Why didn't the USA also Scramble Africa? (Short Animated Documentary)

[@stevenchoza6391]

To be fair about Mexico being occupied by an Austrian, America was kind of busy at that moment fighting itself.

[@andrewklang809]

And once the Civil War was done, and Maximilian still refused to leave, the funniest thing happened. A whole bunch of Union weaponry, which weren't needed anymore, just found its way to southern Texas. And then....just disappeared. No one knows why. On an unrelated note, the Mexican Republicans suddenly were very well-equipped and made short work of the Imperial Army. History is full of odd co-incidences.

[@stevenchoza6391]

@@andrewklang809 Not to mention those scary Union troops who were conveniently at the border at the time.

[@biggibbs4678]

@@andrewklang809 his wife knew he was fucked and was super depressed about it. She went to beg to the pope to do something and started crying, refusing to leave. He let her sleep in the vadican.

[@tableprinterdoor]

what other country was occupied by an Austrian and how well did that go?

[@enrico.beltrao]

Also the Brits got that chunk out of Venezuelan Guyana through international arbitration and the Falklands matter was really about restablishing control not actually taking over anything. I suppose you can violate the Monroe doctrine at will if you get really technical or outright sneaky about it

[@YouTube]

amazingly fascinating history bites 👍

[@edixonvc5101]

Holy shit the real KZbin?

[@VitorSantos-jo4qz]

What ?

[@wildwilly356]

huh

[@abrahammelano3495]

Wtf???

[@fryhyh]

I wonder who runs the youtube channel

[@balleer67]

Liberia: I’m declaring independence USA: I don’t even know who you are

[@jesucristobostero3287]

lmaoo

[@JamesDelanoMcCarthysecondacc]

Ok

[@brian.westersauce]

Thanos reference right

[@dimitryyazov]

I am your 420th like

[@umsimplesdito4519]

American samoa be like:

[@ivansych8956]

I like how US ''potential claims'' in Africa are drawn in a shape of some US states.

[@u2beuser714]

Damn i knew that algeria is florida in disguise

[@derekchristenson5711]

@@u2beuser714 "I see things; I see them with my eyes! / I see things; they're often in disguise!"

[@jeffbenton6183]

Interestingly enough, the one shaped like Texas actually follows the claimed borders of the Republic of Texas. That kind of seems like a fun Easter-egg-within-an-Easter-egg of sorts.

[@shinsenshogun900]

American East Africa = Rhode Island & Providence Then there’s an idealist named Cecil Rhodes whose surname was once a nation’s previous colonial name Therefore, this is American Rhodesia

[@Rogue_Centurion]

@@u2beuser714 also that Sudan was Virginia secretly

[@expandedhistory]

If you look at the long run, the United States focusing on its expansion into territories in North America rather then Africa such as Europe did, the United States won in the long run. The vast untouched resources the United States still has in its land is astonishing. Not to mention it still holds majority of its original territories unlike Europe in Africa.

[@alastairward2774]

Like a game of Civilization, they had the best starting location and didn't expand quickly abroad.

[@Jin-Ro]

To be fair the USA is 5 minutes old. Lets come back to this thread in ~1,500 years before making any declarations.

[@Pqndchannel]

@@Jin-Ro technically, Germany and Italy are younger than the USA.

[@planescaped]

@@Pqndchannel Yeah, a lotta people forget that Italy was an array of small nationstates and citystates from the fall of Rome through until the Napoleonic era.

[@TheMasterOfCornedy]

@@Pqndchannel technicality doesnt matter here

[@LitD]

Interesting facts: Liberia has the dubious honour of being one of the last countries with slavery in it, it wasn't until the 1930's that the League of Nations got involved. They wanted to turn the country into a mandate with Poland being seen as the preferred country to oversee it, mostly because they were the Liberians preffered option as they viewed the Poles as the least likely to try and annex Liberia. Nothing came of it because the US had a hissy fit about foreign investments in their territories and Poland was more concerned about their neighbours being warmongers.

[@hadracks]

There are still plenty of countries with slavery now. It is de facto legal in many countries with around 40 million current slaves and a lot more with very limited freedoms. Interesting fact though, given Liberia's history.

[@raptorfromthe6ix833]

nah the last country with slavery was mauritania....in 1981

[@boaoftheboaians]

@@raptorfromthe6ix833 he said "one of the last countries", not "THE last country"

[@bobjones8949]

What slavery in Liberia are you talking about? There's a lot of revisionist history going on with these subjects.

[@Markus-n3s]

Poland was a huge warmonger themselves. Started war with Soviet Union in the 1920’s, took land of Czechoslowakia in the 30’s and refused to negotiate any reasonable solution to the Corridor issue with Germany while mistreating ethnic Germans who found themselves in this Western puppet state.

[@volodask]

A quick note about Congo being free for all countries to trade with. It was actually a ruse used by Leopold II to get international backing for his administration of Congo. The moment he had enough troops there to defend it, well, the free for all part was quickly forgotten and the terrible looting and mass murder began.

[@sixthcairn]

Leopold II was such a swell guy.

