The Scramble and Acquisition of African Colonies Essay

The Scramble and Acquisition of African Colonies - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the European countries that colonized Africa were Italy, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. Their colonization of Africa was because of power struggles and competition for supremacy in Europe. The scramble was a rapid colonization of the African continent after the European powers acquired colonies in 1880-1900. The scramble was pushed by the economic, social, and political evolution that Europe was going through. It developed in the nineteenth century due to the collapse of the slave profitability, abolition,  and the European expansion. During the late nineteenth century, European countries like Britain were suffering growth deficit in its balance of trade. The imperatives of capitalist development spurred the European scramble. Thus, the goal of European intrusion was economically driven. Their objective was to find assured sources of raw materials, guaranteed markets, and profitable investment outlets. Their countries had limited resources and also highly populated. They dispersed themselves to the African continent to scramble and acquire colonies. During their trade with Africans, they realized that the continent was endowed with various minerals. Imperialism was also induced by the demand for raw materials unavailable in Europe. Africa had cotton, tea, rubber, diamonds, palm oil, copper,  and cocoa. The European consumers had grown accustomed to the products of the raw materials. The European industry as well had grown to depend on the raw materials from the continent of Africa. The European powers’ was another major factor for scrambling to acquire the African colonies. The population in Europe had grown so much, and it could no longer support the population. To manage a struggle for power amongst its people, they had to acquire new territories. As a result, some of its citizens were shipped to Africa to start an empire of their own. They also scrambled to acquire the African colonies, so that they could be able to achieve the aspect of â€Å"balance of power.† The colonies were viewed as tools of negotiation, useful as items of exchange at periods of international bargains. They also regarded colonies with the large native population as a source of military power during the colonial wars.