Hertslet, Edward, Sir, R. W Brant, and H. L Sherwood. The map of Africa by treaty. London: Printed for H. M. Stationery off., by Harrison and sons, 1909. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/99446110/.
United States Central Intelligence Agency. Africa. [Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2011] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012592672/.
Comparisons and contrasts can be made between the boundaries of modern countries and the previous boundaries of colonial rule. It is important for students to see how colonialism impacted the colonized populations, and these maps are a geographic representation of the colonial impact on Africa. Additionally, students will gain insight into African history allowing them to better appreciate the rich cultural history of the region. These maps would be particularly helpful when studying authors like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chinua Achebe, Beverley Naidoo, Buchi Emecheta, or Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
The “General map of Africa” (1909) shows the puzzle-like division of the continent and the European country that corresponds to each land mass. It shows the impact of European colonization across Africa and how European countries divided the land and set claim to vast areas of the continent with little to no regard to existing tribal, cultural, or geographical boundaries. The map shows how the scramble to gain land and influence on the continent created a jigsaw puzzle of division. The second map, “Africa.,” shows the modern day division of the continent into independent countries.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many European countries set up colonies across the African continent. The conquest of the continent became known as “The Scramble for Africa” as many countries sought to lay claim to land. By 1960 most countries in Africa had gained their independence from colonial rule, but the lasting impacts of colonization are still present in many African countries.
- How did the division of Africa during colonization impact the cultures of the continent?
- How are modern independent country divisions impacted by colonial rule?
Alabama State Standards
9.R1: Read a variety of print and nonprint documents to acquire new information and respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace. COS Examples Examples: emails, directions, diagrams, charts, other common workplace documents
- Questions guide students to look at the map, understand the map key, and interpret the visual images and written words displayed.
9.2: Analyze information from graphic texts to draw conclusions, defend claims, and make decisions. COS Examples: tables, graphs, charts, digital dashboards, flow charts, timelines, forms, maps, blueprints
- Questions guide students to make inferences based on their understanding and analysis of information presented on the map.
9.7: Read, analyze, and evaluate texts from science, social studies, and other academic disciplines to determine how those disciplines treat domain-specific vocabulary and content organization.
- Students look at a map, a text usually associated with the social studies discipline, and must evaluate its organization. They also encounter domain specific vocabulary associated with the “map key” or “reference” table along with the “scale” and other map specific terminology.
This map pairs well with Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. The novel is set in a fictional Ibo tribe in Nigeria in the 1890s at the beginning of British colonial rule. The book was published in 1958, just before Nigerian independence. This map will help students better understand the colonial history of Africa and allow them to see how vast colonization was during the setting of the novel. Questions to pose to the class:
NOTE: Students must look closely at the map and the key to answer the following questions. Then, they must make inferences based on their analysis.
- How many different countries laid claim to lands in Africa in 1909?
- What country colonized the region that is today the country of Nigeria?
- Compare the two maps. Are there any similarities in the boundaries of colonial rule to modern day country boundaries? Make an inference about why these similarities may exist.
- Which European country had influence over the greatest land area in Africa in 1909? Make an inference about why having influence over the greatest land area might be important to a European power in 1909.
- There are trade routes marked on both the east and west coasts of the 1909 map. What commodities were being imported and exported from Africa in 1909? Do any of these commodities surprise you? Why or why not?
- The novel Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s. How does the 1909 map support the plot of the novel?
- Some may find the 1909 map or the questions asked by this lesson to be critical of colonization. It may make some people uncomfortable to see the struggle that these individual cultures had to endure when faced with British rule.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- The Museum of British Colonialism believes that it is important for students to understand the injustices of colonization. They have compiled numerous resources that support the teaching of global colonization. https://museumofbritishcolonialism.org/education/
- [Administrative map of Nigeria] https://www.loc.gov/item/2010592721/ This map exposes students to the same domain-specific language without showing colonial boundaries of the area.
- Nigeria.] https://www.loc.gov/item/93681862/ This map exposes students to the same domain-specific language and focuses on purely geographical aspects of the country of Nigeria with no connection to colonization or trade.
- [Africa.]: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g8200.ct003738/?r=-0.319,0.323,1.591,0.576,0 This is the 2011 map mentioned in the lesson. Teachers may choose to teach this map in isolation because it does not show the colonial rule of the continent.
- https://kids.britannica.com/students/assembly/view/244678: This source presents similar information in a simpler fashion. It would be good for younger students or to accommodate learning.
- Information about Achebe: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/26/after-empire.
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Nigerian author whose works will pair well with this primary source https://www.chimamanda.com/.