Scramble for Africa Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Scramble for Africa Quiz
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About This Quiz

In the 19th century, the interior of Africa ("The Dark Continent") was largely unknown to Westerners. But in just a few years, many Europeans laid colonial claims to Africa, sparking a mad dash for land and riches. How much do you know about the Scramble for Africa?
What was the so-called Scramble for Africa?
basically Africa's World War I
annexation and colonization
an omelet cook-off to benefit the natives
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Scramble for Africa was a major push (mostly by European countries) to colonize and annex as much as Africa as possible, in order to take control of the area's natural resources and manpower.

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Why did the Scramble start only in the late 1800s?
bigger airships
better guns
many technological improvements
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the late 1800s, there were many technological improvements that made it easier for Europeans to travel into undeveloped areas. As they traveled, they mapped the areas and sometimes claimed them for their homelands.

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In the 1880s, what word best described the colonization of Africa?
haphazard
logical and ordered
it hadn't really even started
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the 1880s, the colonization of Africa was haphazard, at best. Europeans sent out random teams of men to explore various areas. Sometimes they were successful, sometimes they were not.

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What was the purpose of the Berlin Conference?
the British established South Africa
Germany claimed all of North Africa
to divide up Africa between European nations
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Berlin Conference brought together many European powers, which then divvied much of Africa into pieces that could then be claimed by colonization … with no regard for the locals and their established territories.

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Before the Berlin Conference, only one country really made any attempt to colonize Africa's interior. Which country was it?
Belgium
England
France
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the late 1870s, Belgium's King Leopold II sent famed explorer Henry Morton Stanley deep into Africa, in large part to lay claims on the lands. When other countries found out, they scrambled to send their own expeditions.

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Stanley's explorations of the Congo River area essentially did what to Africa?
made it look like a disease-ridden tropical nightmare
made it seem more impenetrable than before
served it up on a carving platter
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Stanley's trip through the Congo filled in many blank spots on European maps of Africa. So by the early 1880s, Africa was mapped and ready to be carved up into pieces by various European powers.

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Belgium was a true force in European politics in the 1870s.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Belgium was just a small country with little power. But King Leopold's land grab alarmed other Europeans, and they began plotting their own colonization plans.

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The Europeans were licking their chops at the Berlin Conference, everyone looking for a piece of the pie that was Africa. How many countries were in attendance?
five
nine
14
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There were 13 Europeans countries at the conference, as well as a far-away country called the United States. Everyone from France, to Russia, to Spain wanted parts of Africa.

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The conference developed rules called the General Act, which prohibited what practice in Africa?
slavery
polygamy
cannibalism
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Slavery was still common in Africa in the 1880s. The Europeans figured that if they were going to take over these lands, they should all agree that slavery was to be abolished. Because, you know, it would give them higher moral standing as they robbed the locals of their lands.

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At the conference, how did the leaders divvy up Africa?
a shooting contest
drew straws
drew lines on a map
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Without regard for the locals or the realities of the terrain, they often just drew straight lines through certain areas on a map. It seemed, at the time, a logical way to cut up a continent.

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What was the Principle of Effectivity?
a type of "natural" law
rules for colonization
definitions for modern slavery
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

At the conference, the Europeans established the Principle of Effectivity. Essentially, these were rules for colonization areas of Africa.

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Which European country ended up with some of the richest portions of Africa?
Britain
Norway
Italy
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Britain, of course, was a potent force in the world and managed to grab many of the best parts of Africa, including the areas of Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria.

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How did the conference address the Niger and Congo Rivers?
went to France
fell under British control
remained open to all
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Niger and Congo Rivers were important inland routes that made Africa more accessible to everyone. They were designated as open routes for all Europeans.

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The Scramble resulted in several wars between European powers.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Africa provided a way for Europeans to vent their latent hostilities at one another without open warfare. They also didn't want to fight each other because if the Africans saw Europeans dying, they'd realize that white men could be killed, just like black people.

