-
1400
The Golden Age
Europeans began to sail south around the continent of Africa in an attempt to reach the wealth of silks and spices found in India and China. -
1500
Slavery Begins
The Europeans began to build trading posts in Africa in the 1500s and by the early 1800s, they were colonizing or taking over another country for the resources it could provide. -
1500
European trading
European traders began to sell Africans guns and European made goods in exchange for slaves. The Africans only did this so they could get more money for themselves! -
Slavery Ends
Europeans knew that Africa had many resources and important trade routes they wanted to control. The Europeans wanted to control more for themselves! -
Europe Takes Land
Europe had taken over nearly all of Africa. Europe is only taking almost all of Africa because it only wants the land and money. In the mid 1900s inspired by the events of World War II Africans began to seriously rebel against colonization. -
South Africa
In 1910 South Africa was granted independence from Great Britain. Although white people were small groups in South Africa, they controlled the government and businesses. -
Kikuyu
The Kikuyu people of Kenya began a political organization in the 1920s to fight for freedom from Great Britain. Great Britain seems like they only want to cause problems because it normally seems like they are starting all the fights. -
Taking over more countries
The only country to remain uncolonized was Ethiopia though Italy did invade the country in 1930. By far, the worst of the colonies established by European countries was the Belgium Congo. However, nearly all Africans suffered under colonial rule as their land was taken; they were forced to work for little or no pay and any attempt to rebel was violently crushed. -
Introducing New things
In Ghana in the 1940s Kwame Nkrumah introduced the idea of Pan-Africanism which was a belief in the unity of all Black Africans worldwide. Ghana would gain its independence in 1957. The Kikuyu people of Kenya began a political organization in the 1920s to fight for freedom from Great Britain. It took years but Kenya became independent in 1963. In 1960 Nigeria became independent after a fierce struggle against the British. -
White South Africans
In 1948 , white South Africans known as Afrikaners made apartheid law. Apartheid is a policy of legal separation based on race. Under the law of apartheid black South Africans were forced to leave where they where and work for the whites. Also blacks couldn’t marry white people and got poor help from health care and schools. Another thing is they had no say in anything goverment wise. -
Sudan
Sudan gained its independence from Great Britain in 1956. In the northern part of the country most people were Muslim Arabs. In the south most people were not Arab. In addition, many religions were practiced in the south with Christianity being the most common. The country's government was in the north. -
After Independence
After independence, the people in the south rebelled against northern rule leading to two civil wars from 1956 to 1972 and from 1983 to 2005. Millions of people died. -
Independence
Life was not perfect in Africa after independence. Countries that had been colonized were economically devastated. Things were made more difficult because the Eruopeans had drawn country lines without regard to where different ethnic groups were located. Belgium Congo became independent in 1960. The country was unable to create a stable, fair government. As a result, in 1965 Joseph Mobutu seized power. -
Rwanda
Rwanda is a small country divided between two ethnic groups, the minority Tutsi and majority Hutu. Independence came to Rwanda in 1962 after which violence broke out and the Hutu took control. -
Kenya became independent
It took years but Kenya became independent in 1963. Jomo Kenyatta would become the newly independent Kenya’s first leader. -
Nelson Mandela
In 1964 Nelson Mandela was arrested and sentenced to life in prison for his actions. Mandela would not
be silenced and continued to protest from
prison. F.W. de Klerk was elected president
of South Africa in 1989. De Klerk realized that the apartheid law could not continue. -
Joseph Mobutu
As a result, in 1965 Joseph Mobutu seized power. He renamed the country Zaire and ruled uninterrupted for 32 years. The suffering of the people of Congo continued due his corruption and violence. -
Civil war one
The people in the south rebelled against the north because of ruling that lead two civil wars. It seems that a lot of times they north and south fight. -
Declaring Independence
Nigeria suffered from violence among its many ethnic groups. In 1976 the Igbo people tried to declare themselves independent. They named their new country Biafra. The actions of the Igbo launched a civil war in which over one million people died before the Igbo agreed to remain part of Nigeria -
Civil war two
After the first civil war they decided that they needed another war! They only started the war because of the two leading rulers. -
Elections
In 1990,
he announced the end of apartheid and released Nelson Mandela from prison. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in ending apartheid. In 1994, South Africa held its first open elections in which Nelson Mandela was elected the new president. -
Wars and Violence
The country continued to experience violence until
1994 when Hutu began to engage in genocide against the Tutsi people. Between 800,000 to 1 million Tutsi people were murdered. Eventually the Tutsi came back into power and restored peace. -
The end of the 2nd Civil War
Then after the wars were done there was barely any people left in the countries. So they decided to stop the war. Also millions of people died. -
Arab Spring
One of the worst outcomes of colonialism was it left countries with weak governments that often became dictatorships. In 2010, people in Tunisia began to agitate for a more democratic government. This movement became known as the Arab Spring. -
Reconization for other countries
In 2011, Sudan recognized South Sudan’s independence.
In Darfur, an area west of Sudan, water is scarce which led to black farmers fighting with Arab herders for control of what water exists. The Sudanese government backed the herders and overlooked the terrible acts of violence the herders were using against the farmers. Millions of Hutus escaped into the Democratic Republic of Congo where the Hutu and Tutsi continued to fight. -
Tunisia
In 2011, President Ben Ali resigned and a democratic government was elected. Similar victories occurred in Algeria and Morocco. In Libya, dictator Muammar Qaddafi refused to step down. Instead, war broke out. Other countries, including the United States supported the rebels fighting against Qaddafi. -
Qaddafi
Qaddafi was captured and killed in 2011, and a new government was elected. Unfortunately, not all of the rebel groups supported the new government which has led to further violence as groups fight to control oil rich areas. The violence has also given terrorist groups the opportunity to establish bases and carry out attacks. -
Arab Spring Egypt
At the beginning of the Arab Spring Egypt was under the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak was a dictator who had controlled Egypt for 30 years. He was forced to resign in 2011. -
Mubarak
Mubarak was replaced by an Islamic fundamentalist government led by Mohammed Morsi in 2012. -
Mohammed Morsi
Morsi’s term was short because in 2013, his government was overthrown by the military. Morsi was imprisoned and his political party was banned. The new government gave more power to the police and military in the new constitution.