Imperialism in Africa

EARLY COLONIALISM IN AFRICA (late 1700's):

1. European countries set up trading posts and forts along the coastal plain regions of Africa.
2. Purpose: To provide the Europeans with markets for the mass quantities of goods being produced in factories and mills (post industrial revolution) in exchange for enslaved Africans and raw materials such as metal, cotton, rubber, and palm oil. (Examples of goods traded: iron, tools, tobacco, lichen, and rum)
3. The slave trade destroyed the fabric of African life. The slave trade finally ended in the 1800's. Europeans then found a way to replace the profits they had made by the slave trade by gaining access to Africa's interior which was rich with resources.

THE "AGE OF IMPERIALISM" IN AFRICA (late 1800's):

1. Imperialism: The extension of a nation's control over regions far beyond its own borders. Control all aspects of life of those being subjugated.
2. Began with the 3 C's (Commerce, Christianity, & Civilization)
3. The Berlin Conference of 1884 ended European fighting over African Land: 14 nations and USA attended conference. The outcome:

• Seven European nations were awarded land in Africa.
• Slave trade in Africa was abolished.
• Christian missionaries were given access to the interior of Africa.
• Boundary lines drawn dividing Africa.

1. Foreign governments eventually would control:

• Governments: Sent their own official to create centralized governments. Created laws/abolished African laws except very limited and supervised local levels.
• Economies: Shipped raw materials such as rubber and iron ore to European factories.
• Set up huge plantations/grew cash crops (Ex: cotton, peanuts, coffee, & cocoa)
• Introduced currency, or money, into economy. (Many Africans had used "Barter" system)
• Made Africans pay taxes in cash (Africans forced to work for British landowners/had to get jobs in mines & on plantations to earn money)
• Money and profits for Europeans and European colonial powers.

1. Changes in Transportation and Communications:

• Europeans built huge rail systems and roads that linked mines & plantations to the coast.
• New transport systems made it easier to transport workers to mines and farms far from their homes.
• Built telegraphs to connect European interests.

1. Changes in Education:

• Set up limited Christian mission schools for Africans. Children were taught only to read or write in language of their colonial power. Taught only European history & culture.
• Purpose: to train people who would support only the policies of the colonial power. Educate the children to have no sense of nationalism (devotion to one's native country) for their homeland.

HOW WAS IMPERIALISM POSSIBLE?

Technology! Inventions like the steamboat made river travel possible. Medical advances protected the Europeans against diseases. New weapons like the machine gun gave Europeans a great military advantage.

AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE

1. European nations controlled most of Africa for about 80 years. During this time, many Africans struggled to end colonialism but with little success.
2. By 1950: only three countries were independent (Ethiopia, Liberia, and white-ruled South Africa)
3. For the next 40 years, Africans fought for and won their freedom.

