Westinghouse College Prep
World Studies
Unit 4 Reading Packet:
Imperialism and Independence
World Studies
Spanish and Portuguese Colonies in the Americas (pp. 477-481)
Directions: As you read pages 477-481, attempt to find supporting and/or refuting evidence for the following thesis statements. You should paraphrase the evidence—do not just copy sentences straight from the text. There may not be an equal amount of supporting and refuting evidence. Then complete the Venn diagram, finding both similarities and differences between the Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
|“The Spanish were only able to achieve economic success in their American colonies by cruelly exploiting their laborers.” |
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|“The motives of the Spanish in the Americas were as much religious as they were economic.” |
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|“Spanish rule in the Americas opened up significant opportunities for both Spanish settlers and Native Americans.” |
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Spanish colonies Portuguese colonies
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World Studies
The Spanish Conquest of America and the ‘Atlantic/Columbian Exchange’
Assignment: For the following thesis statements, find at least 3 pieces of evidence from the Nash reading and the textbook that you could use as supporting evidence. For each piece of evidence you must provide a link to the thesis.
|Thesis #1: |
|“The Spanish conquest of America represented one of the worst crimes against humanity and in the history of the human race.” |
|Example evidence: “It has been estimated that the population of the Tainos |Example link: The arrival of the Spanish in the Americas resulted in a huge |
|decrease from around 1 million in 1492, to 1,000 a few decades later.” |number of deaths, nearly wiping out the Tainos population. |
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|“While the fate of American Indians in South America, Central America and the Caribbean was unfortunate, it would be unfair to place the blame solely on the |
|shoulders of the Spanish colonists.” |
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|“The benefits brought about by the Atlantic (“Columbian”) Exchange were so great that it would be foolish to dwell on the negative side effects of the |
|period.” |
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World Studies
Cultures Collide: Primary Source Packet on European-Amerindian Contact
As you read and analyze the documents below, you should be looking to take notes on each of the SOAPSTone categories. After reading the questions that follow, circle, underline and make notes in the margins of the document.
Document 1
Amerigo Vespucci Reports on South America (east coast of Brazil), January-February 1502
We found the whole land inhabited by people entirely naked, the men like the women without any covering of their shame… I strove a great deal to understand their conduct and customs. For twenty-seven days I ate and slept among them, and what I learned about them is as follows.
Having no laws and no religious faith, they live according to nature. They understand nothing of the immortality of the soul. There is no possession of private property among them, for everything is in common. They have no boundaries of kingdom or province. They have no king, nor do they obey anyone. Each one is his own master. There is no administration of justice, which is unnecessary to them, because in their code no one rules…
They are also a warlike people and very cruel to their own kind. All their weapons and the blows they strike are, as Petrarch says, ‘committed to the wind’, for they use bows and arrows, darts, and stones… That which made me the more astonished at their wars and cruelty was that I could not understand from them why they made war upon each other, considering that they held no private property or sovereignty of empire and kingdoms and did not know any such thing as lust for possession, that is, pillaging or a desire to rule, which appear to me to be the causes of wars and of every disorderly act.
What does the document tell you about the culture and society of the Amerindian people being described?
How does the point-of-view of the author influence his description of the people he is writing about? Why is it important for historians to be aware of this?
What evidence of cultural bias and/or racial prejudice do you see in this document?
Document 2
Diaries of Christopher Columbus, 1492
Friday, 19th of October
“There are villages in the interior, where, the Indians I bring with me say, there is a king who has much gold. … I do not give much faith to what they say, as well because I do not understand them as because they are so poor in gold that even a little … would appear much to them.”
Wednesday, 24th of October
“I intended to go to the island of Cuba, where I heard of the people who … had gold, spices, merchandise, and large ships. … I believe that it is so, as all the Indians … told me by signs. I cannot understand their language, but … on the map of the world, Cipango [Japan] is in this region.”
Monday, 12th of November
“I … seized seven women, old and young, and three children. I did this because the men would behave better in Spain if they had women of their own land. … For on many occasions the men of Guinea have been brought to learn the language in Portugal, and afterwards, when they returned, and it was expected that they would be useful in their land, owing to … the gifts they had received, they never appeared after arriving.”
What does the document tell you about the European motivation for being in the Americas?
Document 3
The document below was known as the Requirement. It was a response to Spanish clerics’ claim that it was legitimate to attack or enslave only those who knew of but rejected Christ. Refusal to answer affirmatively to the Requirement was taken to be rejection of Christianity.
I, Francisco Pizarro, servant of the high and mighty kings of Castile and León, conquerors of barbarian peoples, and being their messenger and Captain, hereby notify and inform you … that God Our Lord… created Heaven and earth and a man and a woman from whom you and I and all the people of the world are descended. …
And so I request and require you … to recognize the Church as your Mistress and as Governess of the World and the Universe, and the High Priest, called the Pope, in Her name, and His Majesty [king of Spain] in Her place, as Ruler and Lord King.
And if you do not do this … with the help of God I shall come mightily against you, and I shall make war on you everywhere and in every way that I can, and I shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and His Majesty, and I shall seize your women and children, and I shall make them slaves … and I shall do all the evil and damage to you that I am able. And I insist that the deaths and destruction that result from this will be your fault.
What does the document tell you about the European motivation for being in the Americas?
What evidence of cultural bias and/or racial prejudice do you see in this document?
Document 4
Hernan Cortés, letter to the king of Spain, 1520
The great city of Tenochtitlán is as large as Seville or Córdoba. … One of [its] squares is twice as large as that of Salamanca … where there are daily more than sixty thousand souls buying and selling. … There is … a very large building, like a Court of Justice, where there are always ten or twelve persons sitting as judges, and delivering their decisions upon all cases which arise in the markets.
This great city contains many mosques, or houses for idols. … The chief of them all is so large that within its enclosure, which is surrounded by a high wall, a town of five hundred houses could easily be built. … There are as many as forty towers very tall and well-built, the largest with fifty steps leading to the top; the tallest one is higher than the tower of the cathedral of Seville.
…I shall only say that the mode of life of its people was almost the same as in Spain, with just as much harmony and order; and considering that these people were barbarians, so cut off from the knowledge of God, and of other civilized peoples, it is wonderful what they have attained in every respect.
What does the document tell you about the culture and society of the Amerindian people being described?
What does the document tell you about the European motivation for being in the Americas?
Why does the author repeatedly make mention of Seville and Cordoba (two major cities in Spain)?
Document 5
Historical background: By the middle of the 6th century, the Spanish ‘discovered’ large veins of silver north of Mexico City and in the southern Andes at Potosi. To solve their labor needs, Spaniards recruited Native Americans. The passage below was written by a Carmelite monk who traveled throughout Spanish America between 1612 and 1620.
I. Continuing to Describe the Magnificence of the Potosi Range; and of the Indians There under Forced Labor (Mita) in Its Operations
1652. According to his Majesty’s warrant, the mine owners on this massive range have a right to the mita of 13,300 Indians in working and exploitation of the mines, both those which have been discovered, those now discovered, and those which shall be discovered…
1653. These 13,330 are divide up every 4 months into 3 mitas, each consisting of 4,433 Indians, to work in the mines on the range and in the 120 smelters in the Potosi and Tarapaya areas; it is a good league between the two. These mita Indians earn each day, or there is paid each one for his labor, 4 reals [Spanish currency].
