Pros and Cons of Imperialism in Africa

Pros
1. The African people got the hospital and other public systems after the Europeans left.
2. People got educated.
3. The people in Africa came to know what kind of valuable resources were in their land
4. Railways and mines were built.
5. The cities got civilized.
6. People can speak other languages such as English and French which is an advantage for them in economy.
Cons
1. Innocent people were taken to the America as slaves.
2. It ruined the culture and changes the way of life of the people
3. The Europeans took away a lot of the good resources that could have been used to benefit the African countries.
4. More civil wars occurred after the Europeans left because they divided up the land without thinking about the relationships of the native tribes.
5. Many families were separated from each other when dividing up the land.
6. Forced labor was used to make people to gather resources for the Europeans.

Central Africa_Central Africa Today

Central Africa is rich in raw resources but most of the countries in that region are poor. Most of the people in Central Africa live in rural areas. One of the reasons is that the governments are not stable. Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the countries in Central Africa had been ruled by a dictator, Joseph Mobutu, who worsened the whole economic system in Congo. Democratic Republic of Congo is called the "treasure chest of minerals" and other countries around it are rich of copper, diamond, gold, and cobalt. The forest provide rubber, wood and food. But some obstacles such as religion and ethnic conflict, civil wars, and health slow down the whole economy of the region.
Ethnic and religion differences create a civil war, which ends up in a disaster. A mix of ethnic groups and competing desires for power led to civil war in many of the region's countries. War has made a lot of damages to economies of Central Africa. Many people get injured which gives a disadvantage in industry-it lacks labor. The fighting also destroyed all the usable land for farming and the resources that could have been used more productively. Also, people are not getting enough nutrients which lead to famine. Important industries are destroying the environment for farming. Lumber companies are cutting down the trees, destroying the rain forests, mining diamond and copper removed large areas of land and destroyed landscapes. Even though Central Africa is trying to speed up and catch up with other countries, these obstacles keep on slowing the economies down.

Africa News Current Events #3

Congo Rebels Take Advance as Militiamen Steal Govt. Weapons
The Congo rebels are taking advantages as the government force is retreating. There still is a battle going on in the rebel-held teritorry and as the soldiers and the civilians are fleeing, the rebels are stealing the government soldiers' weapons. The latest battle madea cease-fire between the rebels led by Laurent Nkunda and the government. Nkunda was glad to take the advantage of the cease-fire as there weren't enough food and supplies left for the rebels. Congolese President Joseph Kabila, was willing to meet Nkunda but thought that he would need more time to think about it. He said he would tell Nkunda that the international community expected a "durable cease-fire to address the issue of humanitarian crisis and tragedy," followed by a "durable peace and political stability." The conflict in Congo has been complicated by ethnic differences. Nkunda, a Tutsi, has repeatedly blamed the Congolese government for not helping Tutsis from attacks by Rwandan Hutus who fled over the border in the 1994, that left hundreds of thousands of Tutsis dead.
I thought that this article was intersting because it has been continuing for more than a week and it seems like their is a hope for it to finally end. It has killed many people and destroyed Congo. I think that this could lead to more stories since the Congolese government is trying to make peace with the rebels and find a solution.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/18/congo.ceasefire.rebels/index.html

Reflection on Imperialism Cartoon

What are the main visual elements?
There is a drawing of the Africa continent and there is a big foot step dug in the middke of it. In the spot where it has been stepped on is dry and the land is cracking up.

What issue is the political cartoon about?
I think that the cartoon is about imperialism and how Europeans affected the lives of the people in Africa and Africa itself as they took over the land.

What is the cartoonist's opinion on this issue?
The cartoonist thinks that imperialism was negative and that it has left a lot of damage in Africa and other countries after the Europeans had taken over the land. The native African culture and their ways of life has "dried up", and physically, a lot of raw materials had been taken away by the Europeans and there is not that much left now.

What evidence in the cartoon supports your opinion?
I think that it is obvious that the cartoon shows the negative side of imperialism since there is a visible drought in the spot where there was the foot mark. I think that the dry land shows that natural resources there have been "soaked up" as much as it could and there is not much left of it could symbolize the religion and culture of the natives in that area. Because imperialism did cause a lot of conflicts and changes to the native Africans who lived there.