[@kjellvanderpoten3141]

as i remember it the free trade part was held up under leo, but ended when belgium seized the colony (before that it was leo's private property (also when most atrocities happened)) the great powers actually wanted to take it away from belgium when they ended the free trade, and belgium immediately cozied up to the germans to get the great powers to fight each other (that didn't backfire at all)

[@lucasfernandes0002]

The great Leopold II, easily the worst man to ever live, Hitler is a kid throwing a tantrum next to him

[@kjellvanderpoten3141]

@@lucasfernandes0002 woah, intentionally trying to eradicate multiple peoples from the earth shouldn't be taken so lightly

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

Companies still could do whatever they wanted though, as long as Leopold 2 got a piece of the profits. Like a mob boss He never personally set foot in the Congo. It was run by companies and their mercenaries.

[@Mr_M_History]

HistoryMatters is a truly great history channel because it answers the negative questions as well as the positive ones!

[@brandoncampanaro7571]

History give us context to the world we live in, everything we use and believe and have is based in our history and to not know or understand our history is choosing to be ignorant to the problems we face today

[@WayneNaude670]

i love the animated characters and their expressions

[@tommiddlefinger6188]

If you live in Nevada, do NOT v o t e for Chuck Short. He is running ads on this channnel but he is a JERRK. We don't need more of the diversty Commmunst type Democrts.

[@Jotari]

What's the difference between a negative and positive question?

[@Jotari]

@@adityas9377 Ah. So a pretty literal interpretation. Though with pretty much every negative question you could ask it in a positive way. Like, Why didn't the USA also Scramble Africa? is the same question as Why did the USA sit out of the Scramble for Africa?

[@NovikNikolovic]

"and thus they had no desires to squabble over pieces of a third continent." Philippines: 😐

[@silverwurm]

Key phrase “pieces of”

[@dfdf-rj8jr]

the us gave up philippines edit

[@NovikNikolovic]

@@dfdf-rj8jr doesn't change the fact that we still squabbled over a 3rd continent

[@dfdf-rj8jr]

@@NovikNikolovic We didn't "squabble" over anything. We took it, lost it, took it, and gave it back. There were very few arguments. You're just trying to make the US look colonialist, when it isn't.

[@NovikNikolovic]

@@dfdf-rj8jr it literally is though. If taking land that doesn't belong to you ISN'T colonialist, then what is, genius?

[@TheLocalLt]

As you touched on, Liberia was originally a series of American colonies under company rule and run by freedmen, most of which merged into the Colony of Liberia from 1838 until it declared independence in 1847, although America didn’t officially recognize independence until 1862. Liberia subsequently became an American client in the region all through the Scramble and World Wars, before the Americo-Liberian freedmen started waging brutal wars and fell out of favor in Washington in the second half of the 20th century. Still the capital today remains Monrovia, named after James Monroe, and its political system is at least nominally based off America’s (although in reality it’s been made ineffective at many points by corruption and despotism). Edit: for all those replying “just like the American government”, please understand that these are not just issues that needs to be worked on like in America, the situation in Liberia is really quite bad, the government lurches between periods of outright dictatorship and periods of struggle to even maintain order. Comparison to a rich and democratic country like America severely trivializes the depth of the Liberian situation.

[@abbyalphonse499]

Monrovia? How come it wasn't called Bissonetia?

[@duskpede5146]

he litterally says this in the video

[@rwboa22]

And Liberia today is under the control of the indigenous Africans living within its borders today, as Americo-Liberians practically loss their power through the different conflicts and civil wars waged there.

[@brandonlyon730]

Also ironic fact: the black freedmen ended up enslaving a lot of the original natives in Liberia.

[@glif1360]

Notably, relationships with Liberia are still good enough for it to be invited to Ramstein.

[@knives4cash]

The Limbo joke caught me off guard. That was hilarious.

[@benjaminmclaren8782]

Why did he have to show the Yubi? That was really scary 😨

[@ilovemuslimfood666]

@@benjaminmclaren8782 The Yubi? I saw the Grim Reaper!

[@bjhale]

Same here! Literally loled.

[@whafflete6721]

@@benjaminmclaren8782 Yubi yubi

[@stevenbalaoingsb]

same

[@BrammBass]

To answer your question: Yes, I did enjoy this episode. Thanks for the amazing content you have been producing for all those years!

[@joeshar.]

0:13 Rules 1) Be cool guys 2) Take as much as you can 3) Try not to go to war unless you really want to or could do with the practice 4) A bunch of powerful countries will get nothing 5) Belgium is also here for some reason

[@alanpennie8013]

Belgium was there, and also not there. It was confusing.

[@stevencooper4422]

Not even Belgium. Just King Leopold. Apparently he was a cool kid at the table 😎

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

Belgium was the quiet kid who ended up being so cruel that they terrified all of the other awful counties

[@joeshar.]

Give these Belgians a colony so that we don't fight eachother. And this theory didn't work at all.

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

Belgium in Europe: ᵁʷᵁ Belgium in Africa: 🇴​🇼​🇴​

[@lkpinette]

Something interesting, I discovered years ago from an old newspaper article is that a proposal was mooted at Versailles by one of the European powers (Britain, I think) for the United States to take over Germany's African colonies. I couldn't find much additional information, but it's clear that it was not a priority for Wilson or probably anyone in the US, and was likely never seriously pursued. Woodrow Wilson did pursue a mandate over Armenia, and that was agreed to in principle, but was rejected by the US Senate.