After each has eaten his ration, they climb up the hill, each to his mine, and go in, staying there from that hour until Saturday evening without coming out of the mine; their wives bring them food, but they stay constantly underground, excavating and carrying out the ore from which they get the silver. They all have tallow candles, lighted day and night; that is the light they work with, for as they are underground, they have deed of it all the time…
What insight does this document give us into the treatment of Amerindians by the Spanish?
How do you think the Spanish would have justified the type of treatment described in this document?
Document 6
Historical background: Bartolomé de las Casas was a Spanish colonist in the Americas, who became a Catholic priest after spending time in the Americas. He wrote a famous critique of Spanish policies in the Americas, based on his experiences in the early 1500s.
Source: A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE INDIES, written 1542, published 1552
Two principal and general customs have been employed by those, calling themselves Christians... The first being unjust, cruel, bloody, and tyrannical warfare. The other after having slain all those who might yearn toward or suspire after or think of freedom, or consider escaping from the torments that they are made to suffer, by which I mean all the native-born lords and adult males, for it is the Spaniards’ custom in their wars to allow only young boys and females to live being to oppress them with the hardest, harshest, and most heinous bondage to which men or beasts might ever be bound into. . . .
From that time onward the Indians began to seek ways to throw the Christians out of their lands. They took up arms, but their weapons were very weak and of little service in offense and still less in defense. And the Christians, with their horses and swords and pikes began to carry out massacres and strange cruelties against them. They attacked the towns and spared neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed, not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them to pieces as if dealing with sheep in the slaughter house.
I have great hope that the emperor and king of Spain, our lord Don Carlos, the fifth of that name, may come to understand (for until now the truth has always been most industriously covered over) the acts of malice and treachery which have been and still are being done upon those nations and lands, against the will of God and his own, and that he may bring an end to so many evils and bring relief to that New World which God has given him, as the lover and cultivator, as he is of justice.
What insight does this document give us into the treatment of Amerindians by the Spanish?
Why is this a particularly useful document for historians seeking to analyze the policies of the Spanish in the Americas?
World Studies
Revolts in Latin America (pp. 645-650)
|General causes of revolts in Latin America (at least 5 that applied to most of the Latin American colonies): |
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ANSWER THESE QUESTIIONS ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER
World History
The Partition of Africa (pp. 753-759)
1) Briefly summarize the political/religious situations of the following regions in the 1800s: North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, South Africa. Which region do you think was most vulnerable to conquest? Why?
2) If you were an African leader in the 1800s, how do you think you would have felt about the arrival of an increasing number of European explorers and missionaries? Who do you think you would have feared more—missionaries or explorers? Who would you have trusted more? Why?
3) Explain the purpose of the Conference of Berlin.
4) What conclusions can you draw from the maps on p. 757?
5) Support or refute the following argument: “Although in the 1800s there were technically no international laws against the actions of King Leopold in the Congo, he should still be considered guilty of committing crimes against humanity.”
6) What effect do you think the discovery of gold and diamonds had on the relationship between the British and the Boers in South Africa?
7) Do you think that more African leaders should have followed the lead of Ethiopia’s Menelik II? Make a T-chart, with the advantages of his policies on one side and the potential disadvantages on the other side.
World History
The British Take Over India (pp. 767-771)
1) Why was the British East India Company in India in the first place? Why were they able to gain an increasing amount of power in India?
2) What does the Sepoy Rebellion tell us about British rule in India?
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|Benefits of British rule in India |Negative impacts of British rule in India |
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4) TEL-Con: Overall, do you think the takeover of India by the British government was a positive development in the history of India?
5) Explain why the Muslim League broke away from the Indian National Congress.
Contrasting Views
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Map A Map B Map C
1) What do maps A and B tell us about the continent of Africa before the arrival of European colonizers?
2) Why do you think European countries divided up Africa in as seen in Map C, rather than paying more attention to the factors shown in Maps A and B?
3) What future problems might you be able to predict with dividing up Africa in the method shown in Map C?
World History
Responses to Imperialism
The Zulu Response
Southern Africa was a region originally inhabited by dozens of ethnic groups, some organized into kingdoms, some into city-states, some into villages, and others into nomadic clans. By the late 19th century, under King Shaka, the Zulu kingdom was emerging as the most powerful kingdom in the Natal region of southern Africa. Under Shaka, the Zulu defeated both the Mthethwa and the Ndwandwe and continued to expand the Zulu Empire in northern Natal until his death in 1828.
While the Zulu were expanding their control, European settlers were also expanding their territory. The Boers—people of Dutch (people from the Netherlands) descent who originally migrated to South Africa in the 17th and 18th century—were moving north from the Cape, largely to separate themselves from the British, who had taken control of South Africa from the Dutch. During the mid-19th century the Boers fought a series of wars with the Zulu, before eventually deciding on a division of the Natal region in 1840.
As the British sought to strengthen their control over southern Africa they offered a deal to the Zulu: disarm themselves, break up their military organizations, and accept a British resident to control their affairs. The Zulu king, Cetshwayo, refused. The British invaded in January 1879 and were slaughtered by Cetshwayo's army at the Battle of Isandhlwana. Six months later, however, the British reversed that loss, triumphing through epic defense and superior technology, finally defeating the Zulus at the Battle of Ulundi in July 1879. The Zulu kingdom lost its independence and was swallowed up by the British colony that would eventually be called South Africa.
|Summarize the response of the Zulu to British colonization: |
|Advantages of this response |Disadvantages of this response |
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The Siamese Response
The kingdom of Siam was a powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia. In the late 1800s, as surrounding regions were being colonized by European powers, Siam managed to retain its independence under King Mongkut. Upon reaching the throne Mongkut made the decision to stop offering tribute to China and instead to develop relationships with the U.S., Great Britain and France. He pursued a policy of accommodation with these powers, legalizing the export of rice and granting free trade, full diplomatic relations, and various special privileges when pressed. He signed a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with Britain in 1855.
Though the new arrangements eroded Siam's economic independence, the diplomatic efforts of Mongkut laid the groundwork for the preservation of Thai political independence throughout the age of Western imperialism.
During this period Mongkut and his successors pursued domestic reform,, issuing a series of decrees changing long-standing practices that he regarded as outmoded. For example, he ordered courtiers to wear garments covering their torsos. More importantly, he established a mint, standardized coinage, and promoted public health. In his mind, all of these changes went hand in hand. They were all part of his effort to raise the status of what he sometimes called his "half-barbarous" and "half-civilized" kingdom. His son, Chulalongkorn ended slavery and exposed the nation to Western concepts and technology.
|Summarize the response of the Siamese to European colonization: |
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The ‘Maji Maji’ Response
Through the course of the 1890s, German colonial rule, based on force, extended through the East African colony of Tanganyika. By the late 1890s, Germany began to transform the economy along colonial patterns by building railroads and imposing taxes on the Africans. Taxes were meant to force Africans to participate in the economy by growing cash crops or working on the newly arrived white settlers' plantations. Often the colonial government used compulsion to secure that needed labor.
In 1904, a self-acclaimed prophet, Kinjikitile Ngwale, began distributing maji (the medicine water that the revolt was named for) that would make men impervious to European bullets. A secret mass movement formed throughout 1904 and the first half of 1905 around the distribution of the maji throughoutTanganyika. In July 1905, the Matumbi people who had received the maji began the revolt by attacking the symbols of the German colonial government: plantations, trading settlements, and local government officials. The Germans responded by sending soldiers into the region. Kinjikitile was captured and hanged on August 4, but the revolt spread rapidly across Tanganyika.