What other techniques could the cartoonist have used to make this cartooon more persuasive.
I think the cartoonist could have used more intersting symbols and more clear pictures because I couldn't really recognize which continent the land was.

image from:http://img.photobucket.com

Central Africa_History and Culture

Early humans lived in Central Africa thousands of years ago. However, the customs and the way people lived have changed due to the Tribes from the West Africa and the European colonists. About 2,000 ago, many people from the West Africa began to migrate to Central Africa and soon formed several kingdoms. One of them was the Kongo Kingdom, located near the mouth of the Congo River. The Kongo Kingdom grew rich as they established trade routes to western and eastern Africa and trades such things as animal skins, shells, and ivory.
The Europeans came to the region in the late 1400s. They wanted to take as many resources as possible in that area including the slaves and the items mentioned above. Some African kingdoms became rich after trading with the Europeans but they soon lost their power to the European influences. In the late 1800s, the European countries started to divide up the land between themselves and the tribes in that area that never got along had to interact. They spoke different languages and had different customs. It caused conflicts after the colonies won the independence.
The culture in Central Africa is all mixed up with the native, the Western Africa and the Europeans. The religion, the language, and even art is influenced by the outside forces. Many people in Central Africa speak Bantu language but they also speak hundreds of different languages and dialects. But the official languages of the countries are French, English, and Portuguese. Religion is also influenced by the Europeans and almost all the regions are Roman Catholic. Central Africa's traditional cultures influence the arts of the region. The region is famous for sculpture, carved wooden masks, and cotton gowns dyed in bright colors. Overall, Central Africa is a region influenced by outside forces and many cultures and the customs has been mixed.

Humanities 2-8 Scramble For Africa

1. What strategy did you use to claim land?

We used the natural resources map which shows what kinds of resources are available in each countries. We tried to claim parts of the land with the most natural resources in it especially the ones with the resources that our country needed.

2. What factors did you consider in claiming land?

First, the resources in the land and the resources that our country required. We didn't really care where, unless it did have coal and iron in it. Because coal and iron were teo of the resources that out country was looking for.

3. Who won the Scramble for Africa?

I think that Great Britain won the game because they had the most dices to claim the lands and rhey were lucky to win over other countries lands as they risked their own. And by gaining alot of land, you have higher chance of having possesion of the land with the most resources.

4. Who lost in the Scramble for Africa?
I think that Spain lost in the game as they did gain the least amount of land. And by not havign alot of land, they might not have possesion of the land withthe resources they needed.

Africa News Current Events #2

Ten Hostages Seized Off, Cameroon Freed
On October 31st, pirates had attacked a French ship in the waters of Cameroon, taking 10 crew members as hostages. Six of the captured were French nationals, two were Camerronians, one was Tunisian and onew waus Senegalese. No one was injured according to Bourbon, shiping company.
The attack in the middle of the night when 3 boats of armed man came by. The Bourban Sagitta had been loading crude oil from a field off the Bakasi Peninsula, about 180km away from Cameroon when suddenly pirates attacked the ship on the way and took 10 crews as while fleeing. French Foreign Minister had called Paris to deal with the situation. But on November 11th, the hostages were brought home safe and sound. President Nicolas Sarkozy's office and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's office said that they credited help from Cameroon's president, Paul Biya and Nigerian government.