[@robertrichard6107]

There was a former U.S. Admiral that became Armenian Ambassador that had eyes on their oil.

[@readingking1421]

Oh that is super interesting! Do you by any chance still have the source for that? Sounds like a great Alternate History scenario

[@fasinfata]

Too bad for Armenia, that could have increase the probabilities of keep the Wilsonian Armenia borders.

[@SiPakRubah]

Can I know more about this, I'm curious since there's a chance that they could took over Namibia and some other Eastern part of Africa, but instead they only took the ones on the Pacific Island parts only, if I'm not mistaken Also why did they wanted Armenia? I imagine that the Cold War might started earlier from here, and see some weird version of WW2

[@Liam-iv7wk]

Wow that's some serious border gore.

[@expandedhistory]

This channel is the epitome of answering questions we never knew we had but always wanted to know.

[@thunderbird1921]

America and Russia historically were pretty similar in their expansion, they simply spread out in a direction with less powerful rivals and thus built giant transcontinental empires. Hence why they each had little interest in colonizing Africa.

[@balabanasireti]

And yet people keep posting the same comment under every video. I guess that being a like beggar is way easier than being original

[@tommiddlefinger6188]

If you live in Nevada, do NOT v o t e for Chuck Short. He is running ads on this channnel but he is a JERRK. We don't need more of the diversty Commmunst type Democrts.

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

It's always really weird to see countries willingly turn down the opportunity to get territory

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Not really. It's like getting a mansion through impulse buying in one suburb just because your neighbors are busy gobbling up as many houses as available. At first, it's neat you have a bigger house with more rooms than you can use. Slowly, you come to realize this isn't going too well: the mansion is sucking up more money just keeping it functional while generating little to no income to defray the costs and you are preoccupied keeping all those rooms secure from thieves. That is what running an empire in the 19th Century really is: most of the colonies are economically barren and those who get rich in these places are too few to defray the massive costs in administration and defense of these places...

[@franzjoseph1837]

I wish they would do that more often

[@alexjv1370]

@@franzjoseph1837 The funniest example would be how Denmark refused to take land but everyone else was trying to force them to take it. 💀

[@franzjoseph1837]

@@alexjv1370 true lolo

[@kp782]

there were people already living there. No need to take their land away

[@benjaminwinnie4626]

Florgeria, Vergypt, Nigexas, Delwongo, and Tanzindiana. God bless America

[@MercuryTheVexilliologyNerd]

underrated comment

[@Gorboduc]

"Americans felt like they already had hegemony over two continents, and thus they had no desire to squabble over pieces of a third." The Pacific, on the other hand... *that's* free real estate.

[@blackchrysler]

USA in 20th and 21st Century: The world is my home

[@derekchristenson5711]

@@blackchrysler Judging by the attitudes of some of the people who were alive at the time, it was at least partially a result of the two world wars showing that European and the Japanese empires couldn't be trusted to be the Great Powers without starting all sorts of wars of conquest, and that, as they would eventually pull us into a third world war if left alone, we may as well just try to be the "adults in the world's room" so to speak. Results were.... mixed.

[@TaftisBack]

@@derekchristenson5711 that and capitalism. China was seen as a close economic ally until they embraced communism, and in China itself America was seen as immensely better than the Europeans with whom they had bad blood, as America offered large business ventures without the desire to interfere with their internal politics. "Do business with US and you can do business as you wish."

[@thunderbird1921]

Actually, the expansion into the Pacific was viewed as VERY controversial by some Americans. One prominent Congressman believed snatching away colonies from Spain in 1898 there was absolutely immoral (and against America's founding principles), after all the war had been mostly about Cuba and perhaps the greater Caribbean (like Puerto Rico). President McKinley and others had their way though and Spanish possessions like Guam and the Philippines were handed over, pretty much ending the Spanish Empire apart from Africa's Equatorial Guinea. One has to wonder how much history was changed by our war with them, as theoretically Spain might have been forced to fight the Japanese in World War II (and might they have also joined World War I if this disaster for them didn't happen).

[@silencemeviolateme6076]

@@blackchrysler Yep, because the world got into two wars the us had to help end.

[@slipper1889]

Loved that Limbo reference.

[@nrobnas]

I love pausing the videos to read whatever lists are shown. Always a great read! "#3: Try not to go to war unless you really need to or could do with the practice."

[@nrobnas]

Also, the shot of TR at 1:36 peaking from behind the bush had me legit laughing out loud

[@alogahjames9490]

Same here, he's really talented.

[@mbrennan459]

Morocco was one of the first countries to officially recognize the newly independent USA. At the beginning of the 20th century Germany realized that in the Scramble for Africa, not many good spots were left. The Germans began showing interest in Morocco shortly after Great Britain and France had secretly agreed to divide Egypt and Morocco among themselves. Germany vowed to protect Moroccan independence. This precipitated the First Moroccan Crisis. Morocco realized the position it was in. They applied for statehood in the USA based on their early relationship with the USA. The USA not wishing involvement in Africa, called the Algeciras Conference to negotiate a settlement. This ended the first Moroccan Crisis unfortunately Germany would precipitate the Second Moroccan Crisis five years later.

