Post-Colonial Britain had political, economic, and social changes that drove them to begin enforcing imperial policies in Africa through the military and manipulation. The Berlin conference (1884-1885) negotiated which parts of Africa would be claimed by each European country, but they had little care to the cultures they were dividing. “African national leaders and native populations were excluded from these negotiations that decided their future” (The Impact of European Imperialism in Africa). Majority of Africa was colonized by the European nations in the fifteen years that followed the Berlin Conference. Africans had very little if any control over their lives because Europeans were controlling them and enslaving some while Africa’s resources were being exploited by the invaders. Great Britain had a massive colonial empire in Africa in late 1800’s. However, the policies for Britain’s territory varied depending on the settlement; some allowed Africans to have some power while others were dictating their lives. The West African colonies of Britain “built a network of roads, railways, and ports for the movement of cash crops and other goods. They imposed taxes on Africans, which had to be paid in cash, to increase the labor force. The only ways Africans could make these tax payments were to sell products or work for wages. Colonial authorities sometimes allowed forced labor as well” (Colonialism in Africa). This link provides information on what some European nations outside of Britain did to colonize their portion of Africa: http://foreignpolicynews.org/2016/05/22/colonialism-africa-bondage-exploitation-developments/

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Joseph Conrad wrote, Heart of Darkness about his own experience in Africa and he found that it was a very dark place. “By the 1870s and 1880s, European traders, officials, and adventurers were going to Africa to seek their fame and fortune, and recent developments in guns gave these men significant power in Africa. When they abused that power—especially in the Congo—Europeans blamed the Dark Continent, rather than themselves. Africa, they said, was the that supposedly brought out the savagery in man” (Thompsell). Conrad does see Africa as having a dark temptation, but the savages are the natives in his story: “I was loafing about, hindering you fellows in your work and invading your homes, just as though I had a heavenly mission to civilize you” (Greenblatt). Invaders believed that they were helping by civilizing natives. Slavery in Africa was abolished in 1833, but the British were frustrated that Africans wouldn’t work at their plantations still for low pay. Because of this Britain’s began painting a bad picture of the Africans by saying they are lazy and evil doers. “At the same time, missionaries began traveling to Africa to bring the word of God. They expected to have their work cut out for them, but when decades later they still had few converts in many areas, they began saying that African people’s hearts were locked in darkness. They were closed off from the saving light of Christianity” (Thompsell). Angela Thompsell dives into the question; why was Africa called the dark continent? Some argues that it was called a dark continent because little was known about it, but this turns out to be false and debunked by Thompsell. Check out what Thompsell says is the reason behind the Africa being the dark continent: https://www.thoughtco.com/why-africa-called-the-dark-continent-43310.

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John Green has an amazing video about European Imperialism of 19th century: https://youtu.be/alJaltUmrGo. I found it interesting to learn about the difficulties Britain faced while colonizing Africa. The illnesses in Africa wiped out European in large numbers and so it made it difficult have healthy military in Africa that could enforce their power. Africans were conquered though because Europeans had greater technology.

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