Imperialism

Between 1875 and 1900 the relationship between Africa and Europe experienced dramatic changes resulting from increased imperialism by Europeans on almost all of Africa. Europe was scrambling to gain territory and control over Africa as a result of internal rivalries between European powers which intensified after the industrialization of Europe. The slave trade ended between 1807 and 1820 and subsequently, more European interest was targeted at the vast natural resources Africa possessed and imperialism was inforced in order to obtain these highly desirable resources. Guyanese historian and activist, Walter Rodney, once said that "Europe underdeveloped Africa," meaning that the imperialism Europe forced upon Africa resulted in an economic setback in Africa forever, causing it to be inferior to the rest of the world. Rodney was clearly valid in making this statement as Europeans unjustly exploiting business opportunities in Africa, creating plantations ran by forced labor of the natives, and took possession over Africa's newfound resources, all of which prevented Africa from allowing it's own economy to prosper and develop.

Europeans used imperialism, obtaining African gold, ivory, and palm oil and preventing Africa's economy from growing in the process. Just recovering from the end of the slave trade which was abolished in the early 1800s, Africans hardly had any time to build up their homeland at all before Europeans came to partition and colonize most of their land for their own benefit. Many Europeans went to Africa as missionaries and merchants with the hope of gaining information from travelers about the goods and business prospects Africa had to offer. Trading posts were fortified by the Europeans who were mostly from Britain, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Belgian , and Spain. These countries created a very active commerce where they exchanged the resource of African natives for European textiles, guns, and other goods. This prevented the natives from having the opportunity to trade their goods directly and prosper economically. Consequently, Africa fell behind in trade not only in the late 1800s to early 1900s, but even today they still lag behind the rest of the countries economically. The exploitation and deception the Europeans placed upon Africa with their imperialism had lasting effects and permanently weakened Africa and any chances it had back then of becoming a strong independent nation who could adopt the industrialization of Europe and westernized as so many surrounding countries have done and prospered from during this time period.

The development of the Congo Free State during the reign of King Leopold II, which lasted from 1865-1909, resulted in high taxes and forced labor from natives and a lot of prosperity for Belgium who further took advantage of Africa and all of it's potential to excel. Belgium, in an effort to compete with neighboring European nations for power, made the Congo Free State a free-trading zone open to merchants and business people from all of Europe. This was a strategic move for Belgium and prevented the rival Europeans from taking the African natives for granted before they could. King Leopold II made a personal colony full of rubber plantations which were ran by forced labor with harsh working