[@anthonyprestipino8906]

O

[@isaacsechslingloff8008]

@@anthonyprestipino8906 The US statehood thing seems like fake news. I can't verify this information anywhere.

[@AureliusLaurentius1099]

Man everyone is trying to take over my country. TIme to apply for US Statehood

[@hases2772]

the alt history take- what if morroco became a U.S state

[@Liam-iv7wk]

That would actually be pretty cool. It would be a totally improbable event but fascinating nevertheless

[@goldennugget2562]

"Sometimes you gotta crack some Africa's to make an omelette" -Berlin Conference

[@gargoyles9999]

Makin the Mother of all empires Jack! Can’t fret over every colony!

[@W3Slots]

"Oil yo!" As an Animator, I'm loving the animations. Great information!

[@andromeda331]

Another great one! I love the list. "We're here!" Also love Teddy Roosevelt peaking out of the bushes.

[@egosumhomovespertilionem]

Theodore Roosevelt was a great president, but his triumphant nationalism also led the United States down a path of quasi-imperialism before the Second World War reminded us that was not who the American nation was supposed to be. Sure, Americans have fought foreign wars, but that was more often than not to defeat foreign imperialists, communists and other authoritarian regimes bent on regional conquest. As I said above, the United States has not added a single square inch of sovereign territory since 1898, and it has long ago divested itself of its accidental empire of 1898, i.e., Cuba and the Philippines.

[@SoshoKozadokaGojiraChargedUp]

*That feeling when the jungle starts speaking Yankee*

[@jikihendrik4281]

1:51 Totally love the Limbo reference

[@taranbaze1448]

What's the reference from?

[@jackopumpkin9308]

@@taranbaze1448 it’s a reference to the actual game limbo search it up on KZbin and you should get it

[@FGH9G]

Love the concise and straight to the point videos man! Keep it up! And also the Limbo joke was Gold!

[@jackespinos7138]

0:21 I love how the hypothetical US colonies in Africa are shaped like US states. Looks like Florida, Rhode Island, Delaware, Virginia and Texas (during the Texas republic)

[@androzani]

They did leave out Tiverton and Little Compton thou. To be fair, as small as Rhode Island is, we even forget that they are there.

[@aperson22222]

Huh, I’d missed that. Good catch!

[@tommiddlefinger6188]

If you live in Nevada, do NOT v o t e for Chuck Short. He is running ads on this channnel but he is a JERRK. We don't need more of the diversty Commmunst type Democrts.

[@shinsenshogun900]

Rhode Island in the eastern side of the continent shares the same name as Cecil Rhodes This must be the American Rhodesia History Matters has in mind

[@Byzantiumball]

Haven’t even watched it and I already know it’s good

[@Numba003]

This is one of those questions I hadn't really thought of before, but I was definitely interested in seeing the answer. Thank you for another interesting video! Stay well out there everybody, and God bless you, friends. ✝️ :)

[@liberty.b.r]

You too! :)

[@Joaquin_Z]

The US also used its influence during the Scramble for Africa to help safeguard Liberia from European colonisation from France and Germany. France took a big chunk of Liberian territory but the US was the reason it wasn’t completely consumed. Thus, the US’ protection is the reason why by WWI, Liberia was one of only two independent states in Africa

[@terrorgaming459]

America now has hygomony over the world

[@terrynewsome6698]

@@terrorgaming459 soft power is awesome, all the benefits none of the headaches

[@jcl4370]

@@terrynewsome6698 Unfortunately Russia didn't get the memo

[@anneslot7013]

@@terrynewsome6698 "soft power", the literal destabilization of the entire Middle East, bruh

[@Seriona1]

Liberia to this day still gets American Protection even in the smallest ways. The US has basically extended Monroe Doctrine De Facto over Liberia. The Liberian military completely uses everything the US used in the 80's and every time there is an armed conflict in Liberia, the US marines are sent in for whatever mission is required. It's almost a US state in the way our government acts sometimes.

[@andrews_lego_tanks_and_more]

"Belgum is also here for some reason", yha, that about sums it up.

[@EHonda-ds6ve]

"America just wanting to trade is a theme of americas late 19th to early 20th century US-foreign policy" And then they took 1898 ( 13 years after the conference ) Puerto Rico, Guam, the Phillipines and Cuba from Spain.

[@PetTheCat3730]

The "Limbo" reference was a very nice touch

[@campfireeverything]

I certainly did enjoy this episode, thank you.

[@AdamMounam]

The Limbo reference with the spider leg was my favourite bit! Im obsessed with this channel and the high quality content it produces! Keep it up! 👍🏻

[@kcgunesq]

Honestly, given the distance from the US, I wonder if the available resources simply weren't worth the effort when we could probably do just as well setting up shop in central and south America. I think the video alludes to this, but doesn't really focus on the fact that the distance and the need to move everything via ship over large oceans introduces huge additional costs.

[@kjellvanderpoten3141]

also still busy with pushing out the natives is what I got from the video, but I'm not sure that's what he meant with "consolidation"

[@epicgamerzfail4575]

Also something to keep in mind the us navy at this point was no where near as powerful as the European nations, which you would kinda need if you wanted to enforce territory overseas.

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

Oh, American companies did their fair share of looting Africa

[@buddermonger2000]

@@kjellvanderpoten3141 Eh not quite more just filling it with more Americans as otherwise it's just useless land.

