Topic > England's banning of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery in 1807

During the 1500s and 1800s, the slave trade in Europe is still up and running, but in 1807 the England bans the transatlantic slave trade and eventually slavery itself. Since slavery ended, the interest of European nations has shifted towards imperialism in Africa, which has led many European countries to slowly colonize African lands. From this, European imperialism began to be driven by social Darwinism, the desire for economic stability and, above all, nationalism and competition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the minor reasons for imperialism is that European nations believe themselves to be a more “advanced” race, therefore feeling the need to “help” Africa evolve into a more modern civilization. For example, in John Ruskin's lecture at Oxford University, he said: "...You must found colonies... made up of your strongest and worthiest men... and there teach your colonists... ." By saying this, it shows that being a more futuristic civilization, Britain must look for places to establish colonies and help the natives become a more present civilization. furthermore, in Rudeyard Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burdens" a sense of social Darwinism is also demonstrated by stating: "...go bind your children into exile / to meet the needs of your captives..." This shows that Europe sent its best men to the colonies to assist the "prisoners", who are the natives, in their "needs", such as teaching them how to use the machines they brought with them, how to use the modernized weapons and above all how to improve their living conditions. Another reason that could be is the drive for economic power and stability. Africa holds many valuable resources that Europeans might have needed, for example in the graph “Selected African Colonies and Their Exports”, it shows resources useful to Britain such as “copper, zinc, lead and coal”. And since these resources are rare and precious, the British would have to find a quick and easy way to acquire them, namely owning the land that produces these materials, leading to a high number of colonizations of European countries in Africa. also in The British Empire written by Trevor Owen Lloyd, shows a graph of imports and exports during 1854 and 1900, and the difference between the number of exports in 1854 compared to 1900 is a drastic change. This evidence shows that European nations were essentially plundering the African land of its resources, but not giving back enough. and from these resources Europeans obtain many profits by selling them to other countries, while workers in Africa are harshly exploited and Africa itself is short of its own resources. The final and most critical motive of imperialism is nationalism and competition. To prove this, in Does Germany Need Colonies by Freidrich Fabri, he talks about how Germany needs to step up and give up its status as the most powerful country in Europe by stating: “...It would be wise if we Germans learned colonial skills from our cousins Anglo-Saxons [British] and... fight for them." In other words, Fabri suggests that the Germans are perfectly capable of achieving the results achieved by the English, so they should go and create colonies in Africa. This implies nationalism within of Germany and the competition between European countries for power. Similarly, in the map “Partitions of Africa, 1884-85”, the areas of Africa colonized by Europeans are displayed.