Africa Vocabulary

• Basin- a hollow or depression in the earth's surface, wholly or partly surrounded by higher land
• Nile River-the world's longest river, flowing over 4,000 miles through the Sudan Basin into Uganda, Sudan and Egypt
• Rift Valley-a long, thin valley created by the moving apart of the continental plates, present in East Africa, stretching over 4,000 miles from Jordan in Southwest Asia to Mozambique in Southern Africa
• Mount Kilimanjaro-a volcano in Tanzania in Africa, also Africa's highest peak
• Escarpment-a steep slope with a nearly flat plateau top
• Sahara-the largest desert in the world, stretching 3,000 miles across the African continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea & measuring 1,200 miles from north to south
• Serengeti Plain-an area of East Africa containing some of the best grasslands in the world & many grazing animals, in northern Tanzania
• Niger Delta-delta of the Niger River & an area with rich oil deposits
• Sahel-a narrow band of dry grassland, running east to west on the southern edge of the Sahara, that's used for farming & herding
• Desertification-an expansion of dry conditions to moist areas that are next to deserts
• Aswan High Dam-a dam on the Nile River in Egypt, complete in 1970, which increased Egypt's farmable land by 50% & protected from droughts and floods
• Silt-loose sedimentary material containing very small rock particles, formed by river deposits & very fertile
• Olduvai Gorge-a site of fossil beds in northern Tanzania containing the most continuous known record of humanity over the past 2 million years, including fossils from 65 hominids
• Aksum-an important trading capital from the first to the eigth centuries A.D. in what is now Ethiopia; it flourished due to its location near the Red Sea & the Indian Ocean
• Berlin Conference-a conference of 14 European nations held in 1884-1885 in Berlin, Germany to establish rules for political control of Africa
• Cash Crop-a crop grown for direct sale, and not for use in a region, such as coffee, tea, and sugar in Africa
• Pandemic-a disease affecting a large population over a wide geographic area
• Carthage-one of the greatest empires of ancient Africa, situated on a triangular peninsula on the Gulf of Tunis on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
• Rai-a kind of popular Algerian music developed in the 1920s by poor urban children that's fast paced with danceable rhythms; sometimes used as a form of rebellion to expose political unhappiness
• Bantu Migrations-the movement of the Bantu peoples southward throughout Africa, spreading their language & culture; from around 500 B.C. to around A.D. 1000
• King Leopold II-Belgian king who opened up the African interior to European trade along the Congo River & by 1884 controlled the area: Congo Free State
• Mutapa Empire-a state founded in the 15th century by a man named Mutota & that extended throughout all of present day Zimbabwe except the eastern part
• Apartheid-a policy of complete separation of the races instituted by the white minority government of South Africa in 1948
• Nelson Mandela-one of the leaders of the African National Congress who led a struggle to end apartheid & was elected President in 1994 in the first all race election in South Africa
• "One-Commodity" Country-a country that relies on one principle export for much of its earnings
• Commodity-an agricultural or mining product that can be sold
• Diversity-to increase the variety of products in a country's economy; to promote manufacturing & other industries in order to achieve growth and stability
• AIDS-a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus/HIV
• Cholera-a treatable, infectious disease that can be fatal & is caused by a lack of adequate sanitation & a clean water supply
• Malaria-infectious disease of red blood cells, carried by mosquitoes that's characterized by chills, fevers, and sweating
• Tuberculosis-a respiratory infection spread by human contact, which often accompanies AIDS
• UNAIDS-the UN program that studies the world's AIDS epidemic

Sub Saharan Africa

PHYSICAL NOTES

A. SECOND LARGEST CONTINENT

B. Known as "The Plateau Continent"

1. Interior is a gigantic plateau (highest in the east and south/drops sharply at the coast). A plateau is an elevated area of high, flat or gently rolling land.
2. Africa: almost entirely surrounded by a low, narrow coastal plain. The sharp rise or steep cliff that separates the coastal plain from the elevated plateau is called an escarpment.
3. The steep slope marking the edge of the continental plateau in South Africa is called the Great Escarpment.
4. Africa as a continent has the highest overall elevation of all continents (averages 1,000+ above sea level).
5. Mountains: individual mountains/not chains/mainly in the east. Most are volcanic mountain. Elevation is the key to their temperature.
6. Africa's rivers contain many cataracts (multiple waterfalls at the edge of steep escarpments).

C. GREAT RIFT VALLEY

1. One of the world's natural wonders
2. 4,000+ miles long (approximately)
3. Begins in Syria (Southwest Asia), goes through the Red Sea, extends southward through East Africa, and ends in Mozambique (Southern Africa).
4. Valley is a rift fault caused over millions of years ago when two of the earth's Continental plates moved apart.
5. Can be up to 40-50 miles wide.
6. Sides can be up to about 1 mile high.
7. Valley Floor: often barren/many extinct volcanoes and a surface covered with volcanic lava and ash. Makes soil very fertile.
8. There is a large string of long and deep natural lakes throught the valley (Lakes Albert, Edward & Tanganyika). Tanganyika is the longest lake in the world (over 400 miles long)
9. Not part of the Great Rift Valley Lakes: Lake Victoria (largest lake in Africa/located east of the Great Rift Valley).

D. CLIMATE & VEGETATION

1. Similar bands of climate & vegetation stretch across Africa north and south of the equator.
2. Vegetation along the Equator-10% Rain forest (hot and wet/one season and shrinking more each year.)
3. 65% Grasslands (also called savanna)-located north and south of the rainforests; usually long & short and widely scattered trees; hot all year round with two seasons: long, dry seasons separated by wet seasons.
4. 25% Desert (semi-arid & arid)-usually have 10 inches or less of rain per year; in the north, Sahara and the Sahel (means "shore of the desert"/borders south side of the Sahara Desert);in the south: Kalihari Desert; in the southwest: Namib Desert.
5. Mediterranean Coastal Plain: along the north coastal edge of Africa. Also: there is Mediterranean Coastal Plain in the far southern coast of Africa also.

