Europeans and Africans Essay

The two stages of contact between Europeans and Africans in the modern era, according to Morel, were the slave trade and the â€Å"power of modern capitalistic exploitation†. In the first he describes the horrors of the African slave trade that had occurred in the 1700-1800’s, the way the slaves were captured from their homes and transported in terrible, torturous conditions to their destinations. Morel sees this as horrific, but also acknowledges that despite the fact they were put through so much they were able to continue to multiply and have more children, even in slavery. Morel felt that the exploitation of the African nations will be even more devastating because it will bring European work ethics and culture to the Africans, thus changing their entire way of life and taking away the vitality of their culture. In general, the history of European domination over Africans was extreme. They would dominate them, either by making them slaves or taking away their land and using the natural resources of their homelands for their own benefits. 2. How did Europeans abuse and exploit Africans? What benefits did they bring to Africans, if any? The Europeans abused and exploited the Africans because they had weapons that the Africans did not. They had guns and other forms of technology and weaponry that could dominate the Africans and keep them under their control, taking away their way of life and leaving them to die. The Europeans did not bring any benefits to the Africans except that the slave trade was ceased when the Europeans realized that they could overcome the Africans and were better off exploiting the natural resources of their countries. In a way, this was perhaps a benefit in one respect but a curse in another. 3. This book was written in 1920. How did Morel see the future of European domination in Africa playing out over the course of the twentieth century? Morel sees the future of European domination in Africa playing out over the course of the twentieth century in such a way that he Africans are overtaken by weapons and the technology of the Europeans. He sees the Europeans as using all of the terrible weapons they have to win control of the continent, not only man made weapons but because they will bring disease to the African people. He also feels that when the European system of work and exploiting the environment will eventually kill the Africans from their soul outward to their body because it is so different from their own way of living and what is important to them, like the environment and having a relaxed way of life.