[@kaiquecf]

Well, shortly after USA annexed the Philippines far, far away from the densely populated east coast.

[@carlgrau5910]

Best channel on KZbin!! Love your work history matter's

[@Fierce0Deity0Link]

That visual gag about Limbo made me chuckle. Such a great game.

[@AG-ni8jm]

Lol 0:56 the Austrian Emperor with his sign "I'm also here"

[@jerekeya9910]

Number 5 on the berlin conference rules has me dying with laughter

[@arandombard1197]

Yeah, it's pretty much as I guessed - they already had secured themselves the entirety of NA to work with so their expansionist needs were simply already fulfilled. Compare that to west Europe with had long since hit the limits of the available space and resources, and could only expand through increasingly expensive and violent wars. They were so converging into larger but fewer states so it was just getting harder and harder to do. Then suddenly, this concept of 'colonialism' was invented and they realized they could just take land from much easier to defeat foreigners on another continent and it made sense. Afterall, why fight another European powerhouse on your own front door when you can fight natives wielding spears against your muskets? Had the scramble for Africa happened later, USA would definitely have gotten invovlved.

[@laujack24]

didn't get involve actually better, its gonna be very difficult dealing with the african nation down the line if u have brutal colonial past like most of the european. consider the geopolitic we getting our self into today. africa going to be battle ground of great power, gaining support and winning resource battle there will be key in cold war 2.0.

[@arandombard1197]

@Onlinerando There were factions that wanted to expand for the sake of it, power and domination is intoxicating like that. When situations arose where they could take advantage and get a colony, sometimes those factions were influential enough for them to take it. But in terms of raw resources and space to expand into, the USA had plenty of both. So there just wasn't much economic pressure to expand.

[@lonelyheartproductions5237]

That Limbo reference had me grinning from ear to ear. Brought back so many memories.

[@tommiddlefinger6188]

If you live in Nevada, do NOT v o t e for Chuck Short. He is running ads on this channnel but he is a JERRK. We don't need more of the diversty Commmunst type Democrts.

[@ChessedGamon]

The history of american foreign policy feels like the geopolitical equivalent of Two-Face from Batman

[@acat6145]

That makes sense with democracy and changing administrations

[@TheLegoMaster261]

You just hate America

[@MatheusLB2009]

"The perfect comment doesn't exist-..."

[@Ravie1]

We have a long history of oscillating between being extremely uninvolved on the international stage and being very very involved. The American public has generally been isolationist, it's not very surprising when you view the geopolitical situation we're in, we're resource rich so we don't need the rest of the planet, but after two costly world wars we felt the need to become heavily involved in the world through trade and military might.

[@neetard1774]

It changed its foreign policy in the influence of Zionism and mainly when Israel formed

[@aleksandroleksandr7223]

Because themselves was once part of European Colonization Program

[@NIDELLANEUM]

Wouldn't another reason be the (then) recent Civil War? I mean, imagine going through years of war regarding slavery, and then 20 years later you try to obtain parts of the very continent where those slaves came from. It could have caused a huge mess in the nation

[@ryangale3757]

Was just thinking that as well.

[@obsidianjane4413]

Not at all. They wouldn't have been trying to revive the slave trade, and the newly freed African-Americans didn't have anywhere near the socio-political power to influence even domestic policy much less foreign and colonial affairs. Even US abolitionists probably would have been able to rationalize it as bringing "civilization to the savages". etc.

[@MrQuantumInc]

@@obsidianjane4413 "Now that we have ended slavery here, we need to go into Africa to make sure they are not enslaving each other!"

[@williamking6787]

@@MrQuantumInc You joke, but that would 100% be the kind of reasoning used by late Victorian era political pundits

[@obsidianjane4413]

@@williamking6787 Not really a joke because slavery is still a thing in some parts of Africa.

[@r.a.acosta6528]

Those "Rules" at 0:13 were hilarious. This channel is too much. 😂

[@TheodoreServin]

"Belgium is also here for some reason"

[@Lions400]

1:59 those animations look adorable

[@Chiefjoseph82]

1:36 Love it, made me laugh. Keep up the good work.

[@Omar-cw5gg]

I want to see an alternate history for this 0:50

[@captaindouchebag1703]

I love how this channel gives you the basics of complex historical themes in 3 to 10 minute long videos that feature dry British humour and colourful animations. Well done, History matters. You nailed it!

[@CliffSavage2021]

The Limbo reference was so quick and perfect. I love this channel.

[@harveya1a952]

James Bisonette should have got a part of Africa

[@riverman6462]

Bizonette Free State

[@jlshel42]

@@riverman6462 Spinning Free States

[@ecurewitz]

Like the USA, he sat it out

[@shinsenshogun900]

Kelly Moneymakerland

[@jwil4286]

Video ideas: 1. Why didn’t Sweden take part in the Schleswig wars? 2. What did Aaron Burr do in exile (technically not exile, but he did kinda vanish after his duel)?

[@r.o.b8728]

there is no way norway would have let sweden join the schleswig wars without revolting

[@alanpennie8013]

The Swedes did take part in the first one to some extent.

