In 15th century European explorers began exploring the African continent to gain information. The first explorers were the Portuguese initiated by Prince Henry the Navigator. The first European explorer to sail around the Cape of Good Hope to reach East Africa was Vasco de Gama in 1498. He and other early Portuguese explorers began the connection between the African Coast and Europe that would eventually lead to centuries of trade and European domination of Africa. British, Dutch, and French followed later with expeditions to Africa, and they ended up dominating former Portuguese trading posts in many cases. As knowledge of Africa spread throughout Europe and North America, Christian missionaries were also sent out in addition to explorers and traders. Some of these traders were involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade, which lasted roughly from 1450 to 1850 (i.e. 400 years of slave trade). By the time that the slave trade had been deemed illegal, Europe was becoming more and more interested in a different kind of trade. The industrial revolution in Europe produced a need for cheap raw materials in its factories, which became a major force behind the colonization of Africa. African colonies were used to provide mass quantities of precious minerals, agricultural goods through plantation agriculture, rubber, animal skins, ivory, cotton, and many other raw materials cheaply to Europe. In addition to seeking economic gain, some Europeans also felt it was their mission to “civilize” and “Christianize” Africans, which in their minds meant becoming more like Europeans. They failed to recognize the rich cultural and religious heritages that existed in Africa. This left much of Africa in the ironic position of being economically exploited so that much of its capital was drained from the country. Thus Africa has moved from human slavery to exploitation of her raw material and resources ( both human and material ), the most important now is the brain drain, are the Europeans to be blame for these, or the Africans?
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 03:59:22 +0000
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