American Imperialism In Africa

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Imperialism is “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.” Looking back at history, we can see the atrocities inflicted on subject peoples around the world. As British and American imperialism evolved, a recurring consequence through the 19th, 20th, and 21st century has been genocide. Imperialism is like a cancer: starts off small, then spreads, destroying everything it touches. Throughout this essay, the following questions: “What is imperialism?”, “How did imperialism start?”, “What were the causes of imperialism?”, and “How has imperialism affected the world?” will be answered. To understand imperialism, we must look at the ultimate questions, or the Why questions. What caused the western …show more content…
But, Africa has a long and rough past. But one region plays a significant role in European imperialism: Congo. Pre-colonial Congo could be described as “one of the most geographically diverse and mineral-rich countries in the world” (Congo Packet, add source later), had three main groups: forest dwellers, Bantu, and the Nilotes, and practiced various animist religions. Fast-forward to the 1870s, when an economic depression struck Europe. They needed more materials to fuel their economy at any means necessary. Many suggested that they turn to the untouched Africa, just waiting to be ravaged of its beauty. It was a gold mine (literally) for cheap raw materials that could be exported and manufactured. It wBy this time, there was already a notorious slave trade or two occurring, manned by the Swahili ethnic group. As described by Walter Rodney, “...many African rulers acquiesced in the [slave trade] for [self interest], but on no scale of rationality could the outflow of population be measured as being anything but disastrous for African societies.” Judging by that statement, that clearly justifies how destructive the blooming capitalist society was in its early stages. It was only a matter of who got to the interior first, known as the Scramble of Africa. In a work titled Colonialism in the Congo, there is a concept known as the Three C’s: civilization, christianity, and commerce. These three coincidentally alliterated words were the core of the Berlin Conference and the justification of exploiting Africa. In the Scramble for Africa, King Leopold of Belgium takes the crown for one of the most charlatan, sham, and mountebank people in history. He is a true scammer, for he scammed the entirety of the West. One, convinced the world that he was a humanitarian when really, he was forcing millions of Congolese people to collect rubber in gruesome conditions. If they didn’t, they were either
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