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Economic and Political Integration 1850–1920

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Abstract

In 1850 most parts of Africa was untouched by foreign conquest. Fifty years later almost the entire continent had been colonized by European powers. Although colonization market a significant political break, Hillbom and Green show that from the point of view of writing economic and social history, 1850 to 1920 was also a period marked by significant continuity. Based on the production of raw materials and agricultural products, the continent was already on a path to further integration into the world economy. There were both winners and losers from these processes of change, but in general it was African agency and pre-colonial legacies that drove much of the developments in the late pre-colonial and early colonial eras.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Bushel—measure equalling roughly 36 litres.

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Correspondence to Ellen Hillbom .

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Hillbom, E., Green, E. (2019). Economic and Political Integration 1850–1920. In: An Economic History of Development in sub-Saharan Africa . Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14008-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14008-3_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14007-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14008-3

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