Title: Impacts of European Imperialism in Africa - History Crunch - History Articles, Summaries, Biographies, Resources and More
Headings: IMPACTS OF EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA
IMPACTS OF EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA
EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA OVERVIEW
POSITIVE IMPACTS OF EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA
NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA
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Content: Further to this idea is the concept of ‘eurocentrism’. Eurocentrism is similar to ethnocentrism but focuses specifically on Europeans and the views of superiority expressed in relation to the timeframe of imperialism. These Eurocentric beliefs were justified by European governments due to a concept called Social Darwinism. In short, Social Darwinism is the idea that some ethnic groups or races are superior to others and therefore more ‘fit’ to rule over those that are less ‘fit’.​
Together, these ethnocentric views by the major European powers of the time meant that European settlers in Africa generally suppressed native African traditions, customs and languages. For instance, while the European nations sometimes established schools and hospitals in their African colonies, these schools emphasized European culture over African culture. As such, this put immense pressure on African societies as they struggled to conform to European standards. An example of this can be seen in the spread of Christianity during the Age of Imperialism. European Christian missionaries were a common feature of the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century. For instance, famous British missionary David Livingstone carried out early missions to Africa in the hopes of converting African leaders. The spread of Christianity in Africa undermined African religions at the time, and caused many African people to begin to look to the European colonial governments as the authority instead of their own traditional leaders.​
As stated above, African societies also faced economic impacts from European imperialism in the 19th century.