In November 1905, the Germans began to systematically put down the revolt. African villages were forced to submit, surrender their weapons, and hand over rebel leaders, who were then executed. By 1906, the German colonial government decided that only hunger and want could end the revolt. The Germans thus prevented African cultivation of crops and confiscated food. Famine ultimately induced tribes to surrender one by one. Total African deaths ranged between 250,000 and 350,000, or one-third of the region's population. Comparatively, 15 Europeans were killed, and fewer than 400 of their auxiliaries died. The Maji Maji Revolt was the final attempt by East African societies to overthrow German colonial rule by force.
|Summarize the response of the Southeast Africans to German colonization: |
|Advantages of this response |Disadvantages of this response |
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The “Indian National Congress” Response
The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 was the last large-scale attempt at violent resistance to British rule in India. After the defeat many Indian leaders decided to avail themselves of the Western-style education that the British offered. A small class of educated Indians soon graduated, fluent in English, knowledgeable about European politics, and interested in changing the system. They were not interested so much in the removal of British rule as in its modification. English rule also helped create a sense of nation among this educated class, helping people from different provinces begin to consider themselves as Indians.
In the 1880s, the British viceroy of India extended local self-government, which was welcomed by many Indians as an opening to representative self-government. This led Indian leaders to call for a national conference of educated Indian leaders. The first Indian National Congress met on December 28, 1885. The representatives were all men, university graduates, and Hindus. The other major religious group in India, the Muslims, had few university-educated leaders and were not included in the invitation. The Congress met and debated the issues of the day, including education, representative government and economic development.
For the first 30 years of its existence, the INC members were loyal to the British Raj or system of rule. They sought to modify the system, to allow Indians more voice in how their country was ruled, but they did not seek independence. The Indian National Congress used such English methods and activities as open meetings and publicly published resolutions but did not favor such actions as protests or violence. In 1913, the focus of the group shifted under the leadership of Mohandas Gandhi, who turned the INC into a more democratic—but still peaceful— movement for independence. This goal was eventually achieved in 1946.
|Summarize the response of the Indians to British colonization: |
|Advantages of this response |Disadvantages of this response |
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The African Resistance
by Benjamin Talton – Temple University
The European imperialist designs and pressures of the late nineteenth century provoked African political and diplomatic responses and eventually military resistance. During and after the Berlin Conference various European countries sent out agents to sign so-called treaties of protection with the leaders of African societies, states, kingdoms, decentralized societies, and empires. The differential interpretation of these treaties by the contending forces often led to conflict between both parties and eventually to military encounters. For Europeans, these treaties meant that Africans had signed away their sovereignties to European powers; but for Africans, the treaties were merely diplomatic and commercial friendship treaties. After discovering that they had in effect been defrauded and that the European powers now wanted to impose and exercise political authority in their lands, African rulers organized militarily to resist the seizure of their lands and the imposition of colonial domination.
The success of the European conquest and the nature of African resistance must be seen in light of Western Europe's long history of colonial rule and economic exploitation around the world. In fact, by 1885 Western Europeans had mastered the art of divide, conquer, and rule, honing their skills over four hundred years of imperialism and exploitation in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific. In addition, the centuries of extremely violent, protracted warfare among themselves, combined with the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, produced unmatched military might. When, rather late in the period of European colonial expansion, Europeans turned to Africa to satisfy their greed for resources, prestige, and empire, they quickly worked their way into African societies to gain allies and proxies, and to co-opt the conquered kings and chiefs, all to further their exploits.
African military resistance took two main forms: guerrilla warfare and direct military engagement. While these were used as needed by African forces, the dominant type used depended on the political, social, and military organizations of the societies concerned. In general, small-scale societies, the decentralized societies (erroneously known as "stateless" societies), used guerrilla warfare because of their size and the absence of standing or professional armies. Instead of professional soldiers, small groups of organized fighters with a mastery of the terrain mounted resistance by using the classical guerrilla tactic of hit-and-run raids against stationary enemy forces. This was the approach used by the Igbo of southeastern Nigeria against the British. Even though the British imperialists swept through Igboland in three years, between 1900 and 1902, and despite the small scale of the societies, the Igbo put up protracted resistance. The resistance was diffuse and piecemeal, and therefore it was difficult to conquer them completely and declare absolute victory. Long after the British formally colonized Igboland, they had not fully mastered the territory.
Direct military engagement was most commonly organized by the centralized state systems, such as chiefdoms, city-states, kingdoms, and empires, which often had standing or professional armies and could therefore tackle the European forces with massed troops. This was the case with the resistance actions of the Ethiopians, the Zulu, the Mandinka leadership, and numerous other centralized states. In the case of Ethiopia, the imperialist intruder was Italy. It confronted a determined and sagacious military leader in the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II. As Italy intensified pressure in the 1890s to impose its rule over Ethiopia, the Ethiopians organized to resist. In the famous battle of Adwa in 1896, one hundred thousand Ethiopian troops confronted the Italians and inflicted a decisive defeat. Thereafter, Ethiopia was able to maintain its independence for much of the colonial period, except for a brief interlude of Italian oversight between 1936 and 1941.
Not all resistance during the early years of European colonial rule took the form of pragmatic violence. Most was more subtle and directed toward local issues of political and economic autonomy. For example, in 1929 Igbo women in southeastern Nigeria felt that their economic independence was threatened by a tax imposed by the British colonial government. The women demanded that the local official in charge of taxation resign from office. The protests spread throughout the region and resulted in the death of fifty-five women.
Methods of resistance also changed over time. After World War II most African leaders resisted colonial rule through formally organized political parties and trade unions. Between 1950 and 1963, many of these parties ushered in the transition to independence and became the ruling parties of independent Africa. As such, they had little alternative but to cooperate with the outgoing colonial powers. Yet there were parties and politicians that refused to compromise and sought to define their nation's transition to independence on their own terms.
One such example is Sékou Touré, the Republic of Guinea's first president from 1958 to 1984. Under Touré, Guinea was the only former French colony in favor of immediate independence rather than continued association with France, despite the consequences. He famously remarked, "We prefer poverty in liberty than riches in slavery." As was the case with earlier forms of resistance, Touré understood the implications of his position. He thoughtfully assessed his choices and made what he believed, considering the circumstances, to be the decision that best served the interests of his people.
These are some of the many examples that defined African resistance to European imperial expansion and colonial rule in Africa; and they in no way exhaust the methods Africans employed to contend with the reality of European colonial rule. They do, however, demonstrate that as Africans confronted European military superiority and political dominance—whether they aligned themselves with Europeans, sought protection, or responded with aggressive military resistance—they were mindful of their social and political environment as they saw it at the time. It would have been difficult for African societies to fully and accurately weigh the consequences of their decisions, or of the European presence, for that matter. Yet they possessed an understanding of their immediate reality, which they took into careful consideration as they attempted to protect their interests and survive in the midst of growing European military aggression and political dominance.
Categorize African Methods of Resistance to Imperialism
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World Studies
Imperialism in Africa: How it Worked
Source:
Types of Colonial Rule
Once claims were made and borders were drawn for territories in Africa, European nations had to come up with a plan for how to govern their newly acquired colonies. There are four main ways in which European nations ruled African colonies. Keep in mind that each of these four divisions is a broad category that historians use to talk about types of colonial rule. Within each category, details of individual and local situations varied from place to place.
