“Let it be admitted at the outset that European brains, capital, and energy have … not been, and never will be, expended in developing the resources of Africa from motives of pure philanthropy; that Europe is in Africa for the mutual benefit of her own industrial classes, and of the native races in their progress to a higher plane; that the benefit can be made reciprocal, and that it is the aim and desire of civilized administration to fulfill this dual mandate. By railways and roads, by reclamation of swamps and irrigation of deserts, and by a system of fair trade and competition, we have added to the prosperity and wealth of these lands, and have checked famine and disease. We have put an end to the awful misery of the slave trade and inter-tribal war, to human sacrifice and the ordeals of the witch-doctor. Where these things survive they are severely suppressed. We are endeavoring to teach the native races to conduct their own affairs with justice and humanity, and to educate them alike in letters and in industry.”Lord Lugard, The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa, 1922
The period of imperialism has witnessed many wars. Most of these wars have been caused by attacks of white races upon so-called “lower races.” They have resulted in the taking of territory by force. . . . Their chief work is to organize labor for their support. In the typical colony, the most fertile lands and the mineral resources are owned by white foreigners. These holdings are worked by natives under their direction. The foreigners take wealth out of the country. All the hard work is done by natives.
-adapted from Imperialism by J.A. Hobson, a British scholar.