| United States |
African Nations |
| For 150 years, the Appalachian
Mountains acted in people's minds as a barrier to
westward expansion.
|
For over 200 years the interior of Africa acted in
people's minds as a barrier to exploration and
development.
|
| For Early American beliefs and attitudes towards Native
Americans.nbsp &The perceived need to pacify,
educate and "civilize" them and the "unequal treaties"
they were forced to sign.
|
Colonialist attitudes and beliefs about Africans and the
"White Man's Burden."nbsp &The perceived need to
improve their lives and "civilize" them and the "blank
treaties" they were forced to sign.
|
| Endless conflict between the ranchers and the farmers in
the early American West.
|
Similar conflicts between nomadic herdsmen and sedentary
farmers in parts of Africa throughout history.
|
| Early exploration of North America (routes, distances,
hardships, accounts and myths).
|
Similar early exploration of the African continent.
|
| Native Americans being forced off their land and onto
"reservations." (Native Americans were not granted full
citizenship until 1924.)
|
Africans in many areas being forced off their land and onto
Bantu "homelands" in South Africa today.
|
| Our "War for Independence" from colonial rule, and the
difficulties faced in developing national unity once
the British "enemy" was gone.
|
The similar wars of African nationalists for their
independence, and the difficulties they faced in
developing a sense of "nation" once the common
colonialist "enemy" was gone.
|
| Our Civil War (after 75 years as a nation) to assure
national consensus.
|
Africa's 20th Century "civil wars" (after only 30+ years as
nations) which continue even today for similar purposes.
|
| Colonial-period restrictions on American trade and industry
under the British-dominated mercantile system.
|
Similar conditions in Africa before independence and today,
where in many cases, political colonialism has been
replaced by economic colonialism, i.e., neo-colonialism.
|
| The US remained a net importer of development capital until
World War I.
|
The need of African nations today for development
assistance.
|
| Rapid urban growth and the move to cities with its
accompanying problems (in 1790 the US was only 5%
urban, in 1880 still only 28% urban, and not until
1980 had it reached 78% urban, and even greater today).
|
African problems with the rapid "drift to the cities" and
the accompanying problems in African nations today.
|
