The document summarizes European colonization of Africa in the late 19th century through two case studies: 1) The Berlin Conference divided up African land among European powers without considering existing borders or populations. This led to conflicts over resources and land. 2) King Leopold II of Belgium took control of the Congo Basin through deceitful treaties and appointed a private company to exploit rubber and ivory resources. The company was brutally abusive to local people, chopping off limbs for quotas. International outcry grew over these human rights abuses.

1. New Imperialism in Africa
Two Case Studies:

2. Berlin Conference
“We have been engaged in drawing lines upon maps where no white man’s foot has ever
trod. We have been giving away mountains and rivers and lakes to each other, only
hindered by the small impediment that we never knew exactly where the mountains and
rivers and lakes were.” - British Politician
1. What was the name of this meeting where they gave away mountains and rivers?
2. What land are the Europeans dividing?
3. Why did the Europeans divide this land among themselves?
1. What was the name of this meeting where they gave away mountains and rivers?
2. What land are the Europeans dividing?
3. Why did the Europeans divide this land among themselves?

3. The Congo Sparks
Interest
“I do not want to miss a good
chance of getting a slice of this
magnificent African cake.”
“I do not want to miss a good
chance of getting a slice of this
magnificent African cake.”
________________of Belgium commissioned the explorer Henry Stanley to secure
agreements from the tribes who inhabited the Congo Basin in Africa. Stanley did so
through a combination of promises, threats and trickery.
King Leopold II

4. The Congo Sparks
Interest
In 1882 a treaty was signed with local chiefs of the Congo River valley. The treaties gave
King Leopold II of Belgium personal control over the land. The United States was the first
nation to recognize the Belgian Congo.
The Congo Sparks Interest

5. The Ivory Industry

6. Two Inventions change
the Game for the Congo!

7. Rubber Tires!Rubber Tires!

8. Abuses of the Native Congolese People
Leopold licensed companies that brutally exploited Africans, by forcing
them to collect sap from rubber plants.

9. The system was unusually exploitative and brutal, even in Colonial Africa. Whipping was
a common form of punishment for workers who did not meet their quotas or who
disobeyed the white man's rules.
Film ClipFilm Clip

10. The man lost his
hand from ropes tied
too tight by Belgian
Rubber Company
soldiers. The boy
lost his hand from
soldiers that wanted
to claim him as a kill.

12. A man who refused to go work in the rubber plantation looks at the
severed foot and hand of his 5 year old daughter.

13. The
Belgian
Congo
1. Why does the
cartoonist portray
King Leopold II as
a snake?
2. What is the claim
of the cartoonist?

14. What do you think could be done to stop these crimes
against humanity?

15. The World Demanded Changes
• Much of Europe frowned upon these atrocities, which led to the end of Leopold's rule.
His financial backing eroded and he required loans from the Belgian government.
• In 1908 Belgium took the lands for itself as the Belgian Congo. The conditions of the
natives slowly improved, but justice was never served to those responsible for these
crimes against humanity.
"The condition of things in the Congo is atrocious, as shown by the photographs of children whose
hands have been cut off. Leopold thinks this can go on because the Congo is a distant out-of-the-
way country. But once we can get England and America to investigate, and take this matter up,
something will be done. We Americans are especially interested, because it was our recognition of
the flag there that led to recognition by other powers."
-- Mark Twain in the Boston Herald (Nov. 6, 1905).
Edmund Dene Morel

16. The British in South Africa

17. The history of South Africa is a history of _________, ______ ___
____________ clashing over land and resources. Although the
African lands seemed empty to the Europeans, there were huge
areas claimed by various ethnic groups.
Three Groups Clash over South Africa
Africans Dutch
and British

18. The _____ were a South African
tribe that placed an emphasis on
military organization and skill, as
established by their legendary
leader ____________. Under
Shaka’s rule, in 1818, the Zulu
broadened their land claims
throughout southern Africa. This
marked the beginning of
“Mfecane,” a time of wars among
the Africans which caused mass
migrations and alterations in
African political organization.
Shaka Zulu was assassinated in
1828.
Zulu Expansion
Zulu
Shaka Zulu

