Colonialism in the late XIX century: the new imperialism, the Scramble for Africa and the apparent need of civilizing, with a focus on the British Empire.

This dissertation analyses the European colonialism at the end of the XIX century focusing on the Scramble for Africa and the British Empire. Firstly, it clarifies the origins of colonialism specifying the differences between the terms colonialism and imperialism. Successively, it looks into economic consequences of colonized countries, especially referring to their income. To do that the paper takes into consideration Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s theory (AJR’s theory) and it shows the two opposite sides regarding the issue, one in agreement and the other one in disagreement. Later on, the dissertation describes the different kinds of colonizing rules that countries imposed in their colonies, such as direct and indirect rules and how the African continent has been divided among European forces, the so-called Scramble for Africa. Finally, in the last chapter, the paper focuses on the British properties in Africa taking into consideration the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and showing how British believed to be superior to Africans.