The Causes of Colonialism in Africa

Modern African History
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The Causes of Colonialism in Africa
Introduction
Blyden states that colonialism is a word used to describe exploiting, establishing, maintaining as well as expanding colonies in one country by people from a different country. The process of colonialism takes place when the colonialists claim sovereignty over the acquired colony, and they change the government, economics and social structure of that colony (4). This in turn leads to a set of disparate relationships, between the colonizers and the colonized indigenous population. In Africa, colonialism was undertaken by European powers including Britain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, and they enforced colonialism to their respective country or countries with varying degrees of success and failure (Harris 13). This paper specifically highlights what caused the European powers to colonize Africa.Main Idea: Thesis Statement
Harris points out that colonialism in Africa began within the 19th Century, but prior to that, European countries had already infiltrated African civilizations. While Africans and Europeans had established relationships in different areas for centuries, the 19th Century marked a major turning point with regard to European attitudes toward Africa (15). A combination of factors led Europeans to decide to colonize Africa. Whilst a few factors may have been overriding in their decision, many other factors were considered in making the decision.Related ideas and analysis
The Europeans colonized Africa because of the following major reasons. The first one is because of the demand for raw materials. During the 19th Century, European countries experienced the industrial revolution, and the thriving industrial production required a lot of human, financial as well as natural resources (Gann & Duignan 45). European nations in previous centuries had traded with Asia, Africa (for instance the Atlantic Slave Trade) and traded with the Americas (both North America and South America). The trading activities had brought substantial profits to the European traders, and these profits in turn, provided the necessary capital that financed the industrial revolution. Majority of European countries were resource poor, and during that time, European industries were depending on Asia, Africa, and the Americas for raw materials. For instance, the cotton textile industry, which was very crucial in stimulating the industrial revolution, was entirely dependent on imported cotton. As industrialization spread all over Europe, competition for raw materials grew, and as a result of that, European industrialists encouraged governments in Europe to colonize countries in Africa as a method that will guarantee sources of raw materials (Gann & Duignan 46).
The second reason that led to colonization of African countries was The Scramble for Africa and Partition of Africa. This scramble took place at a time between 1886 and 1914, and during this time European nations carried out colonization throughout Africa, with the exception of Liberia and Ethiopia (Blyden 14). At this time, France, Portugal as well as Britain were the chief colonial powers in the African continent, although Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy also had colonies. In the early years of colonialism, the main objective of these colonizers was to establish sovereignty, or political control over their colonies, and they applied a combination of threat of force, warfare and making treaties with rulers in Africa, in their efforts to gain political control over their African subjects. After realizing political control and putting in place institutions of governance, economics then became the primary concern of the colonial governments. At the end of the 19th Century, Europe went through an economic depression and because of that economic slump, European powers reduced their expenditures on economic development, political administration and social programs in their colonies (Blyden 15).
The third reason that caused colonialism in Africa was the European countries’ Need for Markets. During the end of the 19th Century, many European industries were manufacturing more goods that what the Europeans themselves could consume. Because of this, many of Europe’s industrialists sought after markets for their manufactured goods around the world (Harris 22). There were very many manufacturing companies at that time, and this led to growing competition between various industries. As the competition among industries ...