Beginnings Of European Control In Africa
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Submitted by pluggy on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
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Beginnings Of European Control In Africa
The beginnings of European control.
During the 1400's, the Portuguese began to explore the west coast of Africa. They were interested in Africa's gold trade and so established trading posts in Gambia, the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and other west coast lands. They also tried to convert the rulers of the Kongo and other kingdoms to Christianity. Soon after the Portuguese arrived in western Africa, they began to ship black Africans to Europe as slaves. In 1497 and 1498, Vasco da Gama led a Portuguese expedition that sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, along the east coast of Africa, and on to India. The Portuguese won control of the city-states of eastern Africa during the 1500's. During the 1600's, the Dutch took over many of Portugal's west coast trading posts. They also established Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa in 1652.
Africa had shipped slaves to Asia and Europe long before the Portuguese arrived. But the establishment of European plantations in North and South America during the 1500's led to a much greater demand for slaves. By the 1800's, Europeans had brought as many as 10 million slaves from western Africa to the Americas. About 500,000 of the slaves were shipped to what is now the United States. Arab and African traders on Africa's east coast shipped slaves to Zanzibar and countries bordering the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
The trade in gold and slaves brought more wealth and power to some African forest kingdoms, such as Ashanti in what is now Ghana. European traders introduced cassava and corn into Africa. These foods became important crops. The traders also introduced Africans to guns, which the Africans eventually used in wars against one another or against the Europeans.
During the late 1700's, Europeans began to explore the African interior. They wanted to spread Christianity and to develop new trade ties based on minerals, palm oil, and other raw materials for industry....
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