1. Economic Companies
In the early days of colonialism, European nations allowed the establishment of private companies that were granted large territories in Africa. These companies were formed by businessmen who were interested in exploiting the natural resources of the territories they were allowed to govern. These companies could set up their own systems of taxation and labor recruitment and frequently operated their own armies. For their part, the European powers who provided charters for these companies did so because the companies took responsibility for all of the expenses related to establishing and administering the colonies. This was a good deal for the European countries. They had the political benefit of having additional colonies in Africa, but not the expense!
The British East Africa Company, established in 1888, colonized Kenya on behalf of Britain. It made treaties that claimed to offer protection to various peoples of East Africa in exchange for recognition of the company's sovereignty by African rulers. It governed Kenya until 1893, when the British government took over.
The British South Africa Company, another example of company rule, was formed in 1887. It lasted longer than the British East African Company. The B.S.A.C., under the control of John Cecil Rhodes, using force and coercion colonized three territories in south-central Africa: Nyasaland (Malawi), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). The Company governed these colonies until 1923.
These companies were eventually unsuccessful in that they were unable to generate consistent profits for their shareholders. Governing a colony was expensive, and the companies faced opposition from Africans and missionaries over the harsh nature of company rule. By 1924, all Company rule was replaced by rule by European governments.
What was the purpose of allowing private companies to rule over large regions of Africa? What does this practice tell us about the primary motivation of European imperialism?
2. Direct Rule
One such form of colonial administration is called direct rule. The French, Belgians, Germans, and Portuguese are considered to have used this model in governing their African colonies. They had centralized administrations, usually in urban centers, that stressed policies of assimilation. This means that the colonialists had the intention of "civilizing" African societies so they would be more like Europe. As part of this strategy, colonialists did not try to negotiate governance with indigenous African rulers and governments. Indigenous authorities had a subordinate place in these administrations. Direct rule also used the strategy of "divide and rule" by implementing policies that intentionally weakened indigenous power networks and institutions.
3. Indirect Rule
Primarily, the British used indirect rule to govern their colonies. This system of governance used indigenous African rulers within the colonial administration, although they often maintained an inferior role. Overall, it was a more cooperative model than direct rule. Lord Lugard, a British colonial administrator, used this system of government first in Nigeria and later brought it to British East Africa. This system of government assumed that all Africans were organized as "tribes" with chiefs. However, this was not always the case. You should remember that people in Africa had diverse types of government ranging from highly centralized states to "stateless societies." As a result, indirect rule increased divisions between ethnic groups and gave power to certain "big men" who had never had it before in precolonial history. Consequences of these significant changes in social organization and identity are still being felt today.
4. Settler Rule
Settler rule refers to the type of colonialism in southern Africa in which European settlers imposed direct rule on their colonies. Settler colonies differed from other colonies in Africa in that a significant number of immigrants from Europe settled in these colonies. These immigrants or settlers were not like missionaries or European colonial officials. Just like early European immigrants to the United States and Canada, settlers in Africa planned to make the colonies their permanent home. In order to thrive in the colonies, settlers demanded special political and economic rights and protection. Security and prosperity for the settlers depended on economic exploitation and political oppression of the African population that vastly outnumbered the settlers. Consequently, settler rule was characterized by its harsh policies toward the indigenous African population.
Settler colonies were found primarily in southern Africa including the colonies of South Africa, Southern and Northern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and Zambia), Angola, Mozambique, and South West Africa (Namibia). Settlers from Holland, Britain, Germany, and Portugal colonized these areas. In addition, settler rule was practiced in Kenya, a British colony in East Africa, and in Algeria, a French colony in North Africa.
Thinking about what you have read: From what you have read do any of the three later methods of colonial rule (indirect, direct and settler) strike you as any more fair than the others? Why or why not?
The Practice and Legacy of Colonialism
There is a general consensus among African historians that colonialism is morally wrong. It is not difficult to understand this conclusion! Colonialism, after all, is a political system in which an external nation takes complete control of a territory in another area of the world. Moreover, the colonized people do not invite the colonial power, nor do they have any say in how they are governed. Colonialism is by definition and practice un-democratic!
In spite of the universal recognition that colonialism is morally reprehensible, there are differing opinions on the social, economic, and political consequences of colonialism. Since colonialism was practiced differently throughout Africa, the consequences of colonial rule will differ from colony to colony. In this section, we will look briefly at some of the general outcomes of colonialism in Africa.
Political Practice and Legacy
There were four different forms of colonial rule practiced in Africa: Company, Direct, Indirect, and Settler. The practice of governing was somewhat different depending on the form of colonialism. In spite of these differences, all colonial governments shared certain attributes.
No matter what form colonial rule took, all colonial systems were un-democratic. Colonial governments did not allow popular participation. Decisions and policies were made with little or no input from the African peoples. Even in the case where decisions or policies may have benefited some people, they were still un-democratic since there were no mechanisms for the people to officially express their opinions.
By its nature, colonial rule was most often imposed without consent from the African people. Understandably, people were not happy with being governed without any representation, and colonial governments faced the potential of civil disobedience or outright resistance to their rule. Consequently, the maintenance of "peace" and law and order was a top priority of colonial governments. As a result, in most African colonies, more money was spent on developing and maintaining a police force and an army then was spent on education, housing, and health-care combined!
These limitations were augmented by the fact that most colonial governments were not rich. The European colonial powers were not willing to fund the governing of their colonies in Africa fully. Each colony was responsible for raising most of the revenue (money) needed to fund the operations of colonial rule. But no matter how rich in resources a colony was, the government lacked the income and revenue necessary to develop a government system able to go beyond maintaining law and order. This meant that colonial governments were not able to provide basic infrastructure, such as roads and communication networks, nor were they able to provide basic social services such as education, health care, and housing.
Given the lack of capacity and the strong emphasis on law and order, all forms of colonial rule engaged in
"divide and rule," by implementing policies that intentionally weakened indigenous power networks and institutions. Post-colonial ethnic conflicts in many parts of Africa have their roots in colonial policy of separating language, religious, and ethnic groups, and how these policies often created or exacerbated group differences.
Briefly summarize the political methods that were used by European nations to govern their colonies:
Briefly summarize the political impacts that European colonial rule had on their African colonies:
Economic Practice and Legacy
Two primary factors or agenda influenced colonial economic practice. First, from early in the 19th century, Europeans believed that Africa was rich in natural resources, and one of reasons for colonialism was the desire to gain control of Africa's rich natural resources. Secondly, as indicated above, European colonial powers did not want to spend their own money to establish and maintain their colonies in Africa. Rather, they insisted that each colony (if at all possible) supply the revenues necessary to govern the colony.
Each individual colonial government in Africa developed economic policies and practices that fit these two agendas. Meeting these two goals of generating wealth for the colonial power in Europe while simultaneously generating revenues for the local colonial rule had a lasting impact on economic practice in Africa.
Just as there were a variety of types of colonial rule, there were also different types of colonial economies in Africa. However in spite of differences, there were some similarities between all types of colonial economic practice.
In general, colonial regimes concentrated on finding and exploiting the most profitable natural resources in each colony. In mineral-rich colonies, the emphasis was placed on mining. In other territories, the colonial power identified agricultural products suitable for export to Europe. In either case, the emphasis was on developing the resources for export, not for local use or consumption. Profits from the export of mineral and agricultural goods were also sent to Europe. Profits that could have been used to promote social and economic development in the colonies were not available. The small taxes levied on exports went to support colonial rule.
