Working alone or with one or two partners, answer two of the following questions with two to three thoughtful paragraphs. Respond by posting on our class blog, and stay tuned for responses from peers in Africa.
1. What were the immediate impacts of colonialism in Africa? Discuss more than one aspect of life, and include at least one excerpt from Heart of Darkness and one from a source of your choice (include MLA citation).
Some immediate impacts of Colonialism were negative. When the Europeans colonized Africa, it destroyed a way of life of a culture. The tribal life that most Africans experienced was what they had been doing for thousands of years, and they were content with that way of life. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Kurts explains to Marlow, “By the simple exercise of our will, we can exert a power [that is] practically unbounded” (Conrad 137). With this quote, Conrad symbolizes European culture, how they were power hungry and knew that they could control another society with ease. African tribes were clearly opposed t0 the aggression. The Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture states, “African societies put up various forms of resistance against the attempt to colonize their countries and impose[d] foreign domination” (Schomberg). However, the Europeans brought technological advancements and new ways of life to the locals, which allowed for innovation and urbanization.
ReplyDeleteWritten By Same Grise, Macall Hock, and Jake Kerr
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print.
"Schomburg Center for Research in Black.” York Public Library. Web. 04 Oct. 2011. .
Impacts of Colonialism on Africa
ReplyDeleteBefore the late 1800s Africa was ignored by the rest of the world. People believed that it lacked valuable resources and was too difficult to explore. However, after many explorations into the continent and the discovery that Africa was rich with rare minerals and resources; the scramble for Africa began among European countries. The effects of colonialism were numerous, including slavery and hostility between tribes.
When Europeans discovered that there were economic opportunities in Africa, they needed cheap, easy labor. They forced the natives to work for them. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow stumbles upon a group of slaves that were left to die. Conrad writes, “Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts, lost in uncongenial surroundings, fed on unfamiliar food, they sickened, became inefficient, and then were allowed to crawl away…” (72). The Europeans didn’t only oppress the slaves they captured; they also oppressed the tribes they came across.
Europe carved out Africa by using vertical colonization. This process “had the effect of bringing together many different ethnic people within a nation that did not reflect, nor have (in such a short period of time) the ability to accommodate or provide for, the cultural and ethnic diversity” (Shah). Europeans ignored the tribal boundaries that were in place before they arrived, and when the new boundaries were created tribes were forced together, causing tension and in most cases violence. The impacts of colonialism on Africa included slavery and hostility among tribes. It also created many other problems in the continent that are still present today.
Written By: Sammie Keitlen
Works Cited
“Conflicts in Africa – Introduction”. Shah, Anup. 12 May 2010. Global Issues. 10 October 2011.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Signet Classics, 2008. Print.
Geena Jackson and Tony Kanata
ReplyDeleteTony and I believe that colonialism has a horrible affect on the world. Its lasting affects are brutal to those who are not in a “higher class”. Colonialism is basically the precise separation of classes and societies around the world. As seen in Heart of Darkness, colonialism has a bad impression on both sides, the one who is receiving the brutal acts and the one who is giving the brutal acts. Marlow is appalled when he sees “a man with a tin pail in hand, and noticed there was a hole in his pail” (20). The man could not put out the fire with a hole in his pail! Overall, colonialism is horrible for the world, and has a horrible lasting impression.
Colonialism in Sub-Saharan Africa was great for the Europeans in the 1800-1900s. As more and more countries claimed land, the more of the continent was discovered as well as more resources. “The word ivory would ring in the air” and the Europeans were obsessed with getting as much gold and glory by claiming and creating boundaries (Conrad 31). By doing so, the Europeans created borders by what they claimed and not by culture. Today, as these groups are still tied together, the hate and the violence are very well present in today’s society. In 1994, Rwanda was in the middle of an ugly genocide. The Hutus and the Tutsis had always had their problems but once the Hutu extremist group (Interhamwe) had a chance, they brutally murdered all of the Tutsis they could. Another example of hatred current in Sub-Saharan Africa was in the Congo in 2007. The Rastas “were once part of the Hutu militias” and were “notorious for burning babies, kidnapping women and literally chopping up anyone who gets in their way” (Gettleman). European colonialism has had a long lasting effect on Africa and most of the time not in the best way.
ReplyDeleteConrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print.
Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Rape Epidemic Aims to Destroy Congo Women - The Denver Post." Colorado Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic - The Denver Post. 07 Oct. 2007. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. .
Cassidy Mackay and Allison Aafedt
Allison Aafedt and Cassidy Mackay:
ReplyDeleteThe immediate of colonialism were ignored by the rest of the world. Europeans were taking over the land for themselves and not respecting the ones who were there first. They colonized the land and made it their own. The people who were there first were now ‘criminals’, or ‘savages’ were some of the names the natives were described and called. With the intelligence and power that the Europeans possessed they but the natives to work, “…labor is worthy of his hire” (Conrad 10). The traditional African culture was now being destroyed due to the overwhelming amount of European control. The Europeans didn’t care about the vast country they only cared about one thing, and one thing only, money. When it became clear that Africa was full of wealth and prosperity they wanted to extract every bit of it. The Europeans were willing to do whatever it took, even if that meant abuse and putting others in harms way. “[W]e brought rubber into the white men's stations . . . when it was not enough[,] the white men would put some of us in lines, one behind the other, and would shoot through all our bodies. . . ." [1] One after another, natives from each village he visited told him of atrocities committed by the colonial military and government. Investigating rumors in the Belgian Congo [2] in 1903, the British Consul would not have believed many of the horrors reported to him but for the confirmation of Christian missionaries who had witnessed the atrocities themselves”
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print.
Nosotro, Rit. "African Colonization." HyperHistory.net. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. .
