Most African communities (not countries) were stateless societies Stateless Society: when people...
-
Upload
edith-dixon -
Category
Documents
-
view
233 -
download
0
Transcript of Most African communities (not countries) were stateless societies Stateless Society: when people...
Most African communities (not countries) were stateless societies
Stateless Society: when people rely on family lineage to govern themselves rather than elect someone or have a monarch
Africa has MANY natural resources◦ Gold◦ Cobalt◦ Chromium◦ Phosphates◦ Diamonds◦ copper
In the 19th Century Colonialism starts ◦ Europe’s industrialized nations become interested
in Africa’s Resources
◦ Europeans didn’t want to fight over the resources, so they held the Berlin conference Berlin Conference (1884-1885): 14 European
nations gathered to establish and discuss political control over Africa because they did not want to fight over it
King Leopold II: Belgian king who opened up the African interior to European trade along the Congo River
By 1884, he controlled the area known as the Congo Free State
He used forced labor (slavery) to gather rubber, palm oil, ivory and other resources
European Nations divided Africa without any regard to where African ethnic or linguistic groups lived
When they set boundaries, they combined ethnic groups together that had always been enemies
Why would this be negative? ___________________________________
Many African Nations gain independence in the 1960s
Since the Europeans did not pay attention to ethnic boundaries when they divided Africa, each “country” was very diverse and had many problems with civil conflict
Economics◦ Africa's’ economies are still recovering from
colonialism Loss of resources Disruption of political systems Cultural and ethnic oppression of people
They have very poor InfrastructureInfrastructure- basic support systemsneeded to keep an economy going, including power, communications, transportation, water, sanitation and educational systems.
Infrastructure
European Colonialism in Africa during the late 1800s-1960s has left the continent struggling for economic, political and social instability throughout the entire continent