Imperialism in African

Around the 19th century, Africa was colonized by the seven European countries. Europeans tried to justify their going into Africa was to give them roads, religion, hospitals, and civilization. But in reality, they imperialized Africa, took their resources, made them buy their products, and being forced labor upon the Africans. Imperialism is to extend the authority of an empire over to foreign countries. The driving forces behind European colonialism in Africa were national competition, superior technology and most importantly, economics.

The first driving force behind European imperialism in Africa was national competition. Back then Europeans fought against one another over power. The primary focus was to rule as many colonies as possible, to gain control. Around 1914, the majority of Africa was colonized except for Liberia and Ethiopia,(Doc A). The parts of Africa that were colonized belonged to different European countries. England was one of the nations that imperialized Africa. John Ruskin, an England intellectual, noted that “ she must found colonies as fast and as far as she is able….. their first aim is to be to advance the power of England by land and by sea.” (Doc B). To be the best, you have to strive after land nearby and overseas to overtake as many colonies as possible.

Without technology, it would’ve been nearly impossible for the Europeans to imperialism Africa. Europeans used the steam engine as a more constant and forceful source of power for ships and railroads,(Doc C). The steam engine made the process of transporting resources much more accessible. The most important technology that the Europeans used was quinine. Quinine was used to