Chapter 5:
Imperialism in Africa
Part 3: The Consequences of Colonialism
Section 1: Economic Consequences
What is profit, who profits, and who is exploited?
Let’s Review!
Economic Consequences for Africa
Let’s take a look at an art object made in a village at the Loango Coast to examine changes in their economic system.
Who do you see? What are they doing?
What are the figures wearing?
What objects are they holding?
What is this art piece made of?
What? The Production Pipeline
Raw Material:
Palm
Human Labor
Luxury Cloths
Palm oil
Who? The Kongolese and Europeans
Who Are the Players?
Prestige Hats are a sign of power
Cloth around the waist are worn by Kongolese commoners
Pith Helmets have become a symbol of imperialism
Who? The Kongolese and Europeans
Kongolese Leaders who traded with the Europeans
Enslaved Kongolese, sold to the Americas
Europeans: Portuguese, French, Dutch, Belgium
What is the profit?
Who is profiting?
Who is exploited?
Resource Extraction
With colonization, agricultural land that had once been used to feed the population was now used for export crops.
Export crops are crop grown primarily to be traded (exported) rather than to feed the local populace.
Resource Extraction
Africans worked for the colonizers in exchange for very low wages.
European colonial powers reaped enormous profits from extracting natural resources in Africa and exploiting Africans, who became increasingly impoverished as a result.
Dependence on the Mother Country
European mother countries built very little infrastructure to promote industrial development in Africa.
They preferred to keep profitable manufacturing and production industries in Europe.
This meant that African colonies did not benefit from the economic growth and technological advances related to industrialization.
Warning: Discussion of colonial violence
The Congo “Free” State: Who?
After years of trade and conflict with Portuguese and Dutch traders, King Leopold II of Belgium seized control of what was roughly the Kingdom of Kongo.
The Congo Free State was privately owned by King Leopold II. He never visited the state.
This led to one of the biggest humanitarian crises in human history, resulting in 10’s of millions of deaths.
The Human Cost of Tires
Demand for Tires in Europe
Forced Labor in Leopoldville resulting in a major population decline.
Extraction of rubber from the white rubber vine.
Rubber Plantations
“We were always in the forest to find the rubber vines, to go without food, and our women had to give up cultivating the fields and gardens. Then we starved ... When we failed and our rubber was short, the soldiers came to our towns and killed us”
Clearing of tropical rainforests
What does it mean when humans become an economic “resource” or “private property”?
1906 cartoon published in the British satirical magazine
Check in:
Let’s Review!
Who is this? What did he do? Where did he claim to be his “private property”?
The Royal Palace of Brussels, Belgium in 2020
Let’s take a look at what’s going on in Belgium today:
What is happening here?
Why is the statue sprayed in red?
How does the red color change our impression of the statue?
Would you consider this a punishable crime? Why or why not?
Acculturation in Africa:
Colonial schools were set up to teach colonized peoples the language, laws, and history of the mother country.
Education was a largely conducted by missionaries—members of the clergy whose mission was to convert the population to Christianity.
Acculturation is the process of one culture being absorbed by another, typically dominant, culture
Acculturation in Africa:
What is happening here?
Il Missionario abbruccia una casa d’un Fatucchiero, ca. 1750
Children Under the Belgian Congo
Bitu Bingi, a mixed-race child, was taken from her family and enrolled by force to a Catholic mission school.
“We were told we were ‘the children of sin.’ The sisters, the population, everyone called us that.”
Acculturation: More Complicated Than it Seems
We often talk about how African cultures were “absorbed” by European cultures. However, sometimes, this narrative can take oversimplify the story, making the Africans passive victims.
We can also look at how African cultures “absorbed” and reacted to European culture.
Making Christianity African
During the trading period with Europeans, artists in the Kingdom of Kongo used traditional techniques and materials to make Christian art.
Buildings and Stolen Objects:
In the colonies, European empires constructed buildings in the architectural styles of the mother country.
They stole artifacts and art objects from African kingdoms to display in museums in Europe.
