Did the British Empire Improve Lives in Africa free essay sample

Did the British Empire improve people’s lives in Africa? I will start off by defining the terms of this essay. ‘Improve’, in this context, means the African people’s lives developing and the standard of living getting better. The British Empire in Africa was vast. It included lands in North Africa, such as Egypt, much of West Africa, and huge territories in Southern and East Africa. British rule had a huge impact on the lives of millions of Africans. Before the British rule in Africa, African people were poor. They did not have proper towns, just little villages. They had no means of transport and no education. They had no or little knowledge about medications. It was merely uncivilized. The Scramble for Africa was the proliferation of conflicting Europeans claiming territory in Africa during the New Imperialism period, between 1876 and World War I in 1914. There were many causes for the Scramble for Africa. We will write a custom essay sample on Did the British Empire Improve Lives in Africa? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The main cause was economic. Africa was a country rich in natural resources and Europeans (including the British) wanted to gain the raw materials which Africa was full of. Africa had resources to offer such as rubber and copper and riches such as ivory, gold and diamonds which initially attracted European powers to colonise Africa and earn profits. European countries realised that by captivating African resources and riches they could establish trade with other countries for other materials and resources. Also, Europeans believed that the tropics had perfect weather for farming and growing cash crops such as cocoa in Ghana and tea and coffee in Kenya. However, it reached a point when nations grabbed land just to keep up with the others. The King of Belgium took a large area around the Congo River saying, â€Å"I did not want to miss a chance of getting a piece of this African cake. †The scramble for Africa was not beneficial to Africans as they were often exploited and disrespected. The slave trade soon followed. The slave trade was from 1600-1807. The Atlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the colonies of the New World that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. It was the British that developed the Atlantic slave system known as the ‘Triangular Trade’. African and Arab slave traders brought slaves to slave markets on the West African coast. They would then be bought by European slave traders. These slave traders bought goods from Europe which exchanged for the slaves. The slaves were then transported to the Americas on a journey known as the ‘Middle Passage’. Between 1700 and 1807, around 12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic. Roughly 15% of those transported died on the journey. The conditions on board the slave ships were horrific. Throughout the journey the slaves were chained together by their hands and feet and they were often kept below deck in the dark. In 1788, a slave ship called ‘The Brookes’ was carrying over 600 slaves from Africa to America. This was despite the fact that the ship was designed to carry only 451 passengers. However, the impact on slave trade was considerable. Ports such as Liverpool and Glasgow were created from the profits of the slave trade. However, the British were not the only benefiters from this. In Africa, the slave trade led to the creation of powerful West African kingdoms as there was only a small number of Africans that profited from selling slaves to Europeans. In 1807 the slave trade was abolished by the British Parliament as it was under increasing pressure from the abolitionist movement. It became illegal to buy and sell slaves, but people could still own them. An act making slavery illegal was passed in 1833 and it became a law on August 1st 1834. This improved African people’s lives by far. The British Empire was bad in many ways. It was built on vast ethnic cleansing, enslavement, enforced racial hierarchy, land theft and merciless exploitation. The British Empire also brought many improvements to Africa. The British educated the Africans by building schools, colleges, hospitals, roads and bridges. The British also developed Africa’s transport systems, by building railways and seaports. The British also raised political awareness in Africa and therefore, a new generation of black politicians was born. Even though the British’s motives were selfish and they built railways in order to ship the raw materials and riches out of Africa, it also benefited and civilized the native inhabitants (Africans). For example, the British invested in South Africa’s gold mines. They wanted the Africans to work and dig up the gold. Though the Africans were paid little or nothing, the British built hospitals, schools and houses for them, not because they wanted to help them, but because they had no other choice. In my opinion, I conclude that the British Empire did improve people’s lives in Africa, whether they had an intention to, or not. The African people did have to sacrifice their natural resources, but the British brought civilization and education to Africa. Though Africa is still poor now, it is much better, considering the state in which they lived before the British rule. bbc. co. uk/history