Background information (adapted from New Canaan Public School):
Between 1450 and 1750, Europeans traded with Africans, but they set up very few colonies. By 1850, only a few colonies existed along African coastlines, such as Algeria (French), the Cape Colony (Great Britain), and Angola (Portugal). Free African states continued, and after the end of the slave trade in the 1800s, a lively exchange took place between Europeans and African states, such as the Sokoto Caliphate in western Africa, and Egypt and Ethiopia in northeast Africa. They traded manufactured goods for gold, ivory, palm oil, and other goods.
In the latter half of the 19th century, dramatic changes occurred, as Europeans began to explore Africa's interior, and by 1914, virtually the entire continent was colonized by competing European countries. European imperialists built on the information provided by adventurers and missionaries, especially the famous Dr. David Livingstone and Henry Stanley. Livingstone, a Scottish missionary, went to Africa in the 1840s and spent three decades exploring the interior of Africa and setting up missionary outposts all the way from central Africa to Cape Colony on the southern tip. When people in Britain lost contact with Livingstone, journalist Henry Stanley became a news sensation when he traveled to Africa and found Livingstone. The two sparked interest in the previously-conceived "dark continent" (as the interior had not been explored by Europeans - it was literally a 'dark spot' on the map) and others followed, including imperialists. European nations wanted to expand their power on the world stage and find new resources to fuel their ever-expanding industrial revolution.
Because of its size, surface features, climate, resources, and strategic importance, Africa became a prime candidate for conquest by ambitious European empires. Africa it is surrounded by water, and can therefore be reached easily from the other continents. This meant that the Europeans needed to establish rules for dealing with one another if they were to avoid constant bloodshed and competition for African resources. The Berlin Conference established those ground rules.
Led by King Leopold II of Belgium (who committed some atrocities), the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, in an effort to avoid war, allowed European diplomats to draw lines on maps and carve Africa into colonies. The result was a transformation of political and economic Africa, with virtually all parts of the continent colonized by 1900.
[In the 1870s, a group of Karanga tribesmen led a German explorer to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. To read about the expedition, and to better understand the European's view of Africans in the late 1800s, read this PBS article.]
Between 1450 and 1750, Europeans traded with Africans, but they set up very few colonies. By 1850, only a few colonies existed along African coastlines, such as Algeria (French), the Cape Colony (Great Britain), and Angola (Portugal). Free African states continued, and after the end of the slave trade in the 1800s, a lively exchange took place between Europeans and African states, such as the Sokoto Caliphate in western Africa, and Egypt and Ethiopia in northeast Africa. They traded manufactured goods for gold, ivory, palm oil, and other goods.
In the latter half of the 19th century, dramatic changes occurred, as Europeans began to explore Africa's interior, and by 1914, virtually the entire continent was colonized by competing European countries. European imperialists built on the information provided by adventurers and missionaries, especially the famous Dr. David Livingstone and Henry Stanley. Livingstone, a Scottish missionary, went to Africa in the 1840s and spent three decades exploring the interior of Africa and setting up missionary outposts all the way from central Africa to Cape Colony on the southern tip. When people in Britain lost contact with Livingstone, journalist Henry Stanley became a news sensation when he traveled to Africa and found Livingstone. The two sparked interest in the previously-conceived "dark continent" (as the interior had not been explored by Europeans - it was literally a 'dark spot' on the map) and others followed, including imperialists. European nations wanted to expand their power on the world stage and find new resources to fuel their ever-expanding industrial revolution.
Because of its size, surface features, climate, resources, and strategic importance, Africa became a prime candidate for conquest by ambitious European empires. Africa it is surrounded by water, and can therefore be reached easily from the other continents. This meant that the Europeans needed to establish rules for dealing with one another if they were to avoid constant bloodshed and competition for African resources. The Berlin Conference established those ground rules.
Led by King Leopold II of Belgium (who committed some atrocities), the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, in an effort to avoid war, allowed European diplomats to draw lines on maps and carve Africa into colonies. The result was a transformation of political and economic Africa, with virtually all parts of the continent colonized by 1900.
[In the 1870s, a group of Karanga tribesmen led a German explorer to the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. To read about the expedition, and to better understand the European's view of Africans in the late 1800s, read this PBS article.]
Document A
Maps of Africa (1880, 1885-1914)
Maps of Africa (1880, 1885-1914)
Document B
Shaka Zulu, Cecil Rhodes and the Boer War
Shaka Zulu, Cecil Rhodes and the Boer War
In the 1830s, descendants of the original Dutch settlers, now called Boers, migrated into the interior of South Africa and began to engage in conflicts with the Zulu. These battles with the Boer settlers continued well into the late 1800s, but never truly threatened Zulu sovereignty over their land. The Zulu were a south African tribe that placed an emphasis on military organization and skill, as established by their legendary leader Shaka Zulu. Under Shaka’s rule, the Zulu broadened their land claims throughout southern Africa. Eventually, the Zulu came into the conflict with the British army as the British expanded their control over southern Africa and invaded the homeland of the Zulu. Despite early victories, the Zulu were eventually defeated by the technology and vast resources at the command of the British troops. Soon, all of southern Africa would come under British control.
Cecil Rhodes was instrumental in assuring British dominance of southern Africa. He founded the De Beers Mining Company, eventually controlling 90% of the world’s diamond production. After becoming prime minister of the Cape Colony (now South Africa) in 1890, he used his influence to strengthen British control over the region.
