged from the mid- 17th century, benefitting from access both to rich agricultural resources and gold, much of the labour for production of which was provided by a domestic slave trade. The continent consisted not of closed reproducing entities, equipped with unique unchanging cultures, but of more fluid units that would readily incorporate outsiders into the community with the condition that they accepted its customs, and where the sense of obligation and solidarity went beyond that of the nuclear family. The British placed the Governor of neighbouring Sierra Leone, which was already annexed, in charge of British forts and settlements along the coast. European countries like Britain, Belgium, and France all rushed into Africa at the end of the 19th Century trying to get their slice of Africa. Due to their large successes, missionaries began to look beyond Europe. However, several disputes took place regarding which European country would colonise a specific African country. Patterns of colonisation: which countries colonised which parts of Africa. Long-held practices had to be adapted, and at times were completed abandoned, to fit the new colonial circumstances. Although all the colonies did not experience the same extent of social change, these colonies share the same characteristics in terms of social change. Great Britain was the leaders at this time in … Lastly, the public education system of African was also changed. Beginning with early history and ending with current events, the book covers religion and slavery in the 19th century, continuity and change in women’s work and family life, the impact of colonialism and women’s resistance, and politics after independence. Social and cultural beliefs and practices were challenged by these migrations. Since this came after more than three centuries of relatively cooperative trading activity between Europeans and Africans, it represents a significant departure in world history. This meant that colonial governments were not able to provide basic infrastructure, such as roads and communication networks, nor were they able to provide basic social services such as education, health care, and housing. The first Anglo-Ashanti War began in 1823 after the Ashanti defeated a small British force under Sir Charles McCarthy and converted his skull into a drinking cup. Europe saw the colonization of Africa as an opportunity to acquire a surplus population, thus settler colonies were created. This recognised the power of British officials and British common law in the Gold Coast and over the Fante people. Britain annexed the territories of the Ashanti and the Fanti in 1896, and Ashanti leaders were sent into exile in the Seychelles. However, all of this brought financial challenges, and saw the policy of making the colonies pay come in to force in the Gold Coast for the first time. The nineteenth century was a period of profound and even revolutionary changes in the political geography of Africa, characterized by the demise of old African kingdoms and empires and their reconfiguration into different political entities. From March 28 to late-September 1900, the Asante and British were engaged in what would become known as the War of the Golden Stool. West Africans developed an extensive self-contained trading system, based on skilled manufacture. By the seventeenth century, many European trading giants including the British, Dutch and French began building fortifications along the coastline in order to assert their positions. It was only in the 19th century, when this slave trade lost its credibility and appeal that Africa’s economic system began to change. Most formal schooling African colonies were a result of the work of missionaries. The boom in exploration was triggered to a great extent by the creation of the African Association by wealthy Englishmen in 1788, and as they travelled, they started to record details of markets, goods, and resources for the wealthy philanthropists who financed their trips. On September 26, 1901 the British created the Crown Colony of Gold Coast. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 near the Vaal River, some 550 miles northeast of Cape Town, ended... CECIL RHODES. These interactions were to have a profound effect on African coastal settlements and African institutions came under considerable European influence very early on. Prior to colonialism, the extended family structure (family that extends beyond the immediate family) was the norm in most African societies, but by the end of colonial era, the nuclear family (family consisting of a pair of adults/ parents and their children) was becoming the norm in many African countries. A large number of the African population thus died out, or became too weak to fight back. At the time of the conference, only the coastal areas of Africa were colonized by the European powers. Africa about the middle of the 19th Century, H. G. Wells' Outline of … The Europeans could not comprehend the existence of the Muslim Swahili trade which made them want to implement the Three C’s: Christianity, Commerce, and Civilisation. The first meeting at the Berlin Conference, 1884 Image source. Missionaries did not serve as direct agents of European imperialism, yet they drew European governments deeper into Africa. Stories were told and handed down generations in verbal form. The British formally declared the coastal regions to be the Gold Coast colony. When the Ashanti kingdom showed ambitions to expand its control southwards in negotiating treaties with African authorities and protecting trading interests, the British invaded Ashanti in 1874 and burnt its capital. In the late 19th century, the Scramble for Africa saw the continent rapidly divided between imperialistic European powers, and an early but secondary focus of all colonial regimes was the suppression of slavery and the slave trade. The colonisation of Africa was part of a global European process reaching all the continents of the world. A number of pre-colonial African societies had towns and small cities. On April 25 the telegraph wires were cut, and Kumasi was surrounded. ARAB SLAVE TRADE Historical documents containing statistics are not always very reliable. The Ashanti had long viewed the Dutch as allies, so they invaded the British protectorate along the coast. The people were disarmed, and only licensed hunters could carry guns. African armies did not manage to get hold of European weapons because it was not sold to them. West Africa had a long history of connection to trans-Saharan gold trade, and from the 15th century was drawn into trade with Europe, in gold and increasingly in slaves. Image source. For this to work a functioning and legitimate governing system was needed to ensure the civil rights of the people. Of these fourteen nations, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference, controlling most of colonial Africa at the time. The Ashanti kingdom, or Asante, dominated much of the present-day state of Ghana. The European countries were able to colonise African countries rapidly because there were rivalries between African leaders. However, most mission societies were not wealthy, and they could not support the number of schools that they really wanted. When the British defeated the Ashanti people, they collected all the gold treasures of the area. 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