Africa Since 1800 Is Primarily Term Paper

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They note that the reign of Idi Amin in Uganda was not simply bad, but an example of "three decades of civil strife" where military abuses were inflicted by the nation's rulers upon the populace (312)

However, there is no question that the technological imbalance between Africa and Europe in terms of military power affected the development of the region's history, although the European possession of arms should not be seen as an example of Western moral superiority or civilization. During the 19th century, as well as the demand for ivory and slaves, one of the most significant forces that changed old ways of life in Africa was the demand for firearms by the central inhabitants of the interior against other African warring tribes.(95). For better or for worse, colonialism changed the region forever.

The book is as much a history of changing European perceptions of Africa and the European relationship with Africa as it is about the nations of Africa as a whole. Originally, European colonial interest in 'the Dark Continent' paled in comparison to the more economically lucrative Indies, and the potential to gain control over the trading routes to East Asia. The only significant colonial power in Africa was the Ottoman Empire (16). Ironically, one of the first purchases by Europeans in Africa was when a "group of philanthropists in England bought a few square miles of the Sierra Leone peninsula for the purpose of settling Negro slaves freed in England" (17). But demand for labor-intensive goods like sugar and coffee drove French colonization and the slave trade in the West African region (95). British and German colonial expansion in Western and Central Africa tended to stress settlement and farming and giving land grants to European citizens (157).

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The process of resistance to colonialization was no more monolithic than the various colonial practices enforced by the major powers. For example, the authors cite the example of Tunisia, where was a strong democratic tradition dating back to the first Destour (Constitution Party). Its leader proclaimed that an independent Tunisia would be a Tunisia for all, regardless of religious affiliation, an assertion that flies in the face of the idea that only radical groups fueled independence movements (190). True to form, Oliver and Atmore approve of this as a 'good' type of resistance, because it embraces what they consider to be the universal benefits of democratic, Western-style constitutional government. But regardless of their editorializing, Africa Since 1800 is still a worthy read, if only for its illumination of West African political development as distinct from Central and Eastern African history, and its condense yet diverse factual array of events that may be unfamiliar to a new student of African history.

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