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• Most of Africa is hot (temperature) all year long.
• Elevation can affect the temperature as much as latitude.
• Rainfall varies greatly/amounts vary with the distance away from the equator.
• The closer to the Equator the more rainy; the further away, the less rain (EXCEPT at the coast where a Mediterranean Climate can prevail).

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The longest crack in the earth's surface is the Great Rift Valley. Millions of years ago, the shift of tectonic plates tore a rift in the earth's crust, splitting the Arabian Peninsula away from Africa (creating the Red Sea) and forming numerous canyons in eastern Africa, many of which are filled with deep, long lake. Along its 4,000+ mile length, extending north to Syria & Jordan in the Middle East, the rift is concealed by erosion, mountains and plateaus. At various sites along the valley, fossil evidence of the earliest humans have been discovered.

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E. NARROW COASTAL PLAIN on the Mediterranean Sea (Mediterranean Climate)

F. THE SAHARA

1. 3.5 million square miles (nearly the size of the U.S.)
2. Largest hot desert in the world.
3. Most of the region gets less than 10 inches of rain per year.
4. Atlas of Morocco & Algeria (West coast of Africa) prevent moisture from the Atlantic Ocean from reaching North African region.
5. Little moisture or humidity in desert air so no clouds form.
6. Sun's rays beat directly on land in day...high temperatures and no clouds/can reach temperatures of 125 degrees+ in the day.
7. Drop as low as 40 degrees fahrenheit at night (because there are no clouds to prevent daytime heat from rising from the earth).
8. Extreme temperatures & little rainfall make it hard for life to survive...life forms must adapt or die.

G. PEOPLE OF THE SAHARA

1. Most are Muslims who speak Arabic.
2. Majority live along the Mediterranean Sea in crowded cities.
3. Inland (in Sahara), people are Bedouins (Desert Dwellers).
4. In early times, tradres crossed desert in caravans for safety.
5. Many trade routes between North Africa and west coastal countries (salt from the north and gold, ivory, and slaves fromt the south).

H. ANIMALS

1. Camels: brought by Romans from Central Asia. Have adapted to dry climate & can survive for long periods without food or water.
2. Bedouins often have goats & sheep for food, clothing, and trade.

I. WIND

1. Powerful force in desert. Shape region's terrain/carries loose sand paricles which can form sand dunes (ERGS). Many are huge and permanent.
2. The surface that is left when sand blows away is a thin surface of pebbles, gravel & boulders called desert pavement.

J. WATER

1. The most important resource in North Africa. Found in a few underground springs that force their way up to the surface & form oases (singular=oasis)- can support life in barren land. Sahara has approximately 90 oases (widely scattered/some are centuries old).
2. Dry river beds (wadis). Sharp gullies that are temporary reservoirs/collect run-off water if there is rain...can even be rain in far off regions that rushes through the wadi/dry up quickly/subject to flash flooding.
3. Rivers: Most important source of water because they are the most consistent source of water (example: Nile River in Egypt)
4. The Nile is fed from mountains in East Africa. Water flows northward from the White Nile in Uganda and the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and merge into the Nile River that flows across Egypt northward for 4184 miles to empty miles to empty into the Mediterranean Sea.

Vocab Quiz

VOCABULARY

1. feral- savage
2. furtive- secret
3. charlotte- dessert made of fruit gelatin
4. impertinence- rudeness, disrespect
5. admant- unyielding
6. sordid- vile, mean, filthy
7. body English- body language
8. purloined- stolen, taken without permission
9. largo- slow and steady
10. perforated- pierced
11. spurious- not genuine
12. irascible- irritable
13. squalid- dirty, neglected
14. heathen- one who doesn't believe in the God of the Bible
15. demise- death
16. recluse- hermit; voluntarily staying away from others
17. turmoil- conditions of confused agitation or commotion
18. blandly- uninteresting, vapid, dull
19. elude- to avoid or escape as by dexterity or trickery; evade
20. raling- rattling or bubbling cough, indication a disease of the lungs or bronchi

Trophic Levels and Energy Flow

TROPHIC LEVELS AND ENERGY FLOW

-Habitat-the area in which an organism lives
-Niche-an organism's job or role

• the type of food an organism eats
• how it obtains the food
• which other species uses the organism for food

*Every organism in an ecosystem has a niche (job) and that niche has an effect on everyone in that ecosystem!!!

