Prior to the French Revolution and the end of the slave trade Europeans viewed Africans as exotic beings and simply a source of commerce. Many Europeans also viewed Africans as nothing more than slaves. Once the slave trade ended Africans were no longer viewed in the same way. Europeans began to see Africans from different points of view; they were seen as inferior, uncivilized, and ignorant. Racism really started to take form and Europeans really began to look at Africans as being inferior not just as slaves, but as people. There were many different reasons for this change in attitude toward Africans including European technological advances, increase in wealth, and changes after wartime.
When Europeans initially made contact with Africans, technology between the two nations was comparable as were political structures. As time went on European technology advanced at such a high rate that it left African nations far behind (Halett, 460). With the advance in technology came an increase in wealth. With an increase in wealth came an increase in population and everything else European. Africans simply could not keep up with these changes. As the gap widened attitudes began to change. Europeans no longer saw Africans as fellow traders instead they saw them as increasingly different from themselves. Because Africans’ lives were so different than those of Europeans’ lives, the latter saw the former as inferior. Europeans looked upon Africans and saw them as primitive and simple because they did not have the same technology and were not advancing as quickly. The “contrasts between an apparently ‘stagnant’ Africa and a rapidly ‘progressing’ Europe were becoming more evident with every year that passed” which caused European attitudes to change (Halett, 472).
The advancement in European technology caused attitudes to change and created a whole new view of Africans. Europeans already saw African slaves as inferior, but they began to see Africa as a “savage territory” and its people “ignorant and unpolished” (Halett, 470-471). Whites wanted to “civilize” Africa. That viewpoint compared to when Europeans had previously viewed Africans as exotic and beautiful creatures and even kept them as “pets” because of their uniqueness was a complete change. What used to seem so beautiful changed to being undesirable. Europeans then believed that because physically Africans were different than Europeans they should be regarded as a separate species. Scientists began to do research and came to the conclusion that Europeans had larger brains so therefore they must be smarter and more superior (Halett, 475). Research of the differences in anatomy between Europeans and Africans continued and scientists found more ways to justify European superiority because of anatomical differences.
Another main catalyst in the change in European attitude toward Africans was the ending of World War I. England and other European nations had just ended a long, hard war and the remaining soldiers were returning home and looking for work. There was a scarcity of jobs and Britons were unwilling to compete with black “aliens” for jobs. Britons did not want to compete with black citizens as it was and they especially did not want to compete with black non-citizens. The post-war economy was trying on everyone, so when the white soldiers returned home looking for work concerned that they would be unable to find any due to black “aliens” or non-citizens taking those positions it caused racial tensions to rise (Bush, 207).
Post-war changes in attitudes caused Europeans to become scared and so legislations were passed that would not allow black “aliens” to find work. If an “alien” was found to be working he would be charged and deported. Not only would the African be charged, but the person employing him would be charged as well. Britain’s 1919 Aliens Restriction Order was highly “racialised” and even encouraged blacks currently living in Britain to leave and return to Africa as well as discouraging any new immigration of blacks from Africa (Bush, 207). Laws continued to be created discouraging blacks from coming to or living in England and they also allowed policemen to indiscriminately arrest blacks. The growing racial tension caused many anti-black riots in Britain.
The poor treatment that Africans were receiving caused them to join together for a common cause, equality. Blacks began creating organizations focused on fighting for equality and rights. In 1934 the National Counsel for Civil Liberties was founded in order to help defend black seamen who had served in the army or navy only to become classified as “aliens” (Bush, 08). The NCCL fought for those blacks so that they could be considered as British subjects. The League of Coloured Peoples was founded in 1931 and conducted research that showed the highest level of discrimination was toward student and professionals who had come from Africa to study (Bush, 215). Many more organizations were formed by blacks and whites alike in order to fight for equality and rights for blacks.
Between the advancement in technology and increase in wealth as well as post war job scarcity the attitude of Europeans toward Africans changed dramatically. They went from being seen as exotic and a good source of labor to being inferior and savage. Europeans created many new laws that tried to remove blacks from the country and as a reaction to the maltreatment blacks joined together and formed organizations that fought for their rights.
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