European Colonization of the Tropical Region of Africa
According to the National Geography film, geography played a crucial role in the British colonization of North and South America, Australia and Africa. In Cape of Good Hope, the geography of the region was conducive and resembled the conditions back in Europe. It encouraged the settlers because of the climate and temperatures allowing them to thrive. However, this was not the case in the tropical regions of Africa. Unlike Europe and the Cape of Good Hope, the tropical regions had a completely different climate and temperature. This case contributed to the hardships that the Europeans experienced in their quest to colonize Africa. It proved a challenge as it led to the weakening, incapacitating and eventual death of most of the Europeans. The climatic conditions in the tropical regions was different from anything they had experienced before. As a result, their bodies could not adapt to the new environment. They had been used to four seasons while the region only had a rainy and dry times. The geography of the region also meant that their crops would not thrive. Their wheat, bailey and other crops did not grow. The land was even harder to plough. Their animals including horses could also not make it in the new environments. All these cases challenged their desire to settle in such areas as they ended up losing a lot.
Another factor that hindered the settlement and colonization of the European on the tropical lands was diseases. According to the film, Diamond resounds that the study of geography and how guns, germs and steel came into the mix. The three also made up the critical tools that the European used to colonize North and South America and also Australia. However, when they entered tropical Africa, one tool turned against them. Just as they had used smallpox as a means to conquer people, malaria stopped their advance. It affected them and made them sick to advance any agendas against the people. Malaria was new to their immune system hence affected them advacely. For the Africans, on the other hand, they were thriving. They had developed vaccines to boost their immunity against malaria. They had antibodies and were organized in such a way that lessened the impact and spread of malaria. Having lived with the condition, they were also wise enough to avoid wet and humid areas. The Europeans, unaware of the dangers that loomed in such areas, primarily settled along rivers to enhance their access to water. However, this proved detrimental and they got terrible fevers leading to several deaths. This instance proved a significant hardship on their plans and move for colonizing Africa.
Despite the challenges that the Europeans experienced, one aspect of ease that they encountered and a motivation to colonize Africa was their technological developments. They were hungry for Africa’s wealth of natural resources hence the greed to acquire it. The Belgians took to force and cruelty, forcing Africans out of their lands and burning their homes behind them. They pushed them into hard labor to mine and load the resources, including copper, gold and diamond. They had guns and other weapons that were superior at the time. The Africans had to oblige or risk death. The developments also included the construction of railroads to fasten the transport of these resources from where they were mined back to the colonizers’ home. These make up the guns and steel aspects of Diamond’s analysis and research. They were, therefore, able to force Africans into servitude without considering their needs. They put their technological knowhow into use like the way they had done before during the battle of Blood River in 1838. The Africans at the time had different levels of development, organization and association. While others, such as the Zulus had organized structures and systems, prompting resistance, other groups were more amenable or weak. As a result, the Europeans finally succeeded in colonizing Africa and acquiring the resources that they needed or wanted.