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How did Africans respond to the sudden widespread colonization by Europeans?
never even tried to fight back
almost immediately gave up fighting
started major wars to fight back
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Some tribes picked up weapons to fight off the invasions, but European weapons (including machine guns) were so advanced that it was impossible for the Africans to win. The Africans almost immediately gave up the fight.

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Before the Europeans arrived, what was much of Africa like from a political standpoint?
murder on a grand scale
peaceful and organized
filled with turmoil
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The continent was strewn with political fractures numbering in the thousands. There was very little order.

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France allowed Africans to become involved in the colonial governments of French colonies.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

France set out to spread French culture throughout its colonies. In doing so, it invited Africans to take part in the effort to "tame" the savage areas.

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Many Europeans believed that the colonizations were a huge benefit to the natives.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They genuinely believed that they were bringing civilization to an area filled with nothing but savagery. In many instances, it was the Europeans who were savages.

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In the face of overwhelming European firepower, how did local kings address the problem of colonization?
built huge castles to keep the white men at bay
cast curses on the invaders
signed away their kingdoms
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

After hearing stories of machine gun-fueled carnage, the kings knew they were beaten. Many of them signed away their kingdoms without a fight.

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The Battle of Omdurman was essentially a battle between British troops and local tribes from which area?
Zambia
Sudan
South Africa
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Battle of Omdurman was fought for the area around Sudan. It was one of the very few major clashes between European colonizers and the natives.

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At the Battle of Omdurman, the natives outnumbered British forces 2 to 1. How did the battle end?
British easily won
Africans annihilated the British
it was indecisive
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Armed with a few dozen water-cooled machine guns, the battle turned into a massacre. The British took only a few casualties while mowing down thousands of Africans.

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How did many Europeans treat Africans?
as children
as sworn enemies
as disgusting subhumans
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Many Europeans treated the Africans as if they were children. They taxed them, divided them into contrived tribes and exploited their natural resources.

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By 1914, Europeans owned almost all of Africa.
true
false
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the span of about three decades, Africa went from unexplored to conquered. By 1914, Europe was in control of the entire continent except for two small countries.

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Which country helped to found Liberia?
France
U.S.
Russia
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Liberia used many principles of the U.S. Constitution to develop its own constitution. And many former American slaves left (or were forced) to emigrate to Liberia.

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Africans heard stories of India gaining its independence from Britain. How did this news affect Africa?
they wanted to fight for independence
they wanted to give the British even more power
they wanted America to help them fight the Europeans
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

India's revolution emboldened African desires for armed resistance. The Europeans saw this as a very troubling development.

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What happened to Germany's colonies in Africa following World War I?
they revolted
they became a type of headquarters for exiles
they were divided up for other countries
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

World War I meant the end of Germany's colonies in Africa. Britain and France divvied up German colonies for themselves.

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Why did Britain give up many of its African colonies after World War II?
tired of colonies
broke
out of weapons
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Britain was broke after years of fighting the Nazis; it didn't want to start more wars in Africa. It simply abandoned some of its African colonies.

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Africans were distraught when Europeans came in and sliced up their lands. When did some of these African nations finally begin regaining their sovereignty?
after the Vietnam War
after World War II
never did
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

World War II fractured countries and caused remapping of many parts of the world. In the aftermath of the war, some African nations began taking back their independence.

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Many white settlers were essentially abandoned when their home countries gave up colonies. What happened to the settlers?
burned their farms
mostly gave up and went home
fought to the death for "their" land
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Some white settlers took up arms to defend their colonial lands. But most saw the writing on the wall and returned to their homelands.

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As the world wars died down, how did independence come to many African nations?
through trickery
through armed revolution
peacefully
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The beginning of colonization was often violent, but independence mostly came peacefully. Europeans had to treat their own wounds at home instead of colonizing other countries.

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