[@davidarnold2456]

The Burr thing is a good story look up “United States v. Aaron Burr”

[@_Devil]

The US refusing to Imperialize and carve up foreign lands ensured that the US would win in the long run. Major European powers like Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, and Britain lost 90% of their empirical lands post-WW2 while the United States, in it's long history and what few lands it occupied, only ever lost the Philippines and Liberia. The borders we had in 1853 is the exact same borders we hold today, which the same cannot be said for most European nations. We still hold Guam and Puerto Rico to this day and there's been talks for a few decades now to make them into full-on States, rather than just territories. Its honestly one of the few major powers in modern world history that never had an empire, only small island chains in the Pacific, and never tried carving up Asia, Africa, or the Middle East (Attempting to set up puppet governments is a whole different thing that I wont get into but I digress)

[@FG-bu3jp]

The only reason that happened is because the burglar was satisfied with the 9 odd million square kilometers it stole. It didn't have the need to colonize Africa like the smaller european countries.

[@rannenw6207]

@@FG-bu3jp So? England ,and France took how much land from the current country?

[@eve_avery]

The US also imperialized and became an empire, it just, as you said, hasn't lost those lands yet

[@Jordan77831]

Well, with Alaska being colonised, Hawaii, American Samoa, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam and the wild west, it's ambitious for the 19th century American government to reach Africa as well

[@shinsenshogun900]

Imagine the US getting declared war/sanctioned by the great powers of 1900 using the notion of containment as a cause over this overextension

[@edwardengland8349]

1:52 +10 million points for the Limbo reference.

[@MadMan3498]

A funny sidenote to this is that the State of Maryland had a short lived colony in west Africa , this colony would break off declaring itself the Republic of Maryland for which itself was short lived and incorporated into Liberia as Maryland County.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I've heard of this republic! It is quite an interesting chapter in the history of both Liberia and Maryland!

[@gtaRadi0]

As an African I’m thankful for the positive influences of western culture, but also wish the borders weren’t purposely drawn to cause chaos and conflict that still plagues us to this day.

[@righthandstep5]

This op^^^

[@sakurakou2009]

you do know that african people can change that but they wouldnt bt cuz they all still conolized in their minds

[@gtaRadi0]

@@sakurakou2009 you’re right but if you think about how dems and republicans are forced into tribalism and how that will be the U.S eventual downfall then you realize majority of humans brains aren’t smart enough to put their differences aside for greater good.

[@gabriel.b9036]

@@sakurakou2009 What?

[@sakurakou2009]

@@gabriel.b9036 what can't read 🙄

[@DanielRochester800]

The Scramble for Africa is such an elaborate yet overlooked topic in history.

[@kirjoittajajoni]

Is it? I remember it being a big deal in midschool history classes here in Finland

[@SamuriLemonX18]

It really isn't overlooked in an academic sense

[@MrTPhipps]

@@kirjoittajajoni I don’t remember it even being touched, growing up in the US in a quite decent school district.

[@MrShadowThief]

@@SamuriLemonX18 I think it's overlooked in the sense of just reducing it to a matter of "Europe bad, Africa now poor" instead of trying to cover it like an actual historical event.

[@simplesimon8255]

They never got Ethiopia

[@sethglazier2877]

It's interesting that there were a lot of early Americans who were against imperialism. For example, after the war against Mexico, the USA had it within their power to essentially annex Mexico. Part of the reason they didn't is because there was a lot of pushback back in Washington of people who didn't want the USA to essentially become like the European powers. Ulysses S. Grant even thought the the Civil War was some sort of divine retribution for the Mexican War he fought in decades earlier. Obviously it's a lot more complicated than that, when you mix in 1800s racism (apparently indigenous lands don't count, also some people didn't want to annex Mexico because racism), and the USA definitely engaged in imperialistic behavior, but given the amount of resources and power it had at the time, it easily could have gone a lot more imperial than it did.

[@1rjbrjb]

You do an incredible job of brilliantly answering questions no one had thought to ask, which is entirely our fault and not yours. Well done!

[@hatsjer]

That limbo reference was such a nostalgia out of nowhere.

[@heythere6405]

thank you! i had to pause and rewind cause i thought i saw a limbo spider arm😂

[@carlmaster9690]

The United States its a former colony itself, it had enough land and resources and it was still a brand new country that was still finding its feet on the world stage, whilst simultaneously finding its stance on its identity as a country.

[@maddrone7814]

US: why can’t we just not colonize Africa but just trade? All of Europe: *that isn’t very cash money of you*

[@attackonmars5198]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 You Europeans always loved stealing land and claiming it as yours smh....

[@brandonlyon730]

Funny enough the German Emperor of the time didn’t think colonization was a good idea either since it turns out colonies are expensive to maintain, but got pressured to pursue colonies anyway by his own government and people who thought colonies were awesome since the other great powers had them.

[@pecadodeorgullo5963]

@@brandonlyon730 it was actually Bismark who opposed funding colonies abroad.

[@FumbleSquid]

*coughs* south/central america *coughs*

[@FakeAssHandsomeMcGee_]

By the late 1800s, the US had a much larger economy than the whole British Empire while having a smaller population. So free trade was seen as a good thing. I remember reading something a long time ago where around that time or a little later, some American politicians poked at the Europeans for trying to conquer everything but not getting as wealthy. That free trade was much better than conquering vast foreign lands.