Maangaka Figure
The Benin Bronzes
Do you recognize this building?
Bronze Mask from the Kingdom of Benin
Benin Bronzes:
After independence, many African countries have called for a return of their stolen art. Many museums who display it for the public have refused to return them.
Canada currently has 11 Benin Bronzes, 5 in Montreal. (https://digitalbenin.org/)
Who has access to these artworks? Who is the “public” the museums refer to?
African Artists React:
In 2021, artist Chidi Nwaubani created “Looty”, a digital heist project where he takes back stolen Benin Bronzes by scanning them and making them in 3-D.
African culture was impacted by European contact and imperialism. Many cultures changed, artwork was stolen, and some traditions were lost.
However, this does not mean African tradition disappeared.
Africans continue to make art and produce culture, before and during European contact, and after flag independence.
Before European contact
During European contact
Today
What are the stories we tell about a people and their culture?
Who has the power to tell these stories?
What does it mean to take back that power?
Check in:
Section 3: Social Consequences
What are the aftermaths of colonialism: is it really over?
Let’s Review!
What does this staff tell us about the situation in Congo?
Another Staff:
Who is this staff showing?
What is their gender?
How does it compare with the first staff?
How does it differ from the first staff?
A child
A mother
Phemba: Common symbol of birth and renewal in Kongo art
Staff
Religious and spiritual significance
Sign of power!
Phemba Staff:
Phemba staffs (mvwala) were believed by Kongolese people to promote fertility in women and the survival of the family.
There was an increase commissioning of Phemba staffs during the 19th century. Why?
Population Decline: Transatlantic Slave Trade
The increased focus of women figures were partially in reaction to the declining population due to the transatlantic slave trade.
Let’s Review!
Who is this? What did he do? Where did he claim to be his “private property”?
Life in the Congo Free State and the Belgium Congo
The population of Congo was slashed in half between 1885 and 1908.
Most likely 11.5 million people died.
Conflicts between African Societies
Territorial boundaries drawn by Europeans in Africa forced different ethnic groups to live together.
Conflicts between African Societies
Many European mother countries also contributed to rivalries between African societies by favoring some ethnic groups over others, which fueled conflict and resulted in hundreds and thousands of deaths.
Why did Europeans favor some ethnic groups over others?
Why were they still interested in Africa?
(Hint: Circle back to Monday’s class)
What’s Oppenheimer’s
Gotta Do With It?
Uranium in World War II
The Congo's rich natural resources, including uranium.
Much of the uranium used by the U.S. nuclear programme during World War II was Congolese—led to substantial interest in the region from both the Soviet Union and the United States as the Cold War developed.
Africans Fight for Independence
After independence, Congo elected its first president Patrice Lumumba. However, made it clear that he would not give the U.S. the same freedom to control Congo’s uranium as had Belgium.
Lumumba was assassinated on January 4, 1961.
Fast Forward to Today: Cobalt
Cobalt
Lithium Ion Battery
Human Labor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iMN7M5YLyI
Neocolonialism:
Neocolonialism:
Neo:
New
Colonialism:
power over another people’s land
Neocolonialism: the continuation of control over a former colony, even after independence.
Francis Kwame Nkrumah, the president of Ghana first used this term in his book: Neocolonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism
Africans Fight for Freedom
Andree Blouin led mass grassroots effort to mobilise Congolese women to participate in the independence movement.
“One could not separate the problem of the African continent’s resources from the problem of the African woman.”
Africans Fight for Freedom
Julienne Lusenge is a Congolese human rights activist recognized for advocating for survivors of wartime sexual violence.
She focuses on securing funds for rural women in poverty.
What does it mean to truly decolonize?
What does freedom mean?
How have Africans been BOTH successful and unsuccessful in their struggle for freedom?
What does it mean to decolonize?
Does it mean giving back what is stolen?
What does freedom mean?
Cultural Freedom
Social Freedom
Economic Freedom
How have Africans been both successful and unsuccessful in their fight for freedom?
Economic Fight
Cultural Fight
Social Fight