Topic > How the negative effects outweigh the benefits of colonialism in Africa

During the period of discovery in the 15th century, Europeans introduced the idea of ​​colonialism. Colonization is a process by which a weaker country approaches a more dominant country and establishes control over it. Its main purpose was to serve as a source of cheap labor, natural resources, or as a target for the opening of new trade routes. Therefore, the reasons behind the African rush were mainly economic, political and religious. After the slave trade was declared illegal, European powers began to look for ways to obtain money, one of which was the natural resources that Africa provided. Since the Europeans were aware of how rich they could get by selling raw materials such as diamonds, salt, cocoa, and gold at a much higher price than the original price, their immediate goal was to occupy the region. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Another cause of colonization was the consequences after industrialization. Problems such as unemployment, poverty, homelessness and social displacement from rural areas arise, Europeans thought the only way to get rid of this “surplus population” was to acquire colonies and send them away. Therefore, this led to the idea of ​​establishing colonies in places like Algeria, Namibia, Nigeria, Angola, Zimbabwe, and eventually the entire African continent. By 1900, almost 90% of Africa was colonized by seven European powers such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Furthermore, this period of colonization brought negative and positive effects on both sides, however were the benefits equally good for Africans and Europeans, or was the treatment equally horrible for both nations? No. One nation is always more privileged than the other, in this case the Europeans colonized Africa only for their own needs, gaining money and territory. However, this period cannot be put aside, as it changed Africa from a crude, uncivilized and uneducated nation to a simpler and more organized nation, it also introduced mechanized production patterns which helped the typical African man in agriculture and in agriculture. There have been many positive effects such as the introduction of Christianity among Africans which brought more opportunities for religious missions, and now there are many states that have remained Christian. However, by introducing new religions and cultures, their own culture became diluted, traditions were taken away and their ways of life were destroyed. On the one hand the Europeans built new institutions, hospitals, schools, factories, but on the other they took possession of all their raw materials and never gave the Africans the opportunity to learn how to use their resources. So, in the end, are these “positive effects” actually as beneficial for Africans or are they just used as cover by politicians? Furthermore, it is natural for human beings to look for the positive sides of such an event, but this does not mean hiding the painful truth. Historian Alain Ruscio argues that many political powers try to overlook the idea of ​​how horrible this period was by balancing the situation with the “benefits” that Africans obtained. Which is partly true, as mentioned earlier, new hospitals were built, but Algeria, for example, even though it was one of the largest states in Africa, their perception of medicine was problematic during colonization. The Europeans brought many Western doctors, to improve medicine, however the Algerians considered them colonists and did not trust them, so.