In this essay, you should demonstrate your mastery of African history by making the relevant and appropriate references to materials covered this term.  You should carefully read the section “Assignments” in the syllabus before engaging in working on the final essay.  Your essay should have 4 or more double-spaced pages, without including the list of cited references or any title page.  You MUST use the Chicago Manual of style [Author-Date] for citation style and style of list of cited references [see the Student Resources link].  Not doing so will result in points taken away. You are advised to take the course’s last quiz before working on this essay.)

European colonialism is often depicted as a force of greed that exploited the African people for financial gain; however, some have also argued that colonialism served a moral purpose and was mutually beneficial to both parties. How could one argue this second viewpoint, and do you agree that the benefits brought by Europeans outweighed the negative effects? Why or why not? What would you propose be done for Africans to overcome any negative effect of European colonialism? Should they receive some kind of reparations for it? (Make sure that you address ALL these questions).

This assignment is graded according to your ability to identify and articulate a central theme, marshal evidence from the course’s materials to support the position outlined above as well as to show your ability to follow directions, present accurate information and cite examples from the text that you paraphrase. Finally, this assignment will be graded on your demonstrated ability to provide adequate explanation of historical context and adhere to the rules of English grammar.  For this assignment, I look for whether you have re-stated the thesis and whether you have developed logical paragraphs that explain how the examples you have chosen support your statement about the question’s focus/target.