Mining of minerals and the production of crops for export necessitated a ready supply of inexpensive labor. Consequently, colonial governments exerted considerable effort "recruiting" labor for these endeavors. At times colonial governments resorted to policies of forced labor in order to provide adequate labor for mines and plantations. At other times, their tactics were not as harsh, but in almost all situations, Africans labored in poor working conditions, for long hours, with inadequate pay. To improve the pay and working conditions of the labors would have lessened profits. The demand for labor also resulted in large-scale movements of people from areas that were not involved in colonial production to areas, including new urban areas, where colonial production occurred.
Briefly summarize the economic methods that were used by European nations to profit from their colonies:
Briefly summarize the economic impacts that European colonial rule had on their African colonies:
Social Practice and Legacy
In most African colonies, given the lack of revenue, very little was done officially to promote social change or social development. However, the colonial experience had a dramatic impact on African societies. Once again, it is important to remember that the colonial impact on Africa was not uniform across the continent. However, some social consequences were experienced in most African colonies.
Colonial economic and political practices resulted in the massive movements of people in most African colonies. In some locales, migrations were primarily from one rural area to another. In other places, the migration was from rural areas to urban areas. In either case, these movements resulted in dislocation of peoples that impacted society and culture. Social and cultural beliefs and practices were challenged by these migrations. Long-held practices had to be adapted (and at times were completed abandoned) to fit the new circumstances. In U.S. history, rural to urban migration in the early 20th century had a similar impact on American society and culture.
Families were often split up by migration. For example, men recruited to work in mines and on plantations often had to leave their families behind. As a result, women and adolescents were forced to take on new roles and to cope in absence of their husbands and fathers. Even when families remained unaffected by migration, they underwent considerable stress and change as the result of the colonial experience. Prior to colonialism, the extended family structure was the norm in most African societies. But by the end of colonial era, the nuclear family was becoming the norm in many African countries.
A number of pre-colonial African societies had towns and small cities. However even in these societies, most people were engaged in agriculture in rural villages or homesteads. During colonialism, urbanization occurred fairly rapidly in many African colonies. Urban living resulted in changes in economic activities and occupation, and in changes in the way people lived. These changes often challenged existing values, beliefs, and social practices.
There was a significant change in religious belief and practice as a result of colonialism. At the beginning of the colonial era, less than five per cent of the people in Africa identified themselves as Christian. Today, nearly fifty per cent of the people in Africa identify themselves as Christians. Colonial rule provided an environment in which Christianity, in many forms, spread in many parts of Africa. While Islam was widespread in Africa prior to the coming of colonialism, it also benefited from colonialism. British and French colonial officials actively discouraged Christian mission work in Moslem areas. Peace and order established by colonial rule provided an environment in which Islam could consolidate its hold in certain African colonies.
However, in spite of these significant changes, many Africans continued to hold to and practice traditional religions.
Like its impact on religion, the impact of colonialism on education is a complex one. Throughout human history, all societies have practiced some form of "public" education. Education is the method by which families and societies transfer beliefs, values, and skills between generations. Throughout human history, education has mainly been informal. That is, values and knowledge were learned in informal settings in the home, church, and through work and play. It has only been in the past 200 years that public education has become more formalized, taking place in schools with an added emphasis on literacy and numeracy-reading, writing, and mathematics.
Koranic Schools were widespread in the Islamic areas of Africa prior to the coming of colonial rule. Koranic schools focused on learning to read the Koran, the holy book of Islam. The Koran was written in Arabic. Consequently, students learned to read Arabic, and not their local language, at the Koranic schools. However, schools that emphasized literacy and numeracy in African languages were not common. Proponents of colonialism claimed that it was necessary to enlighten and civilize African peoples and societies (refer back to the poem The White Man's Burden). Given this concern, you would think that colonial governments would have made a major effort to introduce schools throughout Africa. The truth is that most colonial governments did little to support schools. Most formal schooling African colonies was a result of the work of missionaries.
Missionaries felt that education and schools were essential to their mission. Their primary concern was the conversion of people to Christianity. Missionaries believed that the ability of African peoples to read the Bible in their own language was important to the conversion process. However, most mission societies were not wealthy, and they could not support the number of schools that they really wanted. Consequently, with limited government support, most African children did not go to school during the colonial era. In fact at the end of colonial rule, no colony could boast that more than half of their children finished elementary school, and far fewer attended secondary school.
However, in spite of lack of support for public education, schooling had a dramatic impact on children who were fortunate enough to attend school. Indeed, most of the leaders of Africa's independence movements (see next section), leaders of post-independent African governments and economies, were products of one of the few mission or fewer government schools.
Briefly summarize the social impacts that European colonial rule had on their African colonies:
On the whole, how disruptive would you say European rule was on African society? What aspect of society do you think was most severely disrupted?
Reflections: After reading this article, do you find yourself thinking that European imperialism in Africa was any “better” or “worse” than you had previously thought? Did anything surprise you? Do you think there were any justifications for European political, economic and social politcies in the colonies that they claimed to “own?” Use up the space in this box with your thoughts:
World History
Imperialism Mini-DBQ
Prompt: Analyze the methods used by Europeans in their colonization of Africa between 1800 and 1914.
Assignment: Write a mini-DBQ (thesis paragraph and two body paragraphs supported by at least 4 documents).
While you should use the MEL-Con/TEL-Con format as a guide, you are expected to develop paragraphs beyond the minimum 8 sentences. You will do this by mixing in your document analysis with evidence from secondary source readings.
Content: In analyzing the documents and developing your arguments, these are some questions that you should be considering. It may be helpful to think in terms of these three categories.
Motives:
-- what were the motives for European countries to colonize parts of Africa and Asia?
-- which motives do you think were justifiable?
-- whose interests were most important to the European colonizers?
Methods:
-- how did European countries go about governing their colonies?
-- how did European countries deal with rebellions?
-- to what extent were power and wealth shared with the people in their colonies?
-- were their methods justifiable?
-- what were some alternative methods that they could have used?
Outcomes:
-- what positive contributions did Europeans make to African and Asian societies and economies?
-- what were the negative consequences of European rule in Africa and Asia?
-- did the benefits of European rule outweigh the negative impacts, or vice versa?
-- what might have happened had Europeans not colonized Africa and Asia? How might their histories have been different?
World History
Imperialism Mini-DBQ Document Packet
Document 1
Source: Sekou Toure, West African nationalist, 1962.
Colonialism’s greatest misdeed was to have tried to strip us of our responsibility in conducting our own affairs and convince us that our civilization was nothing less than savagery, thus giving us complexes which led to our being branded as irresponsible and lacking in self-confidence.
What does this document tell us about methods used by Europeans in colonizing West Africa?
Document 2
Source: O.P. Austin, “Does Colonization Pay?”, The Forum, 1900.
Modern progressive nations… seek to control “garden spots” in the tropics. Under their direction, these places can yield the tropical produce that their citizens need. In return the progressive nations bring to the people of those garden spots the foodstuffs, and manufacture they need. They develop the territory by building roads, canals, railways, and telegraphs. The progressive nations can establish schools and newspapers for the people of the colonies. They can also give these people the benefit of other blessings of civilization which they have not the means of creating themselves.
What does this document tell us about methods used by Europeans in colonizing West Africa?
Do this author’s arguments persuade you? Why or why not?
