The Scramble for Africa

In your own words - explain the term "Scramble for Africa" .
In your explanation address the following: 1.) who were the main European nations involved in this scramble; 2.) what were these nations looking for in Africa; 3.) how were they able to dominate Africa so easily; and 4.) how did this scramble effect the African people?

The term "Scramble for Africa" refers to the European nations who attempted to colonialize the continent. It was split between the most powerful 7 European nations. These were France, Germany, Britain, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Trade routes, natural resources, and slave labor was distributed amongst them as if by there mere existence they were justified to own it all. The Scramble for Africa was a race for raw materials needed to support various industries and an ever growing population of Europeans; many of which sought new lands to cultivate and raise families on. Similar to the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock they formed colonies on foreign land and claimed it as there own.






The Europeans were able to easily dominate Africa, because they possessed better guns and military might. Europeans had more resources to expend and According Jared Diamond(Author of Germs Guns & Steel- The Fates of Human Societies) this was all due to environment.