What did France do to Africa?

What did France do to Africa?

As the French pursued their part in the scramble for Africa in the 1880s and 1890s, they conquered large inland areas, and at first, ruled them as either a part of the Senegal colony or as independent entities. These conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers, and dubbed “military territories”.

How did French colonization affect Africa?

The French goal of increasing their stake in West Africa was influenced by similar policies undertaken by their fellow Europeans in Africa culminating in the late nineteenth century with a European “scramble for Africa.” Industrialization and economic conditions in Europe influenced the expansion of European interests …

What did the French want to establish in their African colonies?

As a part of the Scramble for Africa, France planned to establish a continuous west-east axis of the continent. Until the unification of these colonies into French West Africa, these conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers and dubbed “Military Territories.”

How did the French control their colonies?

Colonies were ruled, on the one hand, through decrees issued by two different ministries (the Ministry of the Interior and the Colonial Office) in Paris and, on the other hand, by executive orders that made the representative of the French government the main source of the law.

How did the French treat the natives?

They did not displace any Natives in the establishment of their settlement and continued to work closely with them in the fur trade. They respected Native territories, their ways, and treated them as the human beings they were. The Natives, in turn, treated the French as trusted friends.

When did France colonize Africa?

The French presence in Africa dates to the 17th century, but the main period of colonial expansion came in the 19th century with the invasion of Ottoman Algiers in 1830, conquests in West and Equatorial Africa during the so-called scramble for Africa and the establishment of protectorates in Tunisia and Morocco in the …

What resources did France want from Africa?

In exchange for military protection against attempted coups and the payment of hefty kickbacks, African leaders guaranteed French companies access to strategic resources such as diamonds, ores, uranium, gas and oil.

Why did the French want to colonize Africa?

French West Africa Before Africa was founded as a country, it was invaded by France in 1843. France wanted many of that natural resources in Africa that they attacked and tried to contain them.

How did French colonization affect West Africa?

The continent served both as a source of slaves and a stop for ships of Europeans on the way to Asia. The French had a presence in West Africa dating back to the 1600s, most prominently in Senegal, which was a major point of embarkation for slaves to the New World ([1]).

Why did the French want to colonize the Americas?

Motivations for colonization: The French colonized North America to create trading posts for the fur trade. Some French missionaries eventually made their way to North America in order to convert Native Americans to Catholicism. The French in particular created alliances with the Hurons and Algonquians.

How did the Puritans treat the Natives?

The natives found Puritan conversion practices coercive and culturally insensitive. Accepting Christianity usually involved giving up their language, severing kinship ties with other Natives who had not been saved, and abandoning their traditional homes.

What was the history of the French colonies in Africa?

Africa: French Colonies. The construction of race in France’s African colonies arose out of the turbulent political, intellectual, and cultural contexts of nineteenth- and twentieth-century France, as well as the specific dynamics of each colony itself.

How did the French treat the Africans in Africa?

The French, by comparison, were prepared to treat Africans as equals, but only if they learnt to speak French properly and adopted the values of French culture. If they reached a sufficient level of education Africans might be accepted as French citizens. To fall below the required level was to invite charges of racial inferiority.

When did France end its rule in Africa?

Although formal French rule in Africa had ended by 1962, the ties it forged continue to shape relations between France and its former colonial territories throughout the continent.

Why did France want Africans to become citizens?

If they reached a sufficient level of education Africans might be accepted as French citizens. To fall below the required level was to invite charges of racial inferiority. France encouraged an increasing closeness with her colonies on the eve of independence and thereafter.