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Sub-Saharan Africa and Anglo-American relations, 1910-1929
Abstract
This study uses American interests in the British Empire in Africa as a focal point for analyzing Anglo-American relations between 1910 and 1929. Scholarly accounts of American foreign relations in general, and Anglo-American relations in particular, rarely mention issues connected with sub-Saharan Africa--a region where Great Britain had an extensive colonial empire and where, after World War I, the United States developed significant economic interests. Therefore, a study of Anglo-American interaction in Africa can contribute to a fuller understanding of Anglo-American relations during the interwar period. The Anglo-American relationship in sub-Saharan Africa was a mixture of cooperation and competition in the 1910-1929 period. Britons and white Americans shared many of the same aims and ideals for Africa. Americans and Britons agreed that Africans were backward and in need of assistance from white people, who would teach Africans to be "civilized." They agreed that Africa's natural resources should be developed under white supervision, for the benefit of Africa and the world. They agreed that whites were entitled to economic rewards for their labors in "civilizing" Africa. While Britons and Americans shared certain aims and ideals for sub-Saharan Africa, the region also witnessed economic competition between Britain and the United States. This competition was especially pronounced after World War I, when American economic penetration of British Africa increased dramatically as part of the United States' worldwide drive for overseas markets and investment opportunities. The Union of South Africa played a significant role in Anglo-American relations in Africa. The white-dominated South African government acted to further its political and economic independence from London, especially after the Nationalist-Labour coalition won the 1924 South African elections. The American State Department had sympathy for the South African project to build a white man's country. South Africa was aware of the developing Anglo-American rivalry, and sought diplomatic recognition from the United States as a means of asserting its autonomy from Britain.
Subject Area
American history|African history|European history|International law|International relations
Recommended Citation
Witte, Stephen S, "Sub-Saharan Africa and Anglo-American relations, 1910-1929" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9725140.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9725140