The Scramble and Acquisition of African Colonies Essay

The Scramble and Acquisition of African Colonies - Essay ExampleThis cover illustrates that the European countries that colonized Africa were Italy, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. Their colonization of Africa was because of power struggles and competition for supremacy in Europe. The scramble was a fast colonization of the African continent after the European powers find outd colonies in 1880-1900. The scramble was pushed by the economic, social, and political ontogeny that Europe was going through. It developed in the nineteenth century due to the collapse of the slave profitability, abolition,and the European expansion. During the late nineteenth century, European countries like Britain were suffering growth deficit in its balance of trade. The imperatives of capitalist development spurred the European scramble. Thus, the goal of European intrusion was economically driven. Their objective was to find assured sources of earthy materials, guaranteed mar kets, and profitable investment outlets. Their countries had limited resources and also highly populated. They dispersed themselves to the African continent to scramble and acquire colonies. During their trade with Africans, they realized that the continent was endowed with various minerals. Imperialism was also induced by the demand for crude materials unavailable in Europe. Africa had cotton, tea, rubber, diamonds, palm oil, copper,and cocoa. The European consumers had grown accustomed to the products of the raw materials. The European industry as well had grown to depend on the raw materials from the continent of Africa. The European powers was another major factor out for scrambling to acquire the African colonies. The population in Europe had grown so much, and it could no longer jump the population. To manage a struggle for power amongst its people, they had to acquire new territories. As a result, some of its citizens were shipped to Africa to set-back an empire of their own. They also scrambled to acquire the African colonies, so that they could be able to achieve the human face of balance of power. The colonies were viewed as tools of negotiation, useful as items of exchange at periods of international bargains. They also regarded colonies with the large autochthonous population as a source of military power during the colonial wars.