New Imperialism and Colonial Africa

European influence in Africa, 1750-1870

Mostly indirect

Disease barrier

African state formation

Direct colonial rule

*Cape Colony, Dutch, mid-17th c.

British rule, 1795

20,000 settlers, 1795

Afrikaners or Boers

*Algeria, French, 1830-48

130,000 settlers, 1871

Trade states, West Africa

Imports

Guns and textiles

Exports

Slave trade, abolition 1808-50

Raw materials, from 1820s

*Palm oil

Few 100 tons, 1800

10s of 1000s of tons, 1850

*King Jaja of Opobo (r. 1896-87)

*"Scramble for Africa," 1880-1914

*Berlin Conference, 1884-1885

Why now?

*New Imperialism

Sea-based empires

Africa and Asia new targets

Small-scale European settlement

Industrial economy

Raw materials (palm oil, rubber, etc.)

Captive Markets

Science and Technology: "Tools of Empire"

Transportation

Steamship

*Suez Canal, 1869

Communication

*Telegraph

Weapons

*Breech-loading rifle

*Maxim gun

Battle of Omdurman

Sudan 1898

Medicine

Quinine

Cinchona tree

Malaria

25-75% European death rate, pre-1850

5-10% death rate, post-1850

Nationalism "Software of Empire"

Ideology of imperialism

Study Questions-Lecture

1. Why was direct European colonial rule uncommon in Africa prior to 1870? Why did direct European colonial rule appear earlier in the Cape Colony and Algeria than in other parts of Africa?

2. What were the West African trade states and how did their patterns of international trade change as a result of the industrial revolution during the 19th century?

3. What were the motives for the New Imperialism in the late 19th century? What "hardware" and "software" innovations made the New Imperialism possible?

4. How was the scramble for Africa a result of the New Imperialism? 

Study Questions-Reading

Hansen 752-81

1. What was the New Imperialism? How did it differ from older forms of imperialism?

2. What was the economic and social impact of the New Imperialism on Africa and Southeast Asia from 1878 onward? Why were Ethiopia and Siam able to resist the New Imperialism?

Andrea 301-8

Jules Ferry, "Speech before the French National Assembly"

1. What reasons does Ferry give for imperialistic expansion?

2. Who disagrees with Ferry?  Why do they object?

Advertisements and Illustrations from British Books and Periodicals

1. What different messages about Africans, Asians, and British imperialists are being communicated in the pictures?

2. How would the pictures have encouraged ideals of nationalism and patriotism in the British public?

3. Review "Prints and Drawings, 1853-1887" (Andrea pp. 353-61). Compare and contrast the Japanese image of westerners with the self-image of British imperialists.