Author Archives: Spencer Griffin Bivens

Colonialism has shaped many regions of the world but in many different ways. In Europe a lot of what has developed that area has shaped the United States and our development. The main country involved with this has been England or Great Britain. We know that we were originally apart of that country before some of the greatest shifts in our history occurred, the revolutionary war. Most countries have experienced great shifts in their nations history and this is the same for many African countries. Colonialism has been the stepping-stone in nearly every country’s history and has been a key part of molding a countries “backbone.”

In the United States the colonial period might have been one of the most significant parts of our nation’s history. During this period many events took place that began to shape our country. At this time the country was relatively new and the people of the ‘extension of Great Britain’ were still under British reign, which meant we still had to abide by the laws of England and the King. England at the time was a supreme power in Europe and in the world, keeping the 13 colonies of the current United States of America under its rule.

Some countries have gone through colonization similar to the United States and their fight against British rule on the continent of Africa. Many African countries have a European history of ‘ownership’ and have been colonized by European countries as well. For the United States, we are particular when it comes to the colonization of our country compared to most of the African countries that were under European rule. We became a free country of our own after the Revolutionary war and in this day and age do not consider ourselves to be ‘English’ but for some of the African countries colonized by Europeans they still associate with their European ties. There are a few European countries that colonized areas of Africa including France, England, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany and Portugal. Before 1880 close to 90% of Africa was still under African rule and nearly two decades later the only uncolonized areas were Liberia and Ethiopia. The two most influencing European countries were England and France but they were not the limit of control. These countries held a conference referred to as the Berlin Conference establishing ground rules on dividing the continent and during the conference there was no African representation. Also it was agreed upon that new annexations would not be recognized unless the territory had been effectively occupied. Occupying most of the territory, England and France had some indirect gains. England ruled their occupied land through the traditional tribal leaders and if a tribal leader wasn’t obliging to their laws they would be replaced by British appointees who were more cooperative to the colonial regime. The original tribal leaders would often face resistance from their own people. The leaders also would use their positions to gain substantial incomes much more than any other possible position. France put together administrative units that cut across the traditional boundaries, allowing locally born residents to have rights to French citizenship. The French also established an ‘African elite’ who would accept the French expectations and standards while becoming associated with French rulers through work of governing colonies.

Europeans for the most part used Africa for its goods and natural resources. During the colonial time period greed seemed to be the center point of Europeans ideas. Most of the Europeans investment in Africa and the countries within were focused on ‘money-making’ areas such as minerals, plantation possibilities and resources. The people of Africa had their land taken from them that they had control of and had raised extensive generations of people within. Although this sounds good and probably benefitted the continent the Europeans set-up extensive railroads and ports to move the goods and resources from place to place including back to Europe. The map of Africa was actually comprised and put together by the Europeans who took control of the different countries of Africa.

Between the colonial period of the United States and the colonial period in Africa there were a few similarities I could come up with. First, both areas were annexed unjustly. In the United States there were people here before the Europeans who were forced out and took land from, the Native-Americans. In Africa the Europeans annexed the land from the native Africans. Secondly, the land was fought over in many different skirmishes. Third, the land was used in large part for crops, plantations and the resources, along with the set up of ports and railways to move things about the countries. Overall I feel a large amount of countries were hurt throughout the colonial period but some may have had some benefits from the European ‘support’.