British Empire - Sub-Saharan Africa

By seamusgallagher

  • Britain abolishes Slavery

    Slave Trade Act prevents Africa from being a source of slaves for the British, as they had previously transported 3.1 million slaves through British colonies

  • Swing to the East

    Britain sought to expand their empire into Africa in the wake of the American Revolutionary War. The Cape was an important port for ship voyages to the Indies, and Africa as a continent was rich in natural resources such as gold, ivory and diamonds.

  • David Livingstone begins Zambezi River expedition

    Funded by the British government, scot Livingstone had been a member of the London Missionary Society and aimed to spread Christianity and commerce in Africa. He aimed to find natural resources and sent 2,000 letters home. He was staunchly anti-slavery, witnessing episodes of it on his travels. One of his companions was John Kirk, a Scottish physician and botanist.

  • John Hanning Speke discovers Lake Victoria

    First European to see Lake Victoria. He had accompanied and fought against Burton over the years

  • Richard Burton co-founds the Anthropological Society with Dr. Hunt

    A linguist and scholar of Muslim and broader Eastern ideas and manners, Burton published books such as the Kama Sutra (1883) and Arabian Nights (1885). He believed in scientific racism, that different human races had different genetic origins and even species.

  • Livingstone begins expedition to find the source of the Nile

    In addition to finding the source of the Nile River, Livingstone aimed to extend the gospel and abolish the slave trade.

  • Exports

    Main exports from tropical colonies were cocoa, coffee, groundnuts, sugar and palm oil. Nigeria's main export was tin, Sierra Leone and Kimberley were diamonds. Gold coast and Rhodesia principally exported gold. A theory dictates that the industrial, technological Britain used informal control to boost wealth generation by free trade, resorting to direct rule only when control of trade of British interests were threatened.

  • John Kirk becomes acting British Consul in Zanzibar

    He pressed Sultan Barghash, the Omani ruler of Zanzibar, to abolish the slave trade on the island.

  • Brussels Conference begins

    King Leopold II, who personally led the DRC, organised this conference to justify European intervention in the African continent. However, the European powers became suspicious of each other's intentions. "Open up to civilisation" Leopold sought to develop Africa's perceived backwards culture.

  • United African Company formed in West Africa

    Goldie's palm oil exports from Niger merged with other British trading firms along the river. The monopoly was added to by the acquisition of French trading companies, and a 1884 Parliamentary charter. King Koko of the Nembe resisted, forced into exile.

  • Somali protectorate established

    Many favourable treaties granted the British access to this strategically important territory on the Horn of Africa.

  • Berlin Conference concludes, General Act signed

    The European powers met at Chancellor Bismarck's request in Berlin to carve up Africa into arbitscription (optional)
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    To arary countries. They disregarded local indigenous linguistic and ethnic lines, establishing the principle of 'effective occupation'.
    At the start of the conference, 90% of Africa was controlled by local tribes.
    By 1902, 90% of African territory was European. It lay the foundations of WW1

  • South Africa's main export becomes gold

  • Imperial British East Africa Company founded

    Founded by William Mackinnon, this company controlled areas of Uganda and Kenya, governing taxation and granting exemptions to British civilians.

  • Zanzibar protectorate established

    Series of puppet rulers backed up by force installed.

  • Uganda becomes Britisn Protectorate

    This was after the 1890 agreement by Salisbury to let Germany have Tanganyika, letting Britain annex Kenya and Uganda.

  • Uganda Railway begins construction

    Dubbed the Lunatic Express for its 2,493 deaths, the railway ran for 1,060km, connecting Uganda with the Indian Ocean via Nandi land. Costing £5 million, the initiative was backed by a parliamentary bill and aided cotton exports from Mombasa to Lake Victoria.

  • Northern and Southern Nigeria protectorates established

    British government had taken over these protectorates from Goldie's company in exchange for £895,000. The Government faced pressure amid competition from German trading companies and the poor treatment of King Koko of Nembe and King Oba of Benin. The Company transitioned into a formal British colony, under the principle of effective occupation.

  • Ashantiland Annexed by the British

    Incorporated into the Gold Coast following the defeat of King Pempeh's Ashanti forces in the Anglo-Ashanti War of 1900-01.

  • Nigerian protectorates amalgamated

    This was done for economic reasons - the north was spending too much money & couldn't raise taxes, whilst the south had a budget surplus.

  • Kenyan made a Formal colony

    Previously a part of British East africa, the region numbered 10,000 White and 20,000 Indians amongst 1m Black Africans. Harry Thuku would soon lead Kikuyu protests against tax increases and identity cards. The Kikuyu felt that British governors favoured the Masai tribe, an example of divide and rule tactics.