Lesson Plans for Grades K-12

recommended for GRADES 9-12

Colonization and Its Impact on Nation-State Building: Case Study of the African Continent
Priscilla Campbell (East Hampton High School – East Hampton, NY)
Deana Jaeschke (Central Middle School – White Bear Lake, MN)

Notes on Core Map A, “Africa”

John Bartholomew’s 1885 map of Africa was selected because of its creation at a significant moment in world history, prior to the European partition of Africa into colonies. It displays physical features, indigenous ethnic and tribal kingdoms and groups, and European settlements along the coastal areas. European maps of Africa from this date forward decrease in representation of indigenous groups and increase the display of colonial boundaries and a vivid use of color to further demarcate territory. (The use of color on this map will be explained below.)

1885 was a crucial year for European imperialism in Africa as it marks the year of the Berlin Conference (also see Key Terms). It is important to note that no actual divisions of territory took place at the conference, but it instead served as a watershed for the partition that largely took place from 1885-1900 (with a few changes after World War I). Jeffery Stone articulates this point in A Short History of the Cartography of Africa, page 68:

This conference has been seen erroneously as launching the partition of Africa among the European powers. In fact, historians have long been at pains to emphasize that it did not carve up Africa. It was convened because the collaborative arrangements on which Europeans states had hitherto relied were beginning to break down. The objective of the conference was the continued commercial access by European powers to the resources of Africa. The intention was to regulate European rivalries, not to partition Africa. The Berlin Conference failed in its attempt to curb the impending partition of Africa, but recognition of the conference as a meeting of imperialists, not colonialists and the recognition of differing attributes of imperialism and colonialism is important for understanding the cartographic evolution of Africa.

Certain colors on the map frequently, but not always, indicate territories ruled or under the influence of European powers in 1885. The following notes on these colors will help promote an understanding of which European powers were where in 1885.

Two Portuguese colonies appear in green on the map. These are the present-day Angola and Mozambique along the southwestern and southeastern coasts.

Several British colonies appear on the map in pink. These include Egypt and Sudan in northeastern Africa; The Cape Colony, on the southern tip of Africa; Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Lagos (the core of modern Nigeria) on the northwestern coast; the Gold Coast, along the Gulf of Guinea. Madagascar, an area long under the influence of Great Britain, is also shown in pink even though Britain recognized it as a French colony in 1883.

The beginnings of German East Africa (modern Tanzania) appears in orange along the east coast. German colonies had been established in modern Cameroon and Namibia in 1884, but do not appear in this 1885 British map.

Most French colonies appear in green on the map. These include Algeria, portions of the northwestern coast (modern Senegal), modern Gabon (south of the Gulf of Guinea). Tunisia, a recent French colony in 1885, is shown in orange. Morocco, a nominally Turkish dependency under the influence of both France and Spain, is colored purple. Please note also that some of the green-shaded areas on the map are Portuguese colonies or independent areas.

Several independent African states or tribal communities are also shaded on the map, These include Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia), Liberia, and the Hausa States.

Notes on Core Map B, “The Partition of Africa”

William Shepherd’s 1921 map entitled “Partition of Africa” retrospectively shows the many colonial boundaries established before and after the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885 as well as the new boundaries and states that emerged after World War I. The date of each boundary agreement is printed under the name of each colony in italics.

Readers of the map should note the key and insets in order to interpret the map appropriately. In contrast to Black’s General Atlas of the World 1885 map of Africa, Shepherd’s map defines its use of color and clearly demarcates the political boundaries. Comparing the use of color in the two maps can show the rise of color to reflect national or colonial boundaries. Even the largely nomadic ethnic or tribal groups were given some delineation on Black’s 1885 map.

Perhaps the most significant comparison between the 1885 and 1921 Africa maps is the absence of indigenous ethnic and tribal names on the latter map. As stated in the commentary on Black's map, the 1885 map is one of the last European maps to depict the indigenous African communities. The few references to the indigenous people on the 1921 map are shown within colonial boundaries. For example, the Matabele land in southern Africa is placed within British territory. Also mentioned are groups that led sustained revolts against British rule. The Ashanti Kingdom is labeled within the Gold Coast (present day Ghana) and an Islamic group called the Mahdi by the British are labeled as in revolt in Anglo- Egyptian Sudan (present day Sudan).

The upper left insert shows symbols used for operative and projected railroads. Unlike Black’s map, the Shepherd map shows transportation networks. The reader should note the interior/exterior structure of the rail lines (the short, coastal lines demonstrate this well) and the lack of an attempt at connecting the rail lines. This reflects the problematic nature of the continent being colonized by competing nations and their emphasis on the extraction and exploitation of raw materials rather than a transcontinental or regional rail system.

Attention to the dates of the boundary agreements printed in italics for each colony yields a time frame for readers to develop an understanding of the chronology of the European influence on the African continent. The earliest presence was on the western coastal islands such as Cape Verde (1415) and the Canary Islands (1478) during the advent of European ocean exploration. This settlement pattern continues around the edges of the continent and to the eastern coast with Annobon (1484), Mauritius (1598), and Madagascar (1643). Mainland settlement followed a similar coastal pattern as demonstrated by Sierra Leone (1787) and the Cape Colony or the Cape of Good Hope (1652) while the interior of the continent was claimed in the late nineteenth century.