Document 3
Source: Discussion between Jules Ferry (Premier of France), Camille Pelletan and Jules Maigne (French politicians) in the French Chamber of Deputies, 1885.
Ferry: … For a country such as ours, which is obliged by the very nature of its industry to devote itself to exports on a large scale, the colonial question is a matter of finding outlets for those exports…
There is another matter… This is the humanitarian and civilizing aspect of the matter. Monsieur Pelletan condemns it and says: “What sort of civilization is this which is imposed by gunfire? … Are the rights of these inferior races less than ours?... You enter their countries against their will, you do violence to them, but you do not civilize them.” That is his argument… [But] you are in favor of colonial expansion when it takes the form of trade.
Pettetan: Yes.
Ferry: But who can say that the day may not come in settlements… subject to France… when the black populations in some cases corrupted and perverted by adventurers and other travelers… may attack our settlements? What will you do then?... It must be openly said that the superior races have rights over the inferior races.
Maigne: You dare to say this in the country where the rights of man were proclaimed?
Ferry: If Monsieur Maigne is right: if the rights of man were intended to cover the black people of equatorial Africa, by what right do you go and impose exchanges and trade on them? They do not ask you to go there.
Summarize the disagreement that these men are having over French colonialism in Africa:
What is Monsieur Ferry’s position on French imperialism in Africa? How can you tell?
Document 4
Source: Cecil Rhodes (British financier, statesman, empire-builder), “Confession of Faith, 1877.
I contend that we (British) are the first race in the world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race… It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon (British) race, more of the best, the most human, most honourable race the world possesses.
What does this document tell us about methods used by Europeans in colonizing Africa?
Document 5
[pic] [pic]
Ethnic groups of Africa, 1800 European partition of Africa, 1914
What does this document tell us about methods used by Europeans in colonizing Africa? What are the potential problems with dividing up Africa in the way Europeans did at the Conference of Berlin?
Document 6
Source: Rubber workers in the Belgian Congo, early 1900s (photographer unknown).
[pic] [pic]
What does this document tell us about methods used by Europeans in colonizing the Belgian Congo? How do you think the Belgians would have justified their actions?
Document 7
Source: Baba, an elderly woman from the region gave this account to an anthropologist in 1950
At that time Yusufu was the king. He did not like the Europeans, he did not wish them, he did not sign their treaty. Then he saw that perforce he would have to agree, so he did. We Hausa wanted them to come, it was the Fulani who did not like it. When the Europeans came, the Hausa saw that if you worked for them they paid you for it, they didn’t say like the Fulani “Commoner, give me this! Commoner, bring me that!” ...
They were building their big road to Kano [the capital] city. They called out the people and said they were to come and make the road, if there were trees in the way they cut them down. ...
The Europeans said that there were to be no more slaves; if someone said “Slave” you could complain to the alkali [judge] who would punish the master who said it. ... When slavery was stopped ... some slaves whom we had bought in the market ran away. Our own father went to his farm and worked, he and his son took up their large hoes; they loaned out their spare farms. .
Before this, they had supervised the slaves’ work—now they did their own.
About a year later Mai Sudan’s [a Fulani ruler] men kidnapped Kadiri’s mother, our father’s wife Rabi and our father’s sister ... was also caught and sold into slavery. In Kano, they had stopped slavery then, but in Katsina it still continued. Later the Europeans conquered Katsina and stopped it. When they opened the big road all was quiet [and there was no more raiding or kidnapping.].
In the old days if a chief liked the look of your daughter he would take her and put her in his house; you could do nothing about it. Now they don’t do that.
What does this document tell us about methods used by Europeans in colonizing West Africa?
Do this author’s arguments persuade you? Why or why not?
Name: _______________________________________________ Per: __________ Date: ____________
Inference – Generalizations and Conclusions:
20-23
YOUR GOAL: After reading, 767-771, DRAW CONCLUSIONS BASED UPON THE FACTUAL INFORMATION PROVIDED.
Directions:
A. Carefully read each fact statement regarding British rule in India.
B. Identify which of the subsequent statements is the more reasonable inference based upon the original facts.
C. After each statement, write a brief explanation of why your choice can be reasonably inferred.
|1. By the mid-1700s the Mughal Empire was collapsing in India. |
|A. |B. |
|The British East India Company would have preferred for the Mughal Empire to |The British East India Company had a lot to gain from the Mughal Empire’s |
|remain strong. |decline. |
|YOUR ANSWER: |YOUR RATIONALE: |
|YOUR ANSWER: |YOUR RATIONALE: |
|YOUR ANSWER: |YOUR RATIONALE: |
|YOUR ANSWER: |YOUR RATIONALE: |
YOUR ANSWER: |YOUR RATIONALE: | |
Primary Documents: Imperialism in India
Document 8
Source: Mohandas Gandhi (date unknown)
You English committed one supreme crime against my people. For a hundred years you have done everything for us. You have given us no responsibility for our own government.
Document 9
Source: Jawaharlal Nehru, “The Discovery of India,” 1946 (in 1947 Nehru became the first prime minister of independent India).
This process continued throughout the nineteenth century. Other old Indian industries—shipbuilding, metalwork, glass, paper—and many crafts were broken up. Thus the economic development of India was stopped and the growth of new industry was prevented… A typical colonial economy was built up. India became an agricultural colony of industrial England. It supplied raw materials and provided markets for England’s industrial goods. The destruction of industry led to unemployment on a vast scale… The poverty of the country grew…
Document 10
Source: Indian railway network by 1872.
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What similarities and/or differences do you see between British imperialism in India and European imperialism in Africa? Be specific!
(1958) Patrice Lumumba, “Speech at Accra”
On December 11, 1958, 34 year old Patrice Lumumba, president of the Congolese National Movement, spoke at the Assembly of African Peoples, an international Pan African Conference sponsored by Kwame Nkrumah, the Prime Minister of newly independent Ghana. Two years later Lumumba would become the first Prime Minister of the Congo. One year after that—in 1961—he was assassinated.
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We thank the organizers of the Conference of the Assembly of African Peoples for the friendly invitation they kindly extended to our movement. We would like to express our gratitude to His Excellency Prime Minister Nkrumah and to the people of Ghana for the fraternal welcome given us…
…The Present Situation in the Congo
Up until the end of last year, there was no legislative council any where in the Congo. All the organs of the country were — and still are — consultative.
…In the urban councils, as in all the other consultative organs of the country, a system of representation has been instituted that gives the European minority and the African majority an equal number of seats. There is no need to underscore the fact that this is anti- democratic.
…Belgium has recently sent to the Congo a commission charged with the task of acquainting itself with the aspirations of the people at first hand.
We for our part believe that on this occasion the country clearly expressed its preference for self-determination.
Our Program of Action:
The Congolese National Movement, which we represent at this great conference, is a political movement, founded on October 5, 1958. The fundamental aim of our movement is to free the Congolese people from the colonialist regime and earn them their independence.
We base our action on the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man — rights guaranteed to each and every citizen of humanity by the United Nations Charter — and we are of the opinion that the Congo, as a human society, has the right to join the ranks of free peoples.
We wish to see a modern democratic state established in our country, which will grant its citizens freedom, justice, social peace, tolerance, well-being, and equality, with no discrimination whatsoever. In our actions aimed at winning the independence of the Congo, we have repeatedly proclaimed that we are against no one, but rather are simply against domination, injustices and abuses, and merely want to free ourselves of the shackles of colonialism and all its consequences.
