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European Imperialism Dbq

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European imperialism started as a source for raw materials and a way to gain advantages over their rival countries (Spielvogel and McTighe 226). Yet, the African countries being imperialized were impacted by this settlement in many positive ways (Spielvogel and McTighe 231). Europeans brought ideas of Westernization and influenced the societies that were not yet industrialized and ones that lacked the modern elements many European countries had acquired (Spielvogel and McTighe 235). Through the spread of western ideals and democracy, the people of Africa were inspired to pursue their own self-rule and continuation of the modernization that the European imperialists left behind on the continent. When European nations first imperialized the African …show more content…

Through direct rule, the foreign rulers helped the country assimilate into a stronger, more sophisticated government. The former monarchs were replaced with foreign leaders trained to lead the nation into a more successful system. The process of modernization began as well as the development of a true democracy (Spielvogel and McTighe 236). A document describing a war between Rhodesia and South Africa demonstrates how this system was being used. The document was written by the Umkhonto we Sizwe or the military wing of the African National Congress describing that they were at war (Document 10). It can then be inferred that the Congress was making decisions for the country, in the way a democracy does. This also demonstrates the influence that Western culture had on the African people because a Congress was established and used to help run the country, instead of the traditional monarchy. Another example is how African people were eligible to run for office in the French National Assembly. This gave the people the opportunity to serve their country as some high powered positions became filled by people of African descent (Spielvogel and McTighe 235). Through this introduction, the population had adopted to their new lifestyles and began to thrive, no longer feeling as though foreign leaders were needed to help run the …show more content…

New leaders began emerging from the class who had been educated in colonial schools of in Western nations. Although they embraced Western ideas, they no longer felt the need for foreign rulers to be present in their countries. Since they had been educated with the same principals as the European nations, it was their belief that they were suited to run their home countries. Also, Western leaders had never truly exalted true democracy and now the new class of leaders were eager to introduce these ideals (Spielvogel and McTighe 236). In a political cartoon of two men pulling a foreign leader, it depicts the men struggling to pull the cart behind them. This is illustrating how the leaders from Europe already put in the hard work to develop their country into the democracy it has become. Now, the native people must put in the same amount of work in order to achieve the goal of a true republic. The hard work of the people leads to the rise of the new class (Document 2). The Western structure has been completely implemented into the lives of these people and they felt prepared to continue the traditions and practices the foreign leaders had conveyed. This led to the continuation of modernization which would help bring the developing nations to the structural level of the European

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