I thought that this article was important because this article also had impact on other parts of the world-France- and it is a very recent news. It lead to more articles and at the end the hostages were released. And I thought that this article was kind of interesting that the pirates had attacked the ship and fled with 10 hostages. I didn't know that there were that many pirates in the sea near Cameroon.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/11/cameroon.hostages.freed.ap/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/10/31/cameroon.hijacking/index.html

Central Africa_Physical Geography

Central Africa is a region that has two distinct climates, mostly humid. Central Africa is shaped like a wide, flat bowl and in the middle of the bowl is called the Congo Basin. Many low hills and plateaus surround the Congo Basin. A huge river called the Congo River lies in the middle of the region. It is fed by hundreds of smaller rivers. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean and there are many waterfalls that lie along its route making it impossible for the ships to travel through. Central Africa lies along the equator and in the low altitudes. Therefore, most of the region in Central Africa are humid and receives warm temperature and a lot of rainfall all year long. The climate support the large tropical rain forest which is a home to such organisms as gorillas, elephants, insects and birds. The government has set up many national parks to save the forests from farming and logging. While the middle of the Central Africa is always rainy and humid, North and South of the Central Africa have a tropical savanna climate. It is warm all year long too, but it has distinct dry and wet season. There are grasslands, a few trees, and some shrubs. Dry area and desert areas are found in the far southern part of the region. The warm weather and water source make a perfect condition for the crops to grow. Common crops are coffee, bananas, and corn. Africa is rich in natural resources as well. The forests provide timber, and the rivers give out hydroelectricity. Central Africa also has a lot of valuable minerals such as diamond, gold, copper, etc. Overall, Central Africa is a region rich of natural resources.

TBAS- Can We Trust It?

Can we trust the “truthfulness” of what we read in To Be A Slave ? Why or why not? Support your answer.

I think we can trust the book, To Be A Slave, but not entirely. It is true that African people were taken away from their homes and that they were tortured. First of all, the author, Julius Lester is a teacher from a well-known college and teaches human rights. He wouldn't have written the story wihout specific facts because the book won a New Berry Honor prize which is another stong reason that this book is reliable. And thirdly, I think Mr. Coyle wouldn't have let us read this book if it was exaggerated on the slve's point of view and had personal ideas in it.

Africa News Current Events #1

U.N. Chief: Rebels 'poisonous' for Congo

This article was about the rebels in Congo. The rebels are fighting the government troops in The Democratic of Congo and the U.N. chief was concerned that the rebels will be "poisonous" for Congo. The violence and the attacks were worsening the whole issue and the situation. A lot of innocent people have been exposed to the battles and though many of them fled to other countries or the U.N. protected camps, hundreds have died during the last past eight weeks. It had started from the killings of a half-million Tutsis by Hutu militia in Rwanda and Congo's civil wars in 1994. A lot of people were killed and people near by could hear someone screaming and would find a corpse being taken away in the morning. People demanded that Nkunda and Mai Mai commanders should order their troops to stop committing such horrible crimes and that they should be responsible for all the deaths. Other countries have agreed to stop arming, financing or support armed group in anyway.

I thought that this article was important because the rebels could end up worsening the whole country. A lot of innocent people are getting murderd out in the streetins and making all the people around the country more stressed and panicked. Many people, including the neighboring countries and the U.N. have to suffer from it and is trying to work things out.

cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/07/congo.summit/index.html?iref=newssearch

5 Themes of Geography

There are people seating out in the restaurant watching the view and eating. There aren't that many people walking around and a there is a man dressed up like a waiter. The climate is very good and the sky is pretty with clouds and the sky is azure. The whole place is really bright and clean. The people are wearing normal European clothes and are just ambling through the streets. There is no car on the street. The houses are not tall and have a slanted roof. The ground floor of the buildings are shops and on top are houses where people live in.

photos.igougo.com/images/p401154-France-Paris.jpg

Violence Leads to More Violence

Evaluate this quote, “Violence leads to more violence.” Use evidence from Julius Caesar and current world events to support or reject.

The meaning of the quote is that once you start a violence, it'll never end or become worse. You should never solve things by violence because it could come back to you. I think that was what happened in Julius Caesar. Brutus and the other conspirators shouldn't have had killed Caesar without telling him what their problems were. Because at the end, they all ended up like Caesar. You wouldn't know who would be holding grudges against you. I think that happens in modern world when people murder other people usually because they hold grudges against that people. It happens in wars too. When a country A start attacking the other, B, country B won't just let country A attack their country. Some other countries who haven't been liking country A might start helping country B to defeat country A. And other countries would start making teams which will lead to a calamity and end up killing a lot of innocent people.