From all the speeches that have preceded ours, something becomes obvious that is, to say the least, odd, and that all colonized people have noticed: the proverbial patience and good-heartedness that Africans have given proof of for thousands of years, despite persecution, extortions, discrimination, segregation, and tortures of every sort.
The winds of freedom currently blowing across all of Africa have not left the Congolese people indifferent. Political awareness, which until very recently was latent, is now becoming manifest and assuming outward expression, and it will assert itself even more forcefully in the months to come...
Among these factors, the most important are colonialism, imperialism, tribalism, and religious separatism, all of which seriously hinder the flowering of a harmonious and fraternal African society.
This is why we passionately cry out with all the delegates:
Down with colonialism and imperialism!
Down with racism and tribalism!
And long live the Congolese nation, long live independent Africa!
Kwame Nkrumah: I Speak of Freedom, 1961
Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972) was the leader of Ghana, the former British colony of the Gold Coast and the first of the European colonies in Africa to gain independence with majority rule. Until he was deposed by a coup d'état in 1966, he was a major spokesman for modern Africa.
Part 1: What Africa Must Do.
For centuries, Europeans dominated the African continent. The white man arrogated to himself the right to rule and to be obeyed by the non-white; his mission, he claimed, was to "civilize" Africa. Under this cloak, the Europeans robbed the continent of vast riches and inflicted unimaginable suffering on the African people.
All this makes a sad story, but now we must be prepared to bury the past with its unpleasant memories and look to the future. All we ask of the former colonial powers is their goodwill and co-operation to remedy past mistakes and injustices and to grant independence to the colonies in Africa….
It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.
Although most Africans are poor, our continent is potentially extremely rich. Our mineral resources, which are being exploited with foreign capital only to enrich foreign investors, range from gold and diamonds to uranium and petroleum. Our forests contain some of the finest woods to be grown anywhere. Our cash crops include cocoa, coffee, rubber, tobacco and cotton. As for power, which is an important factor in any economic development, Africa contains over 40% of the potential water power of the world, as compared with about 10% in Europe and 13% in North America. Yet so far, less than 1% has been developed. This is one of the reasons why we have in Africa the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty, and scarcity in the midst of abundance.
Never before have a people had within their grasp so great an opportunity for developing a continent endowed with so much wealth. Individually, the independent states of Africa, some of them potentially rich, others poor, can do little for their people. Together, by mutual help, they can achieve much. But the economic development of the continent must be planned and pursued as a whole. A loose confederation designed only for economic co-operation would not provide the necessary unity of purpose. Only a strong political union can bring about full and effective development of our natural resources for the benefit of our people.
Part 2: Problems faced by Africa.
The political situation in Africa today is heartening and at the same time disturbing. It is heartening to see so many new flags hoisted in place of the old; it is disturbing to see so many countries of varying sizes and at different levels of development, weak and, in some cases, almost helpless. If this terrible state of fragmentation is allowed to continue it may well be disastrous for us all.
There are at present some 28 states in Africa, excluding the Union of South Africa, and those countries not yet free. No less than nine of these states have a population of less than three million. Can we seriously believe that the colonial powers meant these countries to be independent, viable states? The example of South America, which has as much wealth, if not more than North America, and yet remains weak and dependent on outside interests, is one which every African would do well to study.
Critics of African unity often refer to the wide differences in culture, language and ideas in various parts of Africa. This is true, but the essential fact remains that we are all Africans, and have a common interest in the independence of Africa. The difficulties presented by questions of language, culture and different political systems are not insuperable. If the need for political union is agreed by us all, then the will to create it is born; and where there's a will there's a way.
The present leaders of Africa have already shown a remarkable willingness to consult and seek advice among themselves. Africans have, indeed, begun to think continentally. They realize that they have much in common, both in their past history, in their present problems and in their future hopes. To suggest that the time is not yet ripe for considering a political union of Africa is to evade the facts and ignore realities in Africa today.
Part 3: Africa in the world.
The greatest contribution that Africa can make to the peace of the world is to avoid all the dangers inherent in disunity, by creating a political union which will also by its success, stand as an example to a divided world. A Union of African states will project more effectively the African personality. It will command respect from a world that has regard only for size and influence. The scant attention paid to African opposition to the French atomic tests in the Sahara, and the ignominious spectacle of the U.N. in the Congo quibbling about constitutional niceties while the Republic was tottering into anarchy, are evidence of the callous disregard of African Independence by the Great Powers.
We have to prove that greatness is not to be measured in stock piles of atom bombs. I believe strongly and sincerely that with the deep-rooted wisdom and dignity, the innate respect for human lives, the intense humanity that is our heritage, the African race, united under one federal government, will emerge not as just another world bloc to flaunt its wealth and strength, but as a Great Power whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not on fear ,envy and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others, but founded on hope, trust, friendship and directed to the good of all mankind.
The emergence of such a mighty stabilizing force in this strife-worn world should be regarded not as the shadowy dream of a visionary, but as a practical proposition, which the peoples of Africa can, and should, translate into reality. There is a tide in the affairs of every people when the moment strikes for political action. Such was the moment in the history of the United States of America when the Founding Fathers saw beyond the petty wranglings of the separate states and created a Union. This is our chance. We must act now. Tomorrow may be too late and the opportunity will have passed, and with it the hope of free Africa's survival.
From Kwame Nkrumah, I Speak of Freedom: A Statement of African Ideology (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1961), pp. xi-xiv.
Assignment: On separate sheet of paper answer the following questions.
Part 1:
1. According to Nkrumah, what are Africa’s strengths?
2. Given Africa’s wealth in natural resources, why are the nations of Africa relatively poor at this time in history?
Part 2:
3. According to Nkrumah what are the arguments against African unity?
Part 3:
4. According to Nkrumah, what role should Africa play in the world? Why is Africa suited to that particular role?
5. What is Nkrumah’s purpose in bringing up the example of the United States in the last paragraph?
6. Why does Nkrumah believe so strongly in the cause of African unity?
7. What historical background would the reader need to know more of in order to fully understand this speech?
World Studies
African Independence Movements: 3 Case Studies
Source:
Case Study: Gold Coast to Ghana
Unlike Portugal which was determined to hang on to its colonies, Britain had by the end of World War II reckoned that running the Empire was more trouble than it was worth. At the same time African Nationalists were increasingly vociferous in their demands for self-rule. But it was not clear how to dismantle the colonial machine, or when to dismantle it.
In the event it was African nationalists who took charge of events, starting in West Africa. People like K.B. Asante, former teacher and diplomat, who were educated and ambitious, also put their weight behind the independence movement
The Gold Coast in the 1950's was a country with the highest level of education in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. The Gold Coast supplied many of the civil servants working in Nigeria. Gold Coast nationalists had campaigned for home rule before the Second World War. But it was Kwame Nkrumah who harnessed his leadership to the mood of the people.
Already in 1947 Nkrumah was a full time politician, installed as General Secretary of the United Gold Coast Convention. He was imprisoned by the British for inciting people to revolt against the British but returned in 1948 and formed the more radical Convention People's Party, or CPP.
In 1951 he was imprisoned for inciting strikes. Later in the year, elections were held for a larger and newer Legislative Council, with Africans in the majority. The CPP won. Nkrumah was released. He negotiated a new constitution with the British and in 1954 he became Prime Minister. Independence was now on the cards and there was a sense of excitement abroad. Three years later he led his country to independence.
