COLONIALISM IS THE POLICY OR PRACTICE OF ACQUIRING FULL OR PARTIAL POLITICAL CONTROL OVER ANOTHER COUNTRY, OCCUPYING IT WITH SETTLERS, AND EXPLOITING IT ECONOMICALLY.
IDEAS OF AFRICANS AS INFERIOR CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE 18TH CENTURY, WHICH INVOLVED COLONIALISM. AFRICA IN FACT HAS A HISTORY AND A LEGACY OF COLONIALISM.
BETWEEN THE 1870’S AND THE 1900’S, AFRICA FACES EUROPEAN AND IMPEPRIALIST AGGRESSION, DIPLOMATIC PRESSURES, MILITARY INVASIONS AND EVENTUAL CONQUEST AND COLONIZATION. YET, AT THE SAME TIME THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA TRIED THEIR ABSOLUTE HARDEST AND TRIED TO RESIST AGAINST THE ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE THEIR COUNTRIES AND IMPOSE FOREIGN DOMINATION. BY THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY HOWEVER, MUCH OF AFRICA HAD BEEN COLONIZED BY EUROPEAN POWERS.
THIS CONOLIZATION WAS MOTIVATED BY THREE MAIN FACTORS: ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. IT DEVELOPED IN THE 19TH CENTURY DUE TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE PROFABILITY OF THE SLAVE TRADE, ITS ABOLITION AND SUPPRESSION, AS WELL AS THE EXPANSION OF THE ERUOPEAN AND CAPALST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. THE DEMAND FOR ASSURED SOURCES OF RAW MATERIALS, THE SEARCH FOR GUARANTEED MARKETS AND PROFITABLE INVESTMENT OUTLETS SPURRED THE EUROPEAN SCRAMBLE AND THE EVENTUAL CONQUEST OF AFRICA. THEREFORE, THE PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR THE COLONIZATION OF AFRICA WAS ECONOMIC.
HOWEVER, AT THE TIME, OTHER REASONS PLAYED A ROLE IN THE COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. BRITAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, SPAIN, GERMANY, PORTUGAL ETC WERE ALL COMPETING FOR POWER WITHIN EUROPEAN POLITICS. ONE WAY TO DEMONSTRATE NATIONAL POWER WAS THROUGH THE ACQUISITION OF TERRETORIES AROUND THE WORLD, INCLUDING AFRICA.
THE SOCIAL FACTOR WAS THE THIRD MAJOR ELEMENT THAT HAD A PART TO PLAY IN THE COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. AS A RESULT OF INDUSTIRALIZATION, MAJOT SOCIAL PROBLEMS GREW WITHIN EUROPE SUCH AS UNEMPLOYMENT, POVERTY, HOMELESSNESS ETC. ONE WAY TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WITHIN EUROPE WAS TO ACQUIRE COLONIES AND EXPLORE THIS “SURPLUS POPULATION”. THIS LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SETTLER COLONIES IN ALGERIA, TUNISIA, SOUTH AFRICA, NAMIBIA, ANGOLA, MOZAMBIQUE ETC.