[@vteles]

Placing US “claims” in the shape of American States on Africa? Well Done, sir..

[@southend26]

The little parchments on this one are gold. 😂

[@austenbin4068]

I would add that the US Navy of the time was in no way, shape, or form able to maintain and defend an empire in Africa. Most of the major South American nations had navies that could easily defeat the US by sea. Many in the US were still very anti-standing military as a founding principle of the country. By the end of the Civil War, the US had a military to rival the European powers, but a decade later it was a third rate power again with little funding. The Steel Navy would only just begin being built in the late 1880s(with great reluctance by Congress), and only won the Spainsh-American War because the Spanish Navy was in even worse shape than that of the US.

[@ethanmcfarland8240]

Different story by WW1

[@burst1238]

I could be wrong but I feel like once the civil war came and went the US navy could probably beat anyone in the America's except the obvious colonial powers.

[@mesa9724]

I agree, also worth mentioning the Barbary States (Algiers), the 19th century equivalent of Somalian Pirates, were being a real menace to American ships in the Mediterranean and the U.S. navy was not being able to deal with this rudimentary pirates. In the same time period arround 1850, the British navy had caught 436 pirate vessels and freed 17 000 captives while the U.S. Navy had only captured or sunk 12. Edit: For everyone saying doubting my claim between: “1845 and 1850, the United States Navy captured only 10 slave vessels, while the British captured 423 vessels carrying 27,000 captives.” Sweetman, Jack (2002). American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-present.

[@seco000]

​@@ethanmcfarland8240 same thing happened after WW1, the US was still very into isolationism when it came to the Europeans. The US had around 180,000 soldiers, with a population a of around d 130 million, before it got involved in WW2.

[@ethanmcfarland8240]

@@mesa9724 To be fair, the U.S was like 12 years old at this point

[@zjzr08]

Very interesting to see a very global focus for this episode - European imperialists, Africans, Americans (both North and South), and a little bit of Asia with China and the Philippines, I think.

[@shinsenshogun900]

The Yanks taking the global spotlight by spanning across a landmass and influence affairs across their shorelines Truly a Mr. Worldwide moment

[@VELOOSIFIX]

I saw Florida and Virginia in Africa on the thumbnail

[@Mancalius]

i love how the thumbnail map shows us territories in africa shaped like us territories

[@shinsenshogun900]

Both current and historical boundaries If only Florida was in Uganda tbh, but American Rhodesia got me

[@Mancalius]

@@shinsenshogun900 yes that's why i said territories not states, because by territories i mean past and modern us land

[@leafygreen460]

I'm surprised no one else caught that the monroe doctrine was signed by "Jimmy M" lmao

[@Anonymous-uu8fw]

Can you do a video on what life was like in French occupied Germany after WW2? Kind of a mirror video to life in German occupied Alsace and it'd be interesting to know if the Franco-German animosity made any difference compared to the rest of the allied occupation.

[@willek1335]

Scrambling for Africa was largely a thing rich empires did to flaunt their resume. British Empire wanted to create a railway north south, which is nuts at this point. The French wanted west-east railroad, which is equally nuts. Economically, African colonies were not even self-sustaining, mostly due to lack of communication across the interior. USA was at this point an up%coming power, more pragmatic, while Europens were by far more capable to splurge until WW1, when the balance was at the precipice. Now it's China's turn to cover Asia and Africa in the same manner, the belt.

[@frka.836]

Chinese initiative is a bit different though, apart from the fact that it will interconnect many developing economies to develop ones (not just unlimited pieces of desert and Forest, it will also allow them bypass the traditionals maritime roads which are mostly under US control)

[@SuperCatacata]

@@frka.836 A bit different. But every bit as exploitative.

[@c0ya1]

@@SuperCatacata hell, china, much like Russia are switching to Neo-Colonialism. Not good.

[@NewSherrif]

@@SuperCatacata No It isn't

[@charlestonianbuilder344]

@@SuperCatacata just like american neocolonialism

[@wppb50]

re: 2:23 Okay, so fair point, BUT it has to be said the US of A was a little occupied with internal issues during that period (1862-1867) to put the effort into pushing out the French down south.

[@satyakisil9711]

That Limbo spider footage was the icing on the cake.

[@lemonfellow4703]

1:50 loved the limbo reference

[@cmjcj2ktn]

The history of Liberia would be a good video in and of itself, but would require viewer discretion.

[@Mark-xp3cg]

I too want to see a General Butt Naked cameo in a History Matters video.

[@purplespeckledappleeater8738]

General Butt Naked is genuinely an underrated historical figure. Starts out as a warlord and ends up building churches.

[@ROMANTIKILLER2]

Love the "I'm also here" sign displayed by Franz Joseph at the Berlin conference.

[@carloscampo9119]

A LIMBO reference totally unexpected. Ha. Great job.

[@thatdogguy9838]

Because they respected Portugals claim for All of Africa

[@graveperil2169]

but not spains guess the pope was only half right

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

As an American myself, I found it quite curious that we (sort of) colonized Liberia... and stopped there! Now, I know why: it was far from "America's backyard", we were on good terms with Liberia, and we were fine with trade and Christianizing. Thanks for the video!

