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Slavery in 1400s
In the 1400s, during the Golden Age of Exploration, Europeans began to sail south around the continent of Africa in an attempt to reach the wealth of silks and spices found in India and China. -
Shipping them over
They shipped the African slaves over the Atlantic Ocean to work on sugar, rice and cotton plantations. -
Slavery
Slavery was a part of the economy of Africa before the arrival of the Europeans -
Selling people
In the 1500s, European traders began to sell Africans guns and European made goods to get slaves. -
The Middle Passage
The Middle passage was the trip over the Atlantic Ocean to America -
Moving
Over 13 million people were forced to move out and me shipped over to work. -
Death
About 20% or more died on the Middle passage. -
The Europeans
More numbers if available guns went up to the people in Africa, and caused more fighting and weakened everyone and made it easy for the Europeans to take over -
Great Britain
Britain started to take over more land in the western, central and southern parts of Africa. -
Colonization
The Europeans began to build Africa trading post in the 1500’s and by the 1800’s, they began to colonize and taking over another country for the recourses -
Taking Control
Europeans knew that Africa had many resources and important trade routes they wanted to control. Britain began by seizing Egypt to gain control of the Suez Canal; a man made waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. France took control over most of western North Africa. Spain and Italy also gained territory in Morocco and Somalia. -
France
France got most of the Western part of Africa -
The only one
Ethiopia was the only country not to get invaded, but in 1930 Italy got them. -
Germany and Portugal
These two also claimed land in Africa south of the Sahara. -
Europe
By 1900 Europe got over nearly all of Africa. -
1965
In 1965 Joseph Mobutu seized power. He renamed the country Zaire and ruled uninterrupted for 32 years. The suffering of the people of Congo continued due his corruption and violence. -
The Belgium Congo
Nearly all Africans suffered under colonial rule as their land was taken. They were forced to work for nearly little or no pay and any attempt to rebel was violently crushed. Though Europeans banned slavery, and built schools, hospitals, roads and railroads, European colonization devastated the people and cultures of Africa. -
Ghana
In Ghana in the 1940s Kwame Nkrumah introduced the idea of Pan-Africanism which was a belief in the unity of all Black Africans worldwide. Ghana would gain its independence in 1957. -
Independence
Life was not perfect in Africa after independence. Countries that had been colonized were economically devastated. Things were made more difficult because the Eruopeans had drawn country lines without regard to where different ethnic groups were located. -
The mid 1900’s
The events that happed in World War 2 Africans started to rebel against colonization. -
1960
Belgium Congo became independent in 1960. The country was unable to create a stable, fair government. -
Nigeria
Nigeria suffered from violence among its many ethnic groups. In 1976 the Igbo people tried to declare themselves independent. They named their new country Biafra -
South Africa
In 1910 South Africa was granted independence from Great Britain. Although white people were a minority in South Africa, they controlled the government and businesses. In 1948, white South Africans known as Afrikaners made apartheid law. -
Sudan
Sudan gained its independence from Great Britain in 1956. In the northern part of the country most people were Muslim Arabs. In the south most people were not Arab. In addition, many religions were practiced in the south with Christianity being the most common. The country's government was in the north. -
Under apartheid
Under apartheid, black South Africans were forced to live and work where whites demanded. Blacks could not marry white people, and they received poor health care and schooling. Black South Africans were not allowed to vote so they had no say in the government. -
After the independence
After independence, the people in the south rebelled against northern rule leading to two civil wars from 1956 to 1972 and from 1983 to 2005. Millions of people died. In 2011, Sudan recognized South Sudan’s independence. -
Rwanda
Rwanda is a small country divided between two ethnic groups, the minority Tutsi and majority Hutu. Before
Rwanda became a Belgium colony, the Tutsi ruled the Hutu. During colonization, the Belgium government preferred the Tutsi and used them to control the Hutu people. -
Arab Spring
One of the worst outcomes of colonialism was it left countries with weak governments that often became dictatorships. In 2010, people in Tunisia began to agitate for a more democratic government. -
Arab spring
In Libya, dictator Muammar Qaddafi refused to step down. Instead, war broke out. Other countries, including the United States supported the rebels fighting against Qaddafi. Qaddafi was captured and killed in 2011, and a new government was elected. -
Arab spring
At the beginning of the Arab Spring Egypt was under the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak was a dictator who had controlled Egypt for 30 years. He was forced to resign in 2011. Mubarak was replaced by an Islamic fundamentalist government led by Mohammed Morsi in 2012.