19. By the 1870s, the British had begun to adopt a ________________in the region, hoping to
bring the various British colonies, Boer republics and independent African groups under
common control, with a view to implementing a policy of economic development.
The war began in January 1879. Three columns of British troops under the
command of Lt. Gen. Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand.
The Anglo-Zulu War
Forward Policy

20. What are the
similarities and
differences
between these
men?
Who do
you think
would be
victorious
in battle?
Why?
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21. Battle of Isandlwana
On 22 January, 1879, under Lord Chelmsford's personal command, the British were
defeated at _______________ mountain. In one of the worst disasters of the Colonial era,
over 1300 British troops and their African allies were killed.
Isandlwana
Film Clip

22. Battle of Isandlwana
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23. Battle of Rorke’s Drift

24. Lord Chelmsford reorganized his forces, and in late May was poised to mount a new
invasion on the Zulu capital, Ulundi.

25. Chelmsford defeated the Zulu army in the last great battle of the war. Ulundi was put to
the torch, and King Cetshwayo fled. Chelmsford resigned after the victory but it took
several weeks for the British to suppress lingering resistance in the outlying districts.

26. King Cetshwayo was eventually captured and sent into exile at Cape Town. The British
divided his country up among thirteen pro-British chiefs - a deliberately divisive move,
____________________which led to a decade of destructive civil war.Divide and Rule,

27. The Dutch first came to the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 to establish a way station for their
ships sailing between the Dutch East Indies and home.
British Boers and Settlers in the Cape

28. _______(Dutch for “farmers”), were Dutch settlers who gradually
established large farms. When the British took over the Cape Colony in the
1800s, the Boers left seeking their own state.
British Boers and Settlers in the Cape
Boers

29. In the 1830s, to escape the British,
several thousand Boers began to move
north. This movement has become
known as the __________________.
The Great
Trek
Great Trek

30. The Boers soon found themselves fighting fiercely with Zulu and other African groups
whose land they were taking.
What do these pictures
remind you of? How is it
similar to that event?

31. __________and ________were discovered in
southern Africa in the 1860s and 1880s. Suddenly,
“outsiders” from all parts of the world rushed in
to make their fortunes.
GoldDiamonds

32. The Boers tried to keep the outsiders from gaining political rights. An attempt to start a
rebellion against the Boers failed. The Boers blamed the British. In 1899, the Boers took
up arms against the British. This conflict was known as__________________.
The Boer
War
The Boer
War
The Boer War

33. Compare these two pictures of soldiers.
Which group seems more advanced?
Compare these two pictures of soldiers.
Which group seems more advanced?

34. In many ways the Boer War was the first modern “total” war.
The Boer
War

35. The Boers
launched
commando
raids and
used
guerrilla
tactics
against the
British.
The “Hairy Mary”The “Hairy Mary”

36. What do you think is
happening in these images?
The concentration camps claimed the
lives of 27,972 Boers. Of these, 22,074
were children
The concentration camps claimed the
lives of 27,972 Boers. Of these, 22,074
were children
Film ClipFilm Clip

37. Cecil Rhodes was instrumental in assuring British dominance of southern Africa. He
founded the De Beers Mining Company, eventually controlling 90% of the world’s
diamond production. After becoming prime minister of the Cape Colony (now South
Africa) in 1890, he used his influence to strengthen British control over the region.

38. In 1902, the Boer
republics were joined
into a self-governing
__________________,
controlled by the
British.
Union of South Africa

39. •How does this ABC book portray the native people in the colonies?
•How do they portray themselves?

40. The establishing of colonies signaled a change in the way of life of the Africans. The
Europeans made efforts to change the political, social and economic lives of the peoples
they conquered.

41. POSITIVE NEGATIVE
•European medicine & improved
nutrition increased life span of
Africans. This caused an increase in
population.
•Modern transportation &
communications; telegraphs,
railroads, steamships, and
telephones
•A small minority received
improved education and economic
opportunities.
•European domination led to an erosion
of traditional African values and
destroyed many existing social
relationships
•African peoples were treated a s
inferior. Forced to work long hours for
low pay.
•Europeans divided up Africa ignoring
tribal, ethnic, and cultural boundaries.
These divisions have led to ongoing
tribal clashes
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