Cause And Effect Of New Imperialism

New Imperialism, introduced in the 1880s, had the European superpowers rushing to claim new colonies, especially within Africa. Imperialism is when a more powerful state imposes control over the resources, land and population of a lesser developed region/country. As opposed to imperialism, New Imperialism included the exploitation of African and Asian lands with economic and strategic interests in mind. Various factors contributed to the rise of new imperialism: economic benefits, the Social Darwinian belief system and the rise of nationalism, were few of the many causes. The Industrial Revolution also called for this imperialist movement, creating the need for natural resources in order to fuel new machinery and transportation systems. The

A British Consular in 1899 described the conditions in which King Leopold II made for the extraction of rubber . The officers went to extreme lengths in order to extract all the natural resources, showcasing the need for natural resources. Natural resources were the most valuable sources at the time, with all of Africa being exploited for them. These conditions set the tone for the rubber collection that defined King Leopold’s reign. He exploited, killed, tortured and abused basically the entirety of the population for the sole reason of extracting their rubber supply. The never-ending taxes and crumbling economy set up by King Leopold II was all in the name of rubber . Once again, it displays the great lengths King Leopold II would go to in order to reach his quota of rubber. The people would pay the heavy taxes with the limited amount of profit they made, leaving them with almost nothing in the end. It was a cycle that ultimately crippled the economy. King Leopold II would lose any profits if the people were paid any more than they were, as the people would be able to financially handle themselves. Those who couldn’t gather the rubber were not seen as people, they were seen as economic loss in the eyes of King Leopold II. There were even numerous instances in which Leopold ordered the killing of those who he couldn’t make a profit off . The Congolese people often felt

This idea of white racial superiority was put into effect near the middle of Leopold’s reign, greatly impacting the view both he and others had on what was happening in the region. Rudyard Kipling described it perfectly, by stating that it was the white man’s burden to help civilize the colored folk . King Leopold II and many others latched onto this belief that the white European is superior to the non-white people, giving many the motivation they needed in order to execute these destructive plans. They finally had the incentive to fully economically exploit the people. Feeling superior to the natives had that extra push in order to exploit them. They believed that they were exploiting them for their own good, because they were able to teach the Congolese people how to finally act like a ‘civilized’ person and how to adjust to the European modern society. Since King Leopold II was only thinking about his profits, his line of thinking was trying to ‘save’ the natives and exploit them for his own gain. George Washington Williams was one of the first to write history from the African American point of view . He described Leopold as wanting to ‘help’ Africans, whom he saw as the lesser race. Leopold was able to plunder the entirety of Congo with this belief in this mind. He would expertly exploit the tribes, by saying one thing and then