THE SUN

Sunlight is the main source of energy for life on Earth. Without sun, there would be no life!

PRODUCERS

• Primary productivity: amount of plant material that is produced for consumptionby herbivores.
• Producers or Autotrophs: organisms that make their own food (Ex. grasses, trees, algae)
• Photosynthesis: CO2 + H2O - light ---- C6H12O6

CONSUMERS OR HETEROTROPHS

• organisms that rely on or consume producers/autotrophs

-Herbivores-organisms that eat only plants

-Carnivores-organisms that eat only meat

-Omnivores-organisms that eat both plants and animals

-Detritivores-organisms that eat dead matter like animal and plant remains

*Detritus-dead material you might find on the forest floor

-Decomposers-break down organic matter

-Scavengers-eat something another organism has killed

ENERGY FLOW

Energy flows through an ecosystem in 1 direction

sun->autotrophs->heterotrophs

TROPHIC LEVELS

-Primary producer-autotroph

-Primary consumer-eats autotrophs

-Secondary consumer- eats primary consumer

-Tertiary consumer-eats secondary consumers

-Food chain-feeding relationships within an ecosystem

-Food web-a network of feeding relationships

*Food webs link an ecosystem together!!!

• Represents how energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next
• 90% of energy is lost as we mover through a food chain or up a pyramid

Ecology Introduction

ECOLOGY INTRODUCTION

-Ecology-the study of organisms and their interaction with the environment

-Biosphere-the region of the earth that supports all living things

• Includes all land, air, and water in which an organism lives
• Everything an organism needs to survive
• Natural resources are the products of the environment used by living things

-Biotic Factors-living things (plants, animals, trees)

-Abiotic Factors-nonliving parts (water, soil, houses)

-Ecosystems-large areas that contain groups of organisms living and interacting with one another, includes all biotic and abiotic factors of that area

-Every organism in an ecosystem has a niche (or a job) and that job has an effect on everyone in that ecosystem

Biomes

*Terrestrial-rainforest, tundra, taiga, desert, grassland, deciduous forest

*Aquatic

• Marine-oceans, tropical (coral reefs)
• Freshwater-wetlands, lakes/ponds/rivers/streams

Biome Maps:

• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/terrestrial.html
• http://www.mbgnet.net/index.html

Ecological Succession

-Community-all organisms living in an area

-Succession-a process in which a community develops

Levels of Succession

-Primary Succession-no existing community, life begins to develop

-Pioneer Community-the first organism to develop and occupy an area

• (Ex. 1: lichens, mosses, grass)
• (Ex. 2: an abiotic lake left behind by a retreating glacier; wind-borne spores of bacteria, algae, fungi, and protozoa drift into the water and germinate in the new sediment)

-Secondary-growth that occurs in an area where there is an existing community that has been partially destroyed (Ex: natural forest fires: shrubs, trees, flowers)

-Climax Community-a community that achieves relative stability (Ex. redwood forest)

• also has a lot of biodiversity

Levels of Organization

Type of interaction:

• Competition-competition from 1 or more species for 1 or more to the limited resources it needs
• Predation-organism kill and consumes the other organism for nutrients and energy; Ex: lion & elk; Code: + -
• Parasitism-organism benefits while the other organism is harmed; Ex: tick & dog; Code: + -
• Mutualism-bother species benefit from this relationship; Ex: bees & flowers; Code: + +
• Commensalism-one organism is nuetral and the other is receiving benefits; Ex: shark & cleaning fish; Code: + 0

* + means beneficial, - means harmful, 0 means neutral (neither helping nor harming)

-Symbiosis-a close relationship between 2 organisms

• Three types of symbiosis is mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.

-Mimicry-when one organism take the appearance of another organism

-Exponential Growth-the rate of growth of one generation is a multiple of the previous generation

• Influences on exponential growth: emigration & immigration

-Carrying Capacity-the number of organisms supported by the environmental resources in an ecosystem

• Limiting Factors: predation, disease, competition, and emigration
• Random Changes: natural disaster, climate changes, weather, and requirements for growth

Population Statistics

• Growth rate=change in # of individuals/time
• Natality rate=# of births/time
• Mortality rate=# of deaths/time
• Population growth: natality>mortality
• Population stable/constant=natality=mortality
• Emigration=movement of organims out of an area
• Immigration=movement of organisms into an area