Colonialism: historical origins, impacts, and consequences

Colonialism

In what ways are the legacies of African colonization still visible today?

The history of African colonization is one that involves cultural geography. This is where you are studying the impact of human cultural, on the landscape of a geographic region. ("Cultural Geography," 2010) in the case of Africa, cultural geography would change the physical landscape of the continent and it would establish new social order / conflicts that would have a profound impact upon the future. Evidence of this can be seen by looking no further than Angola, where the country would play an important role in the slave trade and its impact upon the continent in the future. What happened was, Angola became an area that was being utilized between 1500's and 1860's (by the Portuguese) to export a large number of slaves to the Western Hemisphere. (Ohlson, 2003, pp. 20 -- 34) This is important, because this would establish the modern day conflicts that have occurred during the recent civil war. Where, the Portuguese would encourage the Angolans to capture other African tribesmen and then pay them for their services. This would create a large industry of private militias that would seek out various tribes, in an effort to maximize their profits. At the same time, it would create rivalries between the Portuguese and the Angolans for land as well as natural resources. Over the course of time, the divisions between the Portuguese and the Angolans would become more heated. There would also be sub-conflicts occurring, between the different groups within African society. This is important, because it shows how the slave trade and the colonization of Africa would create vast divisions inside Angola itself. Over the course of time, this would create divisiveness within Angolan society. As the various militias would have their own spheres of influences and the Portuguese would continue to push for increasing power and control. At which point, hostilities would occur between the different groups inside the country. A good example of the long-term effects that this would have on the country can be seen, by looking no further than the civil war that would occur during the 1980's. What happened was the country would represent a balance of power between foreign and African interests. As their declaring of independence, would invite the communist and Western learning forces, to use the country as one front in the Cold War. At the same time, various African nationalist forces would fight against one another and foreign backed forces. Where, the various sides would fight a bloody civil war over control of power and natural resources. The war would occur in various stages to include: 1975 to 1991, 1991 to 1994 and 1998 to 2008. This is significant, because it shows how the divisiveness from the slave trade, would establish various groups that would seek to gain power and influence. The historical precedent would increase the overall amounts of instability in the country, as it would establish a culture of violence. ("Angolan Civil War," 2003)

At the same time, the different natural resources that were found, mainly diamonds and oil would play a role in the civil war. In this case, this would highlight a continuation that would occur throughout the history of Angola. Where, the country would always face extreme amounts of competition between the different groups for control of these various resources. During the civil war, this was a continuation of this pattern as the various Angolan militias would fight with each other; for control of select mineral rich areas. At the same time, they would fight foreign-based forces such as: the communists and anti-communists. In this case, the various communist / anti-communist forces were replacing the Portuguese. While the different militias, would be a continuation of the hostilities that would take place throughout the centuries. As they were replacing control of one set of resources (slaves), with that of other natural resources found later on (diamonds and oil). This is significant, because it highlights how the intense competition among the various groups in Angola, would occur from one generation to the next, based upon influence and control of natural resources. In this case, one could argue that the slave trade would create the foundation for the rivalries between the different groups (for control of these natural resources). As a result, it is easy to see how slavery and the colonization of Africa would contribute to this situation.