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7 - Eating the Country

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2023

Dane Kennedy
Affiliation:
George Washington University, Washington DC
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Summary

Far from being deservedly neglected outliers, the Niger and Congo expeditions were in many respects emblematic of British efforts to explore Africa. The historical forces that did so much to shape the trajectories of the Niger and Congo expeditions—slavery and the slave trade, imperial rivalries with other European powers, and the roles of African states and communities—were a persistent feature of these efforts. Failure was a frequent outcome. The preoccupation with the Niger River and West Africa persisted through the first half of the century and the renewal of interest in the Congo River and Equatorial Africa toward the end of the century spurred the Scramble for Africa. The main throughline that runs from Mungo Park at the start of the century through the Niger and Congo expeditions to the many British explorers who trekked across Africa in the decades that followed was a shared sense of hubris.

Type
Chapter
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Mungo Park's Ghost
The Haunted Hubris of British Explorers in Nineteenth-Century Africa
, pp. 157 - 182
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Eating the Country
  • Dane Kennedy, George Washington University, Washington DC
  • Book: Mungo Park's Ghost
  • Online publication: 24 December 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009392990.009
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  • Eating the Country
  • Dane Kennedy, George Washington University, Washington DC
  • Book: Mungo Park's Ghost
  • Online publication: 24 December 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009392990.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Eating the Country
  • Dane Kennedy, George Washington University, Washington DC
  • Book: Mungo Park's Ghost
  • Online publication: 24 December 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009392990.009
Available formats
×