The Scramble for Africa

In the beginning of the 1880’s, European states engaged in a fierce competition for oversea territories. Many believed in social Darwinism, thinking that the superior races must dominate and civilize the inferior races to show how strong they are. One Englishman once wrote, “To the development of the White Man, the Black Man and the Yellow must ever remain inferior, and as the former raised itself higher and yet higher, so did these latter seem to shrink out of humanity and appear nearer and nearer to the brutes.”
Before this time, the Europeans didn’t control much of Africa, having only been established in southern Africa. The “scramble for Africa” was a race against Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal to control parts of Africa as their own. Each of these countries wanted Africa for their own reasons. For example, Britain wanted Africa so they could control the significant sea route to India, and France was interested in the slave trade. Most of the nations were looking for good, silver, and other valuable goods. Africa had an enriched amount of natural resources, and was known for its diamonds and ivory. Not to mention the slave trade.
The British policy in Africa was mainly controlled by Cecil Rhodes in the 1880’s. Rhodes had the control of many diamonds and gold mining companies. He was known as the great champion of British expansion and even named a country in Africa after himself. It was fairly easy to dominate Africa. The country wasn’t united, and they weren’t exactly modern in the sense of that time. The Europeans had many advantages. They had advanced weaponry, superb planning, and many great inventions such as the steam ship. The scramble largely affected the African people. They were being controlled by foreigners. Also, as said before, the country wasn’t united. Many of the tribes had grudges against each other, and when the Europeans took over, they made boundaries putting fighting tribes together. But the Europeans didn’t stop with just Africa, they had a “burden”, and with that burden came “responsibilities”.