Colonialism In Africa

Throughout many centuries, Europeans have force their ideals and religion onto African cultures. Portuguese settlers began arriving into the West Coast of Africa to find direct routes to the gold trade and trade routes to spice islands of South Africa. In 1444, Portugal made their first encounter with slaves in Northern Mauritania, the first signs of slave trade and its influence on African culture. Europeans began to plague African cultures through the use of tyranny and weapons that Africans had never been exposed to. Europeans began to have different ideas about the use of slaves in Africa when their motives included the need for plantation labor. They began to bring African "slaves" to North American, South America, and the Caribbean Islands. This caused many of the African tribes to forget about their culture and become incorporated into a different one. Europeans began to colonize in Africa in attempt to make it more "civilized" and to "modernize" it, but it eventually lead to the policy of extending their influence over Africa for economic and political benefit, or imperialism. European's ultimate desire to modernize Africa has affected its original culture in the African Kingdoms, the introduction of the slave trade, and the colonist's political effect on the overall African culture.

African culture originated from the African Kingdoms that have played a big role in the development of African culture before the Europeans arrived. African culture revolved around trade and outside influences, including tradition of the Arab people who crossed the Red Sea into Africa and those of the Kushite people they settles among. Trade was a major aspect of African culture that attracted many people from all over the world. Much of their religion was also incorporated into their culture during the Middle Ages because they believed in one God. They called their God Mahrem and believed that their king was a direct descendant. They were also animists and worshiped the spirits of nature and honored their dead ancestors. They believed in the bad spirits, spirits that cause illnesses, death and suffering. They also believed in good spirits; spirits that provided humans with food and protection. Their political standpoint was a little bit different that what Europeans were accustomed to. They had a king that had tax collectors in the Ghana Empire and would watch over merchants when they exchanged good in the trading cities. In addition to tax trade, royal officials would make sure that all traders weighed goods fairly and did business according to the law. These royal guards were also very protective of their people against bandits. In Europe, following reinvigoration of trade and a money economy based on gold, Lords and the church has a taxation tithe system that peasants and vassals paid. Insurance, banks, bills of exchange, and middle class, guild, and other institutions began to form. Africa was more developed because it was able to satisfy all the needs of the people while still maintaining a peaceful relationship between the king and the people. European government, however, was dependent on peasants and vassal payments that were unfair to them and not to the Lords that did not have to pay them. This created many problems when Europeans arrived in Africa because they began to treat African almost as they treated their peasants and vassals, taking them away from their culture and beliefs.

Although the African Kingdoms during the Middle Ages provided a foundation for much of the culture seen in Africa today, Europeans began disintegrating much of Africans' belief through the start of the slave trade. When Europeans began to arrive in Africa, they began to set up the African Slave Trade. When Portugal arrived in Africa in 1444, they made their first encounter with slaves in Northern Mauritania. Eventually, the Dutch, French, Spanish, and British followed, and they set up the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade provided different motives for Europeans in terms of the need for slaves. Slaves were thought to be mostly beneficial for plantation labor. Europeans would take different captives, especially young men, to do the labor in the fields. They were forced to do hard manual labor and the average span for a young male slave working in a plantation was 5 years and they were usually dead within being 25 years of age. This caused many downfalls for Africa as a continent because it created a decrease in population size and a great mistrust in outsiders. The reasons that lay behind the decrease in population and mistrust in outsiders is not only due to the fact that Europeans worked these African slaves until the died, but also because the voyage that they needed to take to reach their destination, be it North America, South America, or the Caribbean Islands, was gruesome. When slaves were shipped over seas, the ships were extremely overcrowded and caused lack of oxygen in the lower decks. Even if a small amount of the slaves survived the trip, slave traders could still make a profit on the other slaves which they sold on an auction block. Although many Europeans used men as their source of labor in the plantations, they also had a need for female slaves. Female slaves served for the main purpose to work in plantations, but most importantly, to produce children. This was very important to plantation owners because the children born into slavery would also become slaves since they would not be able to survive alone outside of slavery. Although slavery has served a great purpose