Compose a 1250 words assignment on european colonialism over african people as benefit for both sides. Needs to be plagiarism free! By 1914, the whole of Africa had been partitioned apart from Ethiopia and Liberia. The European colonialists who took power in Africa included Britain, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and France (Boahen, Africa under Colonial Domination 1). During this period, Africa was no longer an independent state, but it was under the European nations. Africa had lost its sovereignty and independence to the European nations. When the European came to Africa, they brought very many changes that had positive and negative effects on the Africans. Nevertheless, many African leaders didn’t welcome the new changes that were introduced. Some of the changes that were introduced in Africa included the abolition of slave trade, which was replaced by what they referred to as legitimate trade (Boahen, Africa under Colonial Domination 3). Many African countries were forced to look for other economic activities instead of slave trade. Nigeria involved itself in the growth of cash crops like palm oil, while Senegal grew Groundnuts as cash crops (Boahen, Africa under Colonial Domination 3). With the abolition of slave trade, Britain, France, and Belgium got into a three trade system through long distance trade. Some of the effects of this trade were. first, it brought together the local trade network, secondly, it “brought about the evolution of new social patterns as status acquired through birth gave way to achieved status and a new elite of traders emerged” (Boahen, African Perspectives on European Colonialism 6), and thirdly, the trade produced lingua francas and cultures. The African economy was first integrated into a respective colonizer, and then turned into a leading nation of the capitalist world (Boahen, Africa under Colonial Domination 159). The colonist depended on Africa for primary goods or raw materials for export and in turn, the African would buy the finished product from them (Boahen, Africa under Colonial Domination 159). The European colonist produced bulks of goods within the money economy and this production was not intended to meet the local demand, nor the consumption rate of the Africans. On the contrary, the goods produced on retail market were of foreign origin, hence the local artisans and workers suffered due to the European competition. Negative Effects of Colonialism By 1920, many Africans were producing products that they did not consume and consuming products that they didn’t produce. This affected the domestic demand as it didn’t maximize the domestic resources (Boahen, Africa under Colonial Domination 159). Secondly, the colonial master wasted a lot of African resources and ignored others. this was as a result of the usefulness of yardsticks that was given to European nations, rather than the African countries. Thirdly, it is believed that the colonial masters didn’t bring about economic development. rather, they brought economic dependence and underdeveloped countries in Africa. The period that greatly defined the African economy was during the great depression.
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