[@Halcon_Sierreno]

Why are people so obsessed with converting others to their religion? Unless it's not about religion at all and it's more about creating a soft power influence.

[@jamesneedham6265]

@@Halcon_Sierreno In Christianity it because all non believers are tortured for eternity by god and so conversion has a moral dimension to true believers as if you don't try to convert them it would be basically like watching people drown. I think the same philosophy is true for Islam which is also a missionary religion.

[@LiezAllLiez]

1:51 I find this Limbo reference cute. Well done, sir.

[@tommiddlefinger6188]

If you live in Nevada, do NOT v o t e for Chuck Short. He is running ads on this channnel but he is a JERRK. We don't need more of the diversty Commmunst type Democrts.

[@LGus-gr9wo]

A LIMBO reference? now that was something I never could have expected

[@GottlikeDamon]

Thank you for including the "exceptions" of the Monroe Doctrine.

[@matthewlillywhite8014]

I just love the use of Virginia, Rhode Island, Florida, Delaware and the old Republic of Texas as hypothetical borders for US Colonies in Africa

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

I just realized it, and I laughed!😆Thanks for mentioning the replications!

[@thebalkanhistorian.3205]

Great video

[@whatname3676]

Its not even been 20 seconds since video was out

[@khakiturtle6776]

Great comment

[@eacalvert]

Once again the level of detail in the video where I have to pause or go back to read things love it!!!!!

[@billt8504]

At 0:31 - I can pick out 4 of the 7 POTUS shown: from left to right, the six standing: Lincoln, unknown, unknown, US Grant, Teddy R, unknown. Portrait on wall: George Washington. Also, I like James Monroe's signature on the Monroe Doctrine document: Jimmy M

[@williamking6787]

All things considered it's probably just all the presidents in order during this time period so Abe Lincoln, Andrew Johnson (I think?), whoever came after that, U.S. Grant, Teddy Roose, and I guess McKinley should be in there somewhere although I think we're missing some folks

[@shinsenshogun900]

Abe Lincoln, Benjamin Harrison (after Rutherford Hayes), Chester Arthur/Grover Cleveland (both are presidents around the 1880s to 1894, after James Garfield’s assassination) Ulysses Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, and Andrew Johnson/William McKinley.

[@arielfuchs316]

I love the fact that the United States potential territorial claims are on the shape of states

[@idiotVRofficial]

I love how the thumbnail is just a ton of former/current US states in the middle of Africa

[@brivetteebanks-lynch3149]

0:20 Look closely on Africa U.S states these are Florida,Virginia,Texas(1830's),Delaware and Rhode Island. I hope this helped you

[@XXXTENTAClON227]

0:53 USA: Why don’t we be considerate to these sovereign nations and simply all prosper while maintaining reasonable control? Europe: … 🤣🤣🤣 wow America is so funny guys he makes the best jokes

[@juice8431]

America has always valued economic opportunities than purely practicing imperialism for the sake of it

[@rampantmutt9119]

A little late for that, eh? I guess Indigneous peoples are the only ones who never get their sovereignty considered.

[@yarr_bro]

Wow, never really deviled onto this topic. Thank you!

[@ronaldgarrison8478]

Short version: US had other priorities, mostly south of our border.

[@Mrhalligan39]

Mostly inside our borders, but south of the border second.

[@purplespeckledappleeater8738]

Spain/Cuba/The Philippines/Boxer Rebellion (1898-1902) and then Mexico went into a civil war and WWI broke out and the Washington Naval Treaty limited the size of navies and then came the Japanese threat after WWI in the Pacific and then the Great Depression happened and WWII broke out and the Cold War started... The British Empire was always a threat from the American War of Independence until WWII. European powers were selling weapons to Amerindian groups during the Indian Wars and Wild West era. That was a recurring theme from the late 1700's until the late 1800's that Europe would sell weapons to anyone with cash, which flooded the Wild West with guns and ammo. The British Empire was arming Amerindian groups and encouraging them to attack the American frontier during the late 1700's until the War of 1812. The Indian Wars lasted until 1926 with the last major battle in 1890 at Wounded Knee. The Battle of Little Big Horn was in 1876 and the Allotment Act was 1887, which impoverished Native Americans. The American Frontier was officially labelled as closed in 1890.

[@dougmhd2006]

2:33 "Rubber and pagans, yo". This phrase is almost ridiculously easy to take out of context in order to make it sound naughty, therefore... ... ... ... ...I'm not even going to try it. I shall leave that task to minds even more perverse than mine. Have a nice day. :D

[@manchuriamapping-1638]

Bro is like slapping U.S. states on the continent. Imagine a New Virginia, New Rhode Island, New Delaware, New Texas and New Florida.

[@awc6007]

“What was Vietnam like after the Vietnam War” for a future video.

[@eodyn7]

Communist and bad. That's why people did everything they could to get out of the country.

[@choreani]

This. The tragedy of Vietnam doesn't end with the Fall of Saigon.

[@sap3000]

no need for a video just go to vietnam bro

[@timneish936]

2million deaths. More than the 1.2million lost during war time.

[@scotandiamapping4549]

0:22 I like how all these lands are state shaped

[@Lexicommonzero]

I always love the prancing through the flowers clip

[@MichaelSmith-ij2ut]

As a scrambled African colony myself, I'm really glad to see this video