The role and importance of Africa to the British soon changed though do to imperial competition with France and Germany. Germany under the aggressive policies of Bismarck set out to take a leading role in Africa and catch up to other European powers such as Britain and France in terms of empire by gaining new control over territory and expanding their spheres of influence. Other important factors made Africa the hot spot for British and European expansion including the discovery of gold in the Transvaal and diamonds in the Orange Free State, the palm oil industry in Nigeria, scientific discoveries such as the way to treat mala

Valuable diamond mines were discovered in the Orange Free State and the richest gold strike in the known world was found in the Transvaal. These discoveries resulted in a massive influx of people not only from the Cape Colony and Britain but also from around the world. This mass emigration made the Afrikaners insecure and they didn't want to grant citizenship to the newly arrived people they called Uitlanders because it would mean that they would lose political control.

In order to explore the nature of British expansion in Africa Porter's The Lion's Share and T.O. Lloyds The British Empire 1558-1995 are indispensable texts. Using their information on British expansion throughout Africa as a foundation it becomes possible to break down the period of greatest growth between 1880 and 1900 by analyzing British role in Africa prior to 1880, the external roles that competitors such as Germany and France had in forcing England's imperial hand coupled with the internal economic drives for procuring areas of Africa, and the special case and significance of the Cape Colony and British Afrikaner relations.

Britain's attitude toward African expansion doesn't really change in the last two decades of the 19th century from its long held overall view of keeping Africa on a shoestring. It's actions change radically though because of newly discovered economic opportunities and a need to respond to the actions other European powers. Although economic influence and foreign pressure created a reason for British expansion in the last two decades it is key to look at the small ways the British built a foundation for expansion starting in the 1850's and 1860's. For example David Livingston's exploration in Africa and the resulting publicity in the Victorian media opened England's eyes in regards to Africa. He was most effective in creating interest by awakening Victorian morality concerning the still active slave trade occurring in east Africa. David Livingston had caught the public attention with his accounts of his explorations and his reminder that a slave trade on the east coast was still taking a great many slaves across the Indian Ocean to the Arab world. When he said that he was going back to Africa to make an open road for commerce and for Christianity he meant that unless a natural alternative was provided the slave trade was bound to go on (Lloyd, p. 182). Livingston was an icon to remind the British of Africa but his role alone did not fully set the foundation for later British growth in Africa. African expansion hadn't particularly been considered by because it wasn't viable do to high mortality rates caused by malaria and other tropical diseases and the lack of geographic knowledge of the African hinterland. These piece of the foundation started to come together though in the 1850's and 1860's to combined with Livingston's publicizing of Africa to build the base that would support the rapid expansion the would develop in the 1880's and 1890's.

France was moving east from Senegal. Germany gained control of Togoland and The Cameroons just to the south. The Belgians were making claims in the Congo to the southeast leaving Nigeria surrounded by other European powers. The problem primarily arose because Goldie's company lacked a charter and had no real treaties with the tribes in Nigeria. As the encroachment became more severe Goldie gained a charter in 1886 granting his company the powers of government. Goldie's administration turned out to be a success following the granting of a charter as The Royal Niger Company promptly went out and procured treaties with the principal rulers of the area-staking claim and effectively limiting the further growth of their neighbors. The situation of the Royal Niger Company once again highlights Gladstone and his anti-expansionist policy being manipulated and circumvented under external pressure. German expansion in eastern Africa prompts British annexation of The Buganda Kingdom, which will

Some common words found in the essay are:
Africa African, Africa Company, Orange Free, Colony Britain's, Cape Colony, Germany France, British Empire, Togoland Cameroons, Buganda Kingdom, Niger Company, cape colony, orange free, slave trade, european powers, transvaal orange free, east africa, scramble africa, africa company, 19th century, buganda kingdom, transvaal orange, british east africa, royal niger company, east africa company, cape colony british,
Approximate Word count = 3207
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)