14.2

1. Chapter 14 Section 2
Empire Building
In
Africa

3. I. West Africa
a. European used deception in order to get
African lands and natural resources.
b. From 1880-1890 almost all of Africa was
under European rule.
i. Imperialism was driven by rivalries.
c. West Africa was particularly affected by
the slave trade.

4. d. As slavery declined, Europe’s interest in
other forms of trade increased.
i. Manufactured goods for peanuts, timber, hide,
and palm oil.
ii. G.B. established settlements along the Gold
Coast in Sierra Leone.
1. This growing presence caused tensions
with local African governments, who
feared for their independence.
e. In 1874 G.B. annexed the west coastal
states as the first colony of Gold Coast.
f. France controlled the largest part of W.
Africa, and Germany controlled Togo,
Cameroon, and German Southwest Africa.

5. II. North Africa
a. Egypt had been part of the Ottoman
Empire. In 1805, Muhammad Ali
seized power and established a
separate Egyptian state.
b. Ali introduced a series of reforms to
modernize Egypt. He modernized the
army, set up a public school system,
and helped create small industries.

6. c. The growing economic
importance of the Nile Valley
along with the development of
steamships gave Europeans a
desire to build a canal east of
Cairo to connect the
Mediterranean and Red Seas.
i. In 1854 France signed a contract to
build the Suez Canal.

7. d. G.B. bought Egypt’s share in the Suez
Canal.
i. Egypt became a British protectorate in
1915.
e. The British wanted to control the
Sudan. In 1881 Muhammad Ahmad
defeated the British military.
i. The British regained the Sudan again in
1898.

8. f. The French had colonies in N. Africa.
In 1879, 150,000 French had settled
in the region of Algeria.
i. French made Tunisia and Morocco
protectorates.
g. Italy joined the competition for N.
Africa by trying to take over Ethiopia.
i. Ethiopian forces defeated the Italians in
1896.
ii. Italy seized Turkish Tripoli and
renamed it Libya.

9. III. Central Africa
a. European explorers had generated
European interest in the dense tropical
jungles of Central Africa.
b. David Livingstone explored Africa for 30
years.
i. Henry Stanley encouraged G.B. to send
settlers to the Congo River basin.

10. c. When Britain refused, Stanley turned to
King Leopold II of Belgium.
i. King Leopold hired Stanley to set up
Belgian settlements in the Congo.
ii. Belgium’s claim to the vast territories of
the Congo worried other European states.
d. France especially rushed to gain
territories in C. Africa.
i. Belgium territories S. of the Congo
River.
ii. France territories N. of the Congo River.

11. IV. East Africa
a. By 1875 G.B. and Germany had become
the chief rivals in E. Africa.
b. Germany was one of many European
nations interested in E. African colonies.
i. At the 1884 Berlin Conference, the major
European powers divided up E. Africa.
ii. No African delegates were present at the
conference.

12. V. South Africa
a. By 1865 close to two hundred thousand
white people had moved to the southern
part of Africa.
b. The Boers (original Dutch settlers)
occupied Cape Town. They believed
white supremacy was ordained by God.
i. British will seize these lands.
ii. Boers fled from British rule.
1. Est. S. African Republic.
2. Put indigenous peoples on reservations.

13. c. The Boers frequently battled the Zulu,
an indigenous people.
i. The Zulu rose under Shaka.
ii. Later the British will defeat the Zulu.
d. In the 1880s British policy in S.
Africa was directed By Cecil Rhodes.
i. He set up diamond and gold companies.
ii. Renamed Transvaal, Rhodesia, after
himself.

15. e. Rhodes’s ambitions led to his downfall in
1896.
i. Forced to resign when it was discovered his
plans to overthrow the Boer government
without British approval.
ii. Conflict broke out between the British and the
Boers, leading to war.

16. f. The Boer War went from 1899 to 1902.
i. Guerrilla resistance by the Boers angered the
British.
ii. Burned crops and sent 150,000 women and
children into detention camps, causing 26,000
to die.
g. In 1910 the British created the independent
Union of S. Africa, combining the Cape
Colony and the Boer Republic.
i. To appease the Boers, the policy was that
only whites could vote.

17. V. Colonial Rule in Africa
a. By 1914 only Liberia, which had been
created by freed U.S. slaves and Ethiopia
were free of European domination.
b. Britain relied on indirect rule to govern its
colonies.
i. This system will slow tribal tensions among
native peoples.
c. Most other European governments used
direct rule in Africa.
d. The French ideal was to assimilate the
African peoples. They did not want to
preserve African traditions.

18. VI. Rise of African Nationalism
a. A new class of African leaders
emerged in the early 20th century.
i. They were intellectuals that were
educated in the west.
ii. They Admired Western culture and
wanted to introduce some western ideas
into their culture.
1. They saw certain aspects of European
culture as superior to their own cultures.

19. b. These same people often resented
the foreigners and their contempt
for Africa.
i. They believed there was a gap
between Western democratic theory
and Western colonial practice.
1. Africans had little chance to
participate in the colonial institutions,
and many had lost their farms for
sweatshops or on plantations.

20. c. Middle-class Africans also could
complain, not just the poor peasants.
i. Africans were paid much less than
whites.
d. During the first quarter of the 20th
century, resentment turned to action.
i. Educated native peoples began to
organize political parties and
movements to end foreign rule.