How Did The American Revolution Influence The Europeans Colonize Africa

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The Scramble for Africa was a period of time where Europeans colonized Africa between the years of late 1870s and early 1900s. Almost all of Africa became part of Europe’s empire. The continent of Africa was filled with many natural resources such as cotton, gold, iron, and ivory which the Europeans were yearning for. Natural resources were important to the Europeans so they could gain wealth and power. But the Europeans gain of wealth and power led to many genocides and war in Africa. This European movement had implemented the themes of “Commerce, Christianity, and Civilization” which was important for their growth in colonizing Africa. The civilization of Africa began in 1884 during the Berlin Conference. The Berlin Conference was a meeting between European nations to discuss how to divide Africa. This was also a meeting to bring colonial powers together to prevent rivariles amongst them. Africa became divided between Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Portugal. This conference led to Africa being the site of settlements, trade, and exploration. Many countries, such as France and Belgium were losing money. In order to fix their problem, the European countries resulted in taking the raw materials in Africa. They even …show more content…
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Leopold’s gain of wealth began with the natural resource of ivory. “Initially he was most interested in ivory,.. For some years ivory was a principal source of the great wealth that Leopold and his associates drew from the new colony,” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Ivory was used to make items such as jewelry and statues. In 1890, there was another popular natural resource called rubber. “A worldwide rubber boom was underway, kicked off by the invention of the inflatable bicycle tire and spurred on by the rise of the automobile…,” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Rubber was also used for industrial belts, and telephone