Colonization and Resistance in Africa

CASE BRIEF: European powers carved up Africa at the Berlin Conference without African input — but African leaders did not accept partition passively.

TASK: Compare European partition maps with African leaders' own accounts of resistance to evaluate the balance of power during colonization.

EVIDENCE: Berlin Conference partition map of Africa - Excerpt from Menelik II's account of resisting Italian invasion - Excerpt from Samori Toure's resistance campaign

ANALYZE: What does the partition map leave out about African societies? What made some resistance efforts more successful than others? How did colonizers justify partition to themselves?

BUILD A CLAIM: Argue how effectively African leaders resisted European colonization, using specific examples.

RUBRIC: Uses both African and European sources - Names specific resistance leaders and outcomes - Avoids treating Africa as a passive subject of the map