Imperialism

What is Imperialism?

Imperialism is the political, economic, and cultural control by one country over another country. The main culprit that comes under imperialism are the Europeans. Earlier, the Europeans had control over many, many countries and had colonized them. The main reason that the Europeans colonized many countries and took over was the ill effects of greed.

*One, due to economic reasons. They had raw materials, and they needed markets to sell these materials.

*Two, due to political reasons. They wanted to have control and power over countries.

*And three, due to religious reasons, the spread of Christianity.

They were successful over the Africans due to their medical advancement, and by the fact that they were armed with heavy, medium, and light machine guns.

The Effects of Imperialism

Due to imperialism, there were five major impacts on the countries of Africa.

1. The exploitation and depletion of Africa's natural resources- Europeans took resources from one country, abusing it, and used it for another countries' benefit, exhausting it, rather than in which the country they found it in.

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English: Nelson Mandela Bridge

The statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square,...

2.New legal system- Europeans brought their own laws and tried to enforce them, creating a new concept of right or wrong.

3.New forms of government- Europeans brought new form of government which included a direct and indirect rule over the Africans. They ruled over them physically, and also someone from Europe appointed someone to rule for them in Africa.

4.Introduction of the money system- Europeans introduced money and replaced the barter system with it, creating inequality over the Africans. Africans who were not wealthy were now looked down on and considered a really low cast, and sometimes even mistreated.

5.Racism- there was discrimination towards the blacks.

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How Imperialism Took Place in South Africa

Between 1850 through 1914,