Tag Archives: Imperialism

Background and thoughts Algeria’s colonization by France and colonization in the US

french algeria

What do Algeria, the United States, Canada, Haiti, South Africa, Brazil and almost any country you can think of have in common? All of these nations were at one point places of colonial rule by foreign powers. More specifically, Algeria and the United States were both controlled at one time by European countries. And in fact, both were colonized by the French at certain points, though, the United States would later be unanimously controlled by Great Britain.

As in colonization of any area, the country of power who comes in and encroaches upon a land in some way. Imperialism is no coincidence, and is a vicious, unfair vehicle for the controlling nation to extract some kind of resource tactical or material out of occupying a land.

In the case of Algeria, the French sought out to establish a tactical foothold, as well as a colony for entrepreneurs to exploit. Here in America, when the French were here, they established fur trading posts in Detroit and established a major port in New Orleans. In New England there was much timber trade by the British. And in the South Tobacco was a big cash crop for Great Britain.

In Both America and Algeria, the economies were propped up by the use of slavery. Although the difference here, is that the French enslaved the Algerians, while the British transplanted people from East Africa and brought them to an unfamiliar land. Both are gross travesties. And, even after their abolitions, created major dividing lines, between whites and native, darker skinned people. The outsiders, as in all imperialist situations, were seen as the people in the right, in charge, to be looked up to. After all, they inflicted violence upon the natives if they didn’t.

In the first half of the 1800s there were many pirate attacks on European shifts along the Mediterranean. Much of North Africa offered safe havens for these pirates.

The land which now constitutes Algeria was a part of the Ottoman Empire in the 1830s. The United States were also controlled by other countries before the English established the thirteen colonies, such as, the French, the Spanish and the Dutch.

In France, Napoleon had been out of power for some time, the Bourbon Restoration was going on. It was a time of conservatism and in general, the nation needed to prove it was strong again.

France’s ruler of the time, Charles X, used a petty disagreement between a French consul and an Ottoman leader, as a springboard to invade Algeria. And so they did. In what was supposed to be a civilized overtaking, women were raped, goods were stolen, people were arrested for arbitrary reasons, and people were killed for no good reason.

The French installed many of their own rulers. Over their occupation, the French changed power multiple times. For a brief period, Algeria was actually considered part of the nation of France. They moved in many citizens, some who were entrepreneurs looking to buy land, and some who were peasants and sought to live cheaper and start anew in Algeria.

Much like America, beyond perhaps a few figurehead local leaders, Algerians had no representation, and were being mistreated by French authorities. AND much like in America, as when the British controlled and when the United States won its independence, genocide occurred. Many Berbers in Algeria were killed in order to deal with insurrection or unwillingness to move out of land, much like the United States killed off many Indians.

Abd al Qadir emerged as a fighter of the people, and sought to create an independent Algerian state. He fought a Guerilla war, much like we fought in some of the mountains and valleys of New England, and the Indians fought against our forces.

He established a government in the areas not yet occupied by the French.  It provided military resources, collected taxes and had a focus on education. But in 1836, after a defeat to French forces, they allowed him to have territory they referred to as the Moslem State. Yet, three years later, they attacked and overtook territory that was supposed to belong to al Qadir’s state.

Fighting ensued back and forth until 1843. At this time the French had one third of its whole army stationed in Algeria.

Algeria would not gain independence from France until 1962. The United States can at least say that we’ve had a few centuries of independence. This enabled us to figure out what works and doesn’t work, it allowed us to fight for human rights for different minority groups (something that is still going on), and it enabled us time and infrastructure to take advantage of multiple periods of progress, development and modernization.

While Algeria is now independent, they still are not as stable as the United States. For a country to have only been independent for less than a hundred years, they have not had ample time to work out domestic issues and develop all of its potential socially and economically. They are still beholden to some foreign influence, and are considered a developing nation. Perhaps, had the French not been so ruthless in their control of Algeria, or never invaded, who knows how different things could have been.

Though it is important to note that there was never a nationalist move to make Algeria a nation of its own until French control. While the French killed many people and acted in no part in the interests of the Algerian people, in a way, their colonization, helped the Algerians come together and helped solidify their cultural identity.

sources:

http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/algeria.htm

http://www.cairn.info/zen.php?ID_ARTICLE=CEA_195_0805

http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/algeria-colonization-and-independence

European Powers In Control of the United States and Africa

Colonialism in USA and Africa

Comparing United States and Africa is not a commonly asked request in international studies. The first thought of the United States is usually centered on being an economic powerhouse or having a dominant military. When Africa is mentioned, it is common to immediately go to poverty. Now, what if I said there is common ground between the country and continent.  Before writing this blog, I never connected the fact that both the United States and most of the continent of Africa, excluding Ethiopia and Liberia, were colonized by a European power. However, the future paths of the two and the reasons for the European insertion separated the areas from each other. Let’s dig further into the connections of the United States and the continent of Africa.

Breakdown of the European Power’s control of Africa

The regions of the United States and Africa were once free of outside control. Each place has tribes or colonies that operated without any intervention of the “powerhouse” countries in Europe. And then, both places were met by a European country that proceeded to claim the land as theirs. In the case of the United States, England accidently found the land. They had no idea it was out there and weren’t planning on finding it. Africa on the other hand was explored because these European countries knew it was there and went to different areas of the continent on purpose. It both cases, these European powers spread their religion, ideas, way of life and goods. Once entering these lands, these powers established themselves as the governing figure. In the United States, the Native Americans were forced from their homes and sent west. This ultimately led to the near extinction of Native Americans. This is relatable to the dismantling of the empires that were all over Africa. Little to no empires exist today.

For countries like Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe in Africa, their freedom was granted to them after a revolutionary war. Just as the members of the United States colonies did, they revolted against their European ruler and were able to rule themselves. Although most countries did not gain their independence from force, they still gathered and organized to remove the power (Exploring Africa).

 

Slavery and Imperialism

It is very common today to imagine the African Slave Trade when referring to slavery. The taking of unwilling Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold to Americans and work for no pay in horrible working conditions. These people were tortured, starved, and treated as if they were an abomination to society. My perception of slavery is exactly this. I see it as the taking of a person, and changing their lifestyle any way that you desire. These people are unwilling and are treated worse than dirt. Today, people are still taking unwilling victims to join their army or to use for manual labor. There is an estimated 21 million people in modern-day slavery and their labor is estimated at $150 billion in profits (RT News).

My idea of imperialism is essentially the taking over of a country. Using military force to implement your country’s beliefs, ideals, structure, and way of life. For a place accepting of the changes, this could benefit the growth and foundation of the country. However, imperialism uses an iron fist to break down the people and force them into an extension of their country. The overthrowing of Saddam Hussein is not true imperialism in my belief but I do think it sets the basis to have it grow into imperialism. I understand that Hussein was viewed as a tyrant but we forced our way into controlling the country. Our idea that democracy is a cookie-cutter government and should be implemented in every country ever is ignorant thinking. Different people in the world believe in different things and being an accepting and powerful country, we need to respect that. It is crazy now to think about how England and France and Portugal and others forced their beliefs onto the continent of Africa and we see that as a terrible act but when the United States is doing it, there are people who either look the other way or don’t realize it. I understand I don’t know the thoughts of every American but a general feeling is that we are still unaware of some hidden agendas the government has.

 

 

Citation:

“Unit Two: Studying Africa through the Social Studies.” Exploring Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.

 

“Modern-day Slavery a $150bn-a-year Business – UN Report.” – RT News. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.