The United States is the strongest country in the world and has been for a long time. Following it’s founding in 1776, the US grew to dominate the world economically, militarily, and culturally. By the 19th Century, America was fast becoming a major world power. However, when European countries began to colonize Africa in the 1800s, America didn’t’. But why not? If the US was already such powerful country, why didn’t America colonise Africa like the Europeans did?
There’s actually a range of reasons why America didn’t colonise Africa. Here we break them down…
1. America’s Anti-Colonialist History
A first reason why the United States didn’t colonize Africa was because of America’s long-held anti-colonial beliefs.
The United States was founded by breaking away from an empire – the British. The foundational beliefs of America were anti-colonial. In the second half of the 19th Century – when Africa was being fully colonised, both the US government and public opinion was against America having overseas territories.
The feeling that America should be a new kind of country – opposing the old European empires and striving for a world of independent sovereign nations, was strongly held in the US. This is a major reason why the US didn’t colonize Africa when other European countries did.
For much of the 19th and 20th Centuries, America was generally opposed to imperialism. This is mainly because of the country’s founding and the core ideals the United States strived for. When African colonization began in earnest from the 1880s, America did not believe it was right to form an empire. This is why there were no US colonies in Africa.
2. The US Didn’t Need Africa’s Natural Resources
A second reason why America didn’t colonize Africa is because the US did not need the natural resources.
The objective of empire is essentially to obtain resources at below market price. If countries wanted to buy resources, they could, without having to takeover any territory. Colonizing a land allows a country to extract the resources without having to compete with other countries. It also ensures a country has a steady supply and control of the resources its economy needs.
The United States is incredibly rich in natural resources. Coal, copper, iron, natural gas, oil, uranium lead and timber are just some of the resources found in abundance within America. The US didn’t colonize Africa for the simple reason that the US economy didn’t need the resources there. European countries, in contrast, generally lacked natural resources and so were driven to conquer and exploit Africa.
As Western economies industrialized throughout the 19th Century, there need for natural resources grew enormously. This drove many countries to colonize lands that would allow them to control the resources they need. America is rich in natural resources and was able to provide what the US economy
3. America Focused On Westward Expansion
A third reason why the US didn’t have colonies in Africa is because of the American focus on expanding into territories in the west of the continental US.
The 19th Century saw the United States expanded enormously. In 1800, the US was predominantly located on the eastern coast of the North American continent. By 1900, the United States had expanded all the way to the Pacific coast, with major population canters in California and Oregon.
The expansion of European colonies in Africa took place between 1800 and 1905. During this time, the US was focused heavily on its westward expansion. Essentially, America didn’t need territory across the Atlantic in Africa when it could expand and acquire vast territory in North America.
The westward expansion of the United States took enormous financial, economic, and human resources. The decision to push the territory of the United States and to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans was the main focus of the US government in the late 19th Century. There was no need for America to focus on colonizing Africa at this time.
4. America Didn’t Already Have Territory In Africa
Another reason why America didn’t colonise Africa was because the US didn’t have a strong presence in Africa in the 19th Century.
European countries had been present in Africa since the 16th Century. Countries such as Britain, France, Spain, and Portugal had established trading posts and held small territories on the coast of Africa. This meant when the colonization of Africa’s interior began from the 1880s onwards, these countries were able to expand on the possessions they already held.
America held almost no territory in Africa in the late 19th Century. The only land connected to America was Liberia – a small nation established on the west coast of the continent. Libera was set-up by the American Colonization Society – a private group of American citizens, in 1847, as a land for freed slaves to return to Africa. Although founded by American’s, it was not established by the US government and was an independent country from its beginning.
The lack of US territory at time of the continent’s colonization was a key reason why the US did not obtain lands in Africa. America had little claim to African lands and had no history of having a presence on the continent.
5. American Civil War And Cost of Reconstruction
A key reason why the United States did not establish colonies in Africa when European countries did was because of the American Civil War.
The American Civil War was fought from 1861 – 1865. It was devasting. 620,000 American were killed the in war. 5.2 billion dollars’ worth of damage was caused as armies from the Southern Confederacy battled Union forces across the country. The enormous cost of the Civil War, in both lives and resources, meant that America was less inclined to dedicate finances and manpower to overseas colonization.
Following the Union victory in the Civil War, a policy known as reconstruction was enacted across the southern United States. Reconstruction not only involved rebuilding from the damage of the war, but also reconfiguring the Southern economy away from slavery. The Union continued to station troops in the South until 1877.
Reconstruction was enormously expensive and resource intensive. It lasted from the end of the Civil War until Union troops left the South. As the full colonization of Africa began from the 1880s, America was still recovering after the Civil War. This is an important reason why the United States didn’t join European countries in establishing colonies in Africa.
6. America’s Lack of Naval Power
An important reason why the US did not have colonies in Africa was because of the lack of American naval power.
Following the American Civil War, the US navy fell into decline. Although the US pioneered breakthrough technology in ironclad warships, by the 1870s all Civil War era ironclads had been retired and the US Navy had failed to commission replacements. This meant that when the Scramble for Africa began in haste in the 1880s, America lacked the naval power needed to engage fully.
In order for America to successfully colonize Africa, it would have needed extensive naval power. This is because it would have had to protect the sea-lanes across the North Atlantic to ensure a connection to its colonies. At the time many European countries were taking African colonies, America lacked the naval power to do this.
By 1882 the US had realized its strategic error in failing to modernize its navy and the US government commissioned new modern warships. However, this meant America did not have the sea power required to establish, and protect, African colonies during the height of colonization.
7. America Focused On The Western Hemisphere
A further reason why the US didn’t have colonies in Africa is because of a focus on the Western Hemisphere
In 1823, the United States adopted the Monroe Doctrine. This was an announcement made by US president James Monroe that said the United States would not accept European interference in the Western Hemisphere. Essentially, it committed the US to ensuring the Americas were free from external influence. However, it also, tacitly, meant that the US aimed to dominate the region. With a US focus on North and South America, there was little interest in establishing colonies in Africa.
From the 1850s, the Monroe Doctrine became a cornerstone of American foreign policy. However, another reason why the US did not take colonies in Africa is that there was a risk of hypocrisy in preventing outside interference in America’s whilst actively involving itself in other regions. The Monroe Doctrine was firmly anti-colonial. If the US established colonies in Africa, it would weaken America’s position in preventing other countries from establishing colonies in the Western Hemisphere.
The US Left It Too Late To Colonise Africa
A final reason why the US did not colonize Africa is because they left it too late.
By the very end of the 19th Century, America had moved away from its historical reservations against empire building. In 1867, America bought the territory of Alaska. In 1898 they annexed Hawaii. Both would be incorporated as States but not until 1959. In 1898, the US fought the Spanish-American War. The American victory in this conflict allowed the US to take control of Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Essentially, by 1900, America had formed a small empire.
Some in the US, including President Theodore Roosevelt, advocated strongly for America to use its power to dominate, or control, territories that were strategically important to it. It’s likely that if African colonization had begun later, or this sentiment grew in the US earlier, then America would join the Europeans in the colonization of Africa. However, by 1905, Africa was already colonized.
The United States played a more assertive role in world affairs from 1900 onwards. However, an important reason why the US didn’t colonize Africa was because it had other focuses in the latter half of the 19th Century, and basically was beaten to it by the Europeans.