What did European countries do starting in the mid-1800s to acquire more natural resources?

European colonialism and colonization was the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over other societies and territories, founding a colony, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

Explanation:

European colonizers engaged in various actions around the world that had both short term and long term consequences for the colonized. Numerous scholars have attempted to analyze and categorize colonial activities by determining if they have positive or negative outcomes.

A few of the many resources obtained were: palm oil, cotton, palm kernel, rubber, groundnut, diamonds, cobalt, precious metals, quinine, and other medicines. All the cheap resources and new medicinal discoveries only encouraged colonization.