African American Imperialism Research Paper

In the late 1800s, European nations began expanding beyond their borders into, in other words, “lesser nations” looking to lead them to civilization, but in reality they were pursuing wealth. This became known as imperialism, and it began just after the industrial revolution. Industrialization, which started in Europe, came with a lot of new technological advancements that they were proud of. This pride overtime resulted in a feeling of superiority over other races. Harsh competition between European countries resulted in the scramble for control over places deemed primitive, like Africa and parts of Asia. They saw this as a noble deed, fulfilling their destiny to help the “inferior races”. This led to events such as the Berlin Conference, which split up Africa, ignoring existing borders and establishing imperialism as …show more content…
The Berlin conference was the start of the political issues seen in Africa, as it created borders where there were none. This resulted in tribes, cultures, and kingdoms previously unaffiliated to be forced into coexisting. These tribes already had their own customs and religions. “There were several negatives of colonialism for the Africans like resource depletion, labor exploitation, unfair taxation, lack of industrialization, dependence on cash crop economy, prohibition of trade, the breaking up of traditional African society and values, lack of political development, and ethnic rivals inside countries.” As mentioned in this quote, among the list of negative effects of colonialism and imperialism was a lack of political development because the different tribes and cultures would disagree and fight among each other. This is important as ethnicity is a big part of African politics. Many governments in Africa face political issues, but it’s not only Africa that has faced political setbacks, as countries in other places such as Myanmar, Malaysia, and the Philippines face the

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