Colonization In Africa Essay

Africa had maintained its own cultural and traditional values, identities and history until the Europeans came to the continent and started relations with them in terms of trade, especially slave trade and then colonizing the continent. There were different witnesses to the African development before colonization. For instance, ancient Egypt-Nubia civilization was great and long-lived civilization in Africa and could be assumed as the sources of World civilization (Johnson, 1939). Then the civilizations emerged in Axum, Ghana, Zimbabwe and others could be good evidences for ancient development of the continent. Therefore, until starting of the slave trade and other trade activities like gold, ivory, etc, Africans could maintain their own histories,

Especially, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (Triangular Slave Trade) not only highly affected the continent but also left it with sophisticated disputes for the continuing generation because it depopulated the continent and morally undermined the peoples. Since the 18th century, even though some European governments had attempted to be abolished slave trade activities by laws; the more bad condition (colonization) could come to replace the slave trade and other trade activities. The reason is that the objective of the slave trade was to use African labor outside Africa; whereas that of colonization was to exploit their labor on their own land, in Africa, and to get the market for industrial commodities. Colonization affected the African histories, cultures and traditions and identities, and shaped the societies with European modes of life. Due to this, Africans were considered as uncivilized societies that had already psychologically and morally marginalized the people. Not only this, they were also interrupted from the ancient African civilizations and generally ignored the contributions of the continent for world development. Rather Africans have been considered as burden of world development and even after the independence of the continent from the colonization, the condition couldn’t be changed. This has provided the continent for trusteeship program and the Aid seekers since Africans have been considered as backward