Colonialism was a direct result for the "race" to colonize the world. This was a result from the superpowers of the world trying to gain power by taking over land. In this method they wanted to gain riches for their country and for themselves, gain land to prove their world power, and gain accomplishment for the race itself. This idea of African colonization specifically hurt Africa's ability to grow with the rest of the world. Not only were they hurting the continents ability to live the cultural life that they were before, but it was hurting their chance in the global market. They did not keep up while world powers were gaining and globalizing constantly. They became left behind in the "loop". Also, because the African government would become taken over by more advanced European powers, their global economy was also lacking. The trade network was also affected. They were less connected in the selling and trading of goods, but more harshly were forced for some trade, for example the slave trade. In the book, The Heart of Darkness, Marlow says, “The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it” (Conrad 20). This also shows how the African colonization turned into more of corruption for wealth and power by the Europeans. Also in another article about African colonization, the author states, "What on earth had happened to the legacy of missionaries...commerce, Christianity, and civilization? In Europe's famous "Scramble for Africa,"they had been left behind in the dust." This also shows how earlier values to spread religion and peacefully spread were demolished and corruption for wealth and power was established.
ReplyDeleteConrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print.
Nosotro, Rit. "African Colonization." HyperHistory.net. Web. 11 Oct. 2011.
The lifestyle of the native population changed immensely with the arrival of the colonizing Europeans. The Europeans disregarded the lifestyles’ of the Africans’ that had been in place for hundreds of years. “Many Europeans looked down on Africa’s rich cultures and tried to make Africans more like Europeans,” (www.pbworks.com).
ReplyDeleteIn many cases this resulted in the Europeans oppressing the natives then exploiting them for work, in order to gain personal wealth, which was exemplified in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
Conrad shows the corruption that occurred when he writes about the natives being forced to work in the first town Marlow (the main character) arrives in, in the Congo, “I can see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking,” (Conrad 13) as they worked. The natives were then worked until they retired to, “…the place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die,” (Conrad 14). It was this brutality coupled with profitable exports that contributed to the colonization of Africa.
Work Cited
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1990 Print
Unknown. “The Impact of Colonialism on African Life.” www.pbworks.com. N.p. n.d. Web. 17 October 2011. http://petrimoulx.pbworks.com/f/Chapter10section3.pdf
Cody Jess
Garrett Autry
Brendan Warren
TYLER WOOLSEY
ReplyDeleteCHUCK FELLOWS
Colonization showed the power struggle that all societies experience. The African colonization completely held back the entire continent’s progress tenfold. In Heart of Darkness, Marlow describes many scenes in which slaves are treated very poor. Due to the struggles of the Africans during colonization, movements towards thriving countries are distant thoughts. Most African countries are war torn and ridden with disease. Similarly in the Americas, European colonization nearly wiped out the Native population. Colonization has always been the epitome of the powerful controlling the powerless.
We (Jessie Wormer, Meg Kwiat, and Kayla Cavey) think that colonialism had many negative effects on the populations of Africa. The Europeans were mainly concerned with making money through the many resources available in the African wilderness, and paid no attention to the hardships that were being placed on the Natives. With them they brought over many foreign diseases that the Natives' immune systems couldn't fight against, wiping out thousands of their populations. They also forced many of the Natives to be slaves, and work the jobs that the colonists didn't want to do themselves. Marlow is disgusted with the colonization of the African society and the corruptness of the Pilgrims. Marlow says, “I’ve seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire. How insidious he could be, too” (Conrad 13).
ReplyDeleteColonialism immediately changed Africa. Traditions and cultures that had thrived for years were steamrolled in the European quest for resources and glory. Daily life was thrown out the door as the native people were "pushed off of their ancestral land or forced to work as mules for their new overlords"(Smith).
ReplyDelete"He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory and then cleared out of the country, because he could do so, and had a fancy for it, and there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased." (Conrad)
The above quote shows the disdain Europeans had for both the native people and thier actions toward them. They preached peace and conversion while bloodletting and slavery were thier chosen methods.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print.
Smith, Arthur. "African Colonization:Lasting impact" About.com. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.
Colonialism changed Africa by striving for the racial structure of civilization meaning when the "pilgrims" came to make money and control the natives "slavery was a lucrative business and its abolishment meant that alternative trade and industry needed to be established throughout Africa"(Du Plessis), turning the villages into ivory stock and slavery. The whites controlled the agency and made everything seem like it was good and jolly, "I met a white man, in such an unexpected elegance of getup that in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision," (Conrad 15) when really underneath it was nothing short of a nightmare for the natives, "strings of dusty n***gers with splay fee arrived and departed; a stream of manufactured goods, rubbishy cottons, bead, and brass wire set into the depths of darkness, and in return came a precious trickle of ivory." (Conrad 15) This concludes how quickly and drastically colonialism changed these people and their world simply for the bidding of a white colonist to make money.
ReplyDeleteConrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Dover, 1990. Print.
Du Plessis, Amelia. "Colonialism in Africa" www.africaforever.org. Web.
Cassie Blochinger, Cole Johnson
Luke Chamberlain
ReplyDeleteIn Africa there are several impacts that developed due to colonialism. The biggest impact is the result of slavery. Families were torn apart and slaves were treated horribly. as a result african families are still messed up to this day because colonialism.
Another negative impact is the impact colonialism had on African civilization. Africa was unable to develop due to the forced slave work and trade. The Europeans used to slaves to build up there civilization. While this was happening the Africans were unable to develop there own civilization.
An example of the mistreatment of slaves in the heart of darkness is how the slaves were overworked and beaten during the ivory trade. The stole the Africans profit to benefit themselves