What were the 3 reasons for colonization?

Colonialism is defined as “control by one power over a dependent area or people.” It occurs when one nation subjugates another, conquering its population and exploiting it, often while forcing its own language and cultural values upon its people. By 1914, a large majority of the world's nations had been colonized by Europeans at some point.

The concept of colonialism is closely linked to that of imperialism, which is the policy or ethos of using power and influence to control another nation or people that underlies colonialism.

History of colonialism

In antiquity, colonialism was practiced by empires such as Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, and Phoenicia. These civilizations all extended their borders into surrounding and non-contiguous areas from about 1550 B.C. onward, and established colonies that drew on the physical and population resources of the people they conquered in order to increase their own power.

Modern colonialism began during what’s also known as the Age of Discovery. Beginning in the 15th century, Portugal began looking for new trade routes and searching for civilizations outside of Europe. In 1415, Portuguese explorers conquered Ceuta, a coastal town in North Africa, kicking off an empire that would last until 1999.

Soon the Portuguese had conquered and populated islands like Madeira and Cape Verde, and their rival nation, Spain, decided to try exploration, too. In 1492, Christopher Columbus began looking for a western route to India and China. Instead, he landed in the Bahamas, kicking off the Spanish Empire. Spain and Portugal became locked in competition for new territories and took over indigenous lands in the Americas, India, Africa, and Asia.

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England, the Netherlands, France, and Germany quickly began their own empire building overseas, fighting Spain and Portugal for the right to lands they had already conquered. Despite the growth of European colonies in the New World, most countries managed to gain independence during the 18th and 19th century, beginning with the American Revolution in 1776 and the Haitian Revolution in 1781. However, the Eastern Hemisphere continued to tempt European colonial powers.

Starting in the 1880s, European nations focused on taking over African lands, racing one another to coveted natural resources and establishing colonies they would hold until an international period of decolonization began around 1914, challenging European colonial empires up to 1975.

Colonial rationale and resistance

Colonial powers justified their conquests by asserting that they had a legal and religious obligation to take over the land and culture of indigenous peoples. Conquering nations cast their role as civilizing “barbaric” or “savage” nations, and argued that they were acting in the best interests of those whose lands and peoples they exploited.

Despite the power of colonizers who claimed lands that were already owned and populated by indigenous peoples, resistance is an integral part of the story of colonialism. Even before decolonization, indigenous people on all continents staged violent and nonviolent resistance to their conquerors.

Benefits and harm

Colonial governments invested in infrastructure and trade and disseminated medical and technological knowledge. In some cases, they encouraged literacy, the adoption of Western human rights standards, and sowed the seeds for democratic institutions and systems of government. Some former colonies, like Ghana, experienced a rise in nutrition and health with colonial rule, and colonial European settlement has been linked to some development gains.

However, coercion and forced assimilation often accompanied those gains, and scholars still debate colonialism’s many legacies. Colonialism’s impacts include environmental degradation, the spread of disease, economic instability, ethnic rivalries, and human rights violations—issues that can long outlast one group’s colonial rule.

The major reasons for the colonization of Africa by the Europeans were the search for new markets, the need to obtain raw materials, the desire to invest surplus capital outside Europe, and the claim that Africans needed to be civilized through western education and religion.

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You will find all the reasons for European colonization of Africa shortly. But first, it is important that we begin with a definition of colonialism.

Meaning of Colonialism

We will define colonialism and quickly identify the reasons for the colonization of Africa by European powers such as Britain, France, Portugal, Germany and Spain.

Now, if you’ve been searching for a clear definition of colonialism then you’ve come to the right place.

Do you want to get the points for an essay on the factors accounting for the colonization of the continent of West Africa? You will surely find, in this tutorial, why European powers colonized Africa and for that matter, West Africa.

Note that you can use the notes in this tutorial for a specific question about the colonization of the Gold Coast or Ghana. The same applies to the colonization of Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone or The Gambia.

Definition of “Colonialism”

Colonialism refers to a process by which a foreign power annexes and creates dependencies whose economic, political and cultural systems are restructured and made to serve the foreign power’s interests.

The Portuguese came to Elmina on the coast of Ghana in 1471. The Bond of 1844 between some Ghanaian Fante states and the British marked the beginning of colonial rule in Ghana. And by the year 1900, every territory in West Africa with the exception of Liberia had become a colony of one European power or the other.

HOW COLONIAL RULE CONTRIBUTED TO THE DECLINE IN THE POWER OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN BRITISH WEST AFRICA

REASONS WHY THE BRITISH INTRODUCED INDIRECT RULE IN WEST AFRICA

Why Europeans Colonized Africa

1. The Europeans were searching for markets for their surplus manufactures as a result of the industrial revolution of the 18th century.

2. They also needed raw materials to feed the industries.

3. Colonies provided room for the Europeans to invest their surplus capital.

4. Europeans desired to spread their culture to other lands.

5. This was a time when colonies became a symbol of the greatness of a nation hence the desire to colonize territories in Africa.

6. The industrial revolution led to an increase in mechanized production which created surplus labour. There was, therefore, the need to export the surplus labour to the colonies.

7. The colonizers also claimed that they colonized Africa in order to bring to the people civilization through the introduction of Western formal education and the Christian religion.

Now you know the definition of colonialism and the factors responsible for the colonization of Africa. You can now write a good essay on the reasons for the colonization of Africa. What else would you like to know about colonial rule in Africa? Do you have some unanswered questions about African political history in general? Come on, leave your question in the comment box below.

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