Exterminate All the Brutes essays

Exterminate All the Brutes essays In the early 1800s, European nations played a minor role in Africa, controlling only areas along the coast. Areas which provided markets for trade and an opportunity to increase their economy were concentrated upon. Although there was little monetary value, Europe renewed its interest in Africa by the mid-1800s. Colonial claims were established while ignoring the claims of African ethnic groups, kingdoms, and city-states. Although many Africans resisted, many of these attempts failed. In his book Exterminate All the Brutes, Sven Lindqvist explains European imperialism as well as the brutality of the time. Europeans renewed interest in Africa, stemmed partly from a desire to create overseas empires. By controlling these lands, they had access to raw materials needed for their industrial economies. Markets were also opened up for the goods they produced. Sven Lindqvist agrees with this idea by summarizing Benjamin Kidd s Social Evolution, Driven by the inbuilt forces of his own civilization, the Anglo-Saxon goes to the foreign country to develop its natural resourcesand the consequences seem to be inescapable 138-9). The Europeans began to build plantations where they grew peanuts, cocoa, rubber, and palm oil. The discovery of minerals in Africa increased European interest in the continent. The Congo produced copper and tin, and South Africa produced gold and diamonds. Another factor was nationalism. It was often thought that a countrys greatness could be measured by the number of colonies it controlled. Europe had the power to control many territories; this power rested upon military superiority. A European specialty was the art of killing from a distance (46). Although Europe was poorly resourced in the sixteenth century, they produced ocean-going ships with guns capable of spreading death and destruction across huge distances. Three hundred years later, the gods o...