His master plan was to establish a Cape to Cairo railroad line that would link British colonial interests in Africa between Egypt and the Cape Colony in southern Africa. The Boers, however, provided heavy and eventually armed resistance to this proposal. After authorizing an aggressive invasion of the Boer Republic of Transvaal which ended poorly, Rhodes was removed from office. However, the seeds of the Boer War had been sown. Great Britain decided to annex the Boer republics, and with Boer resistance came the Boer War (1899-1902). By all accounts the fighting was vicious, with the Boers employing guerrilla tactics and the British eventually using 450,000 troops to achieve victory.
Cecil Rhodes was instrumental in assuring British dominance of southern Africa. He founded the De Beers Mining Company, eventually controlling 90% of the world’s diamond production. After becoming prime minister of the Cape Colony (now South Africa) in 1890, he used his influence to strengthen British control over the region.
His master plan was to establish a Cape to Cairo railroad line that would link British colonial interests in Africa between Egypt and the Cape Colony in southern Africa. The Boers, however, provided heavy and eventually armed resistance to this proposal. After authorizing an aggressive invasion of the Boer Republic of Transvaal which ended poorly, Rhodes was removed from office. However, the seeds of the Boer War had been sown. Great Britain decided to annex the Boer republics, and with Boer resistance came the Boer War (1899-1902). By all accounts the fighting was vicious, with the Boers employing guerrilla tactics and the British eventually using 450,000 troops to achieve victory.
Document C
Political Cartoon
Political Cartoon
Document D:
Primary and secondary sources; rwandanstories.org
Primary and secondary sources; rwandanstories.org
Document D pt 1: Colonialism
Mzungu 'junk science' divides Africa
Early colonists - first the Germans and later the Belgians - brought with them a strange collection of pseudo-scientific race theories that were popular at the time. They also found the Tutsi easier to deal with, so decided that the Tutsi were probably the ancestors of the Europeans… “Thus grew up the notion of Tutsis… as pastoralists who had come down from the north, possibly Ethiopia, into the dark and savage lands in the heart of Africa to impose their superior civilisation. The truth is that nobody really knows where the Tutsi clans came from, but it probably wasn't Ethiopia and certainly nowhere remotely close to Europe. The obsession with physical appearance, aided and abetted by the Tutsi ruling class, led the Europeans to all manner of humiliating folly: measuring of skulls and noses and all the discredited junk of the race theorists who thrived in the heyday of African colonialism. One Belgian doctor wrote: [The Tutsi] ... have a distant, reserved, courteous and elegant manner ... The rest of the population is [Hutu]. They are negroes with all the negroid characteristics ... they are childish in nature both timid and lazy, and as often as not, extremely dirty.” - From Season of Blood. A Rwandan Journey Compulsory ID cards introduced “The introduction in 1933 of a mandatory identity card system deepened social divisions. Every Rwandan citizen was obliged to carry the card. which stated his name and ethnic identity, i.e. Tutsi, Hutu or Twa. After the introduction of the ID card system a Hutu was a Hutu for life. Hutus were in effect told that their mission in life was to toil (forced labour on the lands of Tutsi nobles was commonplace) and serve…” For the colonists it was a perfect partnership. What had existed prior to the colonists' arrival was a society in which the rich… ruled and the peasants toiled. It suited the interests of the colonists to rule through the existing Tutsi elite, who showed themselves to be willing and compliant, more interested in the preservation of privilege and material wealth than in any question of national identity. In return for their co-operation… the Tutsi overlords were given extended powers over the lives of the Hutus. In practice this allowed many minor Tutsi chiefs to exploit their Hutu 'subjects' and demand higher contributions of their crops and longer working hours. |
Document D pt 2: Effects of Colonialism
"A Hutu peasant would be given a cow, in return for which he would make himself available for work on the land of his patron. Not every Tutsi landowner exploited his Hutu vassals, but there evolved over time a dangerous sense of second-class citizenship among the Hutus.
The Tutsi nobility that dominated the centre of Rwanda stressed the importance of physical stature, that is, they claimed their tallness and aquiline facial features were synonymous with superiority. Those who were short and stocky, who worked the land, and who had neither cattle nor ties to the nobility became a distinct second class in Rwandan society. Journalists who have interviewed Hutu peasants have frequently been told that Tutsis look down on them as 'subhumans'. Any peasants who opposed the evolving order were treated with unmitigated harshness. Tutsi nobles showed no hesitation in massacring the occupants of rebellious villages and confiscating their property." - From Season of Blood. A Rwandan Journey Independence and revolution After the Second World War (39-45) many countries which had been under European colonial rule increased their push towards independence. "In Rwanda, alone in all of Africa, the liberation movement assumed the form of a social, antifeudal revolution... Groups of peasants, enraged, inflamed Hutus armed with machetes, hoes, and spears, moved against their master-rulers, the Tutsis. A great massacre began, such as Africa had not seen for a long time. The peasants set fire to the households of their lords, slit their throats, and crushed their skulls. Rwanda flowed with blood; the peasants, often for the first time in their lives, could eat as much meat as they wished. At this time, the country had a population of 2.6 million, including 300,000 Tutsis. It is estimated that tens of thousands of Tutsis were murdered, and as many fled to neighbouring states- to the Congo, Uganda, Tanganyika, and Burundi. The monarchy and feudalism ceased to exist, and the Tutsi caste lost its dominant position. The Hutu peasantry now seized power." - From The shadow of the sun. My African life The Belgians did little to protect the Tutsi minority from this wave of killings which Bertrand Russell described as “the most horrible and systematic human massacre… since the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis.” After you have read through the above history of Rwanda, Click here to watch the clip
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