The touch-paper had been lit for the rest of Africa. In 1959 an independent Ghana hosted the Accra All African People's Conference. Hastings Banda and Kenneth Kaunda, among others, were there, ready to be inspired with the vision of a new political future for their countries: Nysaland (to become Malawi) and Northern Rhodesia (to become Zambia) respectively.
The path to independence in the Southern African states proved more problematic. The black majority was up against a white settler population who wanted independence. This minority was, in the main, hostile to majority rule.
Case Study: Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
(FORMERLY ZAIRE, BEFORE THAT, BELGIAN CONGO)
Independence for Congo followed a strange course of events unlike anything else in the rest of Africa. The Belgian Congo was huge and underdeveloped. After World War II, new cultural organizations like ABAKO, Association des Bakongo and the Lulua-Freres, emerged in the 1950's.
But it was the attitude of the Belgians which bred a new political consciousness in the 1950's. In the first place, the Belgians like the Portuguese, were not swayed by the drive towards independence that had swept across Africa in the early 1950's. De-colonization was first discussed in 1956, but seen as something that would happen thirty years into the future.
On the eve of independence, the Congo, a territory larger than Western Europe, bordering on nine other African colonies/states, was seriously underdeveloped. There were no African army officers, only three African managers in the entire civil service, and only 30 university graduates. Yet Western investments in Congo's mineral resources (copper, gold, tin, cobalt, diamonds, manganese, zinc) were colossal. And these investments meant that the West was determined to keep control over the country beyond independence.
Following widespread rioting in 1959, the Belgians to the surprise of all the nationalist leaders said elections for independence could go ahead in May 1960. This in itself caused confusion and a rush to form parties. In the event 120 different parties took part, most of them regionally based. Only one, Mouvement National Congolais or the MNC, led by Patrice Lumumba , favoured a centralised government and had support in four of six provinces.
The actual independence day was a mixture of huge excitement and bad temper on the part of the former colonial power. King Baudouin of Belgian made a patronizing speech; and Patrice Lumumba's speech was spirited.
Within days things fell apart. The army mutinied against Belgian officers. The main mining area, Katanga, declared itself a separate state under Moise Tshombe, but with strategic support and encouragement from Belgian mining interests. Belgian troops then intervened unasked; Lumumba invited UN peacekeeping forces to help but they steered clear of fighting Tshombe's Katanga regime.
Americans followed events closely. Lumumba's great speechmaking skills and his contacts with the Soviet Union all conspired to turn the Americans against him. He was described by Alan Dulles, chief of American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as a "mad dog" and President Dwight Eisenhower authorized his assassination. This was carried out through Lumumba's opponents in the Congo. In November 1960 he was kidnapped and taken to Katanga. In January 1961 he was shot in Elizabethville; his body was then dumped by a CIA agent.
Tshombe eventually became Prime Minister, but not for long.
In 1965 Joseph Mobutu seized power with American backing in a bloodless coup. He had waited in the shadows for his opportunity since the late 1950's, all the while cultivating his pro-West image for the Americans. Once in power he began a 32-year reign of greed and corruption, indulged by America and the West in return for a solidly anti-Soviet pro-western stance.
Case Study: Kenya
Kenya, during the 1950's, was dominated by the Mau Mau uprising against the British. A central feature of this revolt was a desire on the part of the Kikuyu people, along with some Embu and Meru people, for land taken by the Europeans in the course of the long occupation of the British.
The Mau Mau uprising also marked a turning point in the struggle for independence. Kikuyu resistance to European colonization was well established before the Second World War. The Kikuyu Central Association was active in the 1930's under Jomo Kenyatta who campaigned energetically for the Kikuyu in Europe.
In 1951, Kenyatta was arrested and imprisoned by the British for being a leading light in the Mau Mau movement. With his detention Mau Mau expanded.
In October 1952, the British declared a state of emergency, which continued until 1960. The State of Emergency was in response to an increase in attacks on the property and persons of white settlers, as well as African chiefs who were seen as collaborators.
There was also an increase in oath taking. This was a ceremony, affirming loyalty to the Mau Mau cause and war against the Europeans. About 2,000 Kikuyu were killed by Mau Mau fighters for refusing to take the oath.
A far larger amount, about 13,000, were killed fighting the British, and a further 80,000 were kept in detention camps. The number of Europeans who died in the course of the emergency totaled just 32. The number of original Mau Mau fighters was hugely increased by Kikuyu squatters who were expelled from European land after 1952.
The main military leaders were Dedan Kimathi and Warihu Itote, also known as General China. Dedan Kimathi was captured and executed in 1956. General China was eventually released. Kenyatta was not released until 1961. The Kenyan African National Union (KANU) had voted him their President while he was still in prison.
The other main party to emerge in the run up to independence was the Kenyan African Democratic Union KADU. In the event, KANU gained a majority in the Legislative Assembly and Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya to independence in December 1963.
African States Weigh 50 Years of Independence
By ADAM NOSSITER, New York Times, June 4, 2010
DAKAR, Senegal — In a fancy resort on the French Riviera this week, limousines bearing African leaders gathered at the doorstep of France’s president for the France-Africa Summit, a time-honored ritual involving pledges of mutual love and, not surprisingly, some backbiting.
Conspicuously absent from the gathering in Nice, however, was a collective reckoning of a major milestone on the calendar: It has been 50 years since many of the countries gained independence.
Unlike the glittering extravaganza on the Riviera, where extensive retinues accompanied the leaders, the anniversary — and its potential for taking stock — is passing largely unnoticed. Few official celebrations have been organized to mark the passing of five decades since France tentatively let go, albeit with many continuing ties, of 14 of its colonies; in all, 17 African countries, including Nigeria, gained independence in 1960.
Perhaps the most substantial collective commemoration is, paradoxically enough, not being held in Africa at all. Leaders from Senegal, Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mauritania, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad and Madagascar have all been invited to Paris to parade their troops along the Champs-Elysées on Bastille Day, the national holiday of their ex-colonial ruler.
Here on the continent, the few remembrances so far have at times been freighted with just as much ambiguity. In one of the rare, large-scale commemorative events, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal inaugurated a giant bronze statue meant to symbolize “African Renaissance” on a desolate hill near the airport here. Built by a North Korean company in pure Soviet-realism style, it is 13 feet higher than the Statue of Liberty and its three gigantic figures — man, woman and child — tower over their surroundings.
But nearly everything about it has provoked controversy, rather than the outpouring of pan-African pride that Mr. Wade had hoped to generate: from the cost, in a country that ranks 166th on the United Nations’ Human Development Index of 182 nations; to the scantily clothed figures, in an overwhelmingly Muslim country (local imams raised a vigorous protest); to the questionable aesthetics of a monument that recalls Stalinist Russia rather than the distinctive Afro-Islamic culture of the Sahel. Some Senegalese debate whether the figures even look African.
Mr. Wade has said he simply traded state land, in exchange for building the statue, to the North Koreans, who then sold it at a profit; local and international media estimates have put the total cost at between $27 million and $70 million.
For some analysts here, the statue’s mixed signals symbolize this anniversary year’s uncertain meanings, calling it a monumental construction project conceded to foreigners and inaugurated in an April ceremony attended by heads of state like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast, both of whom have been the object of international scorn for their human rights records.
“The monumentality is somewhat misplaced,” said Ibrahima Thioub, a Senegalese historian who teaches at Cheikh Anta Diop University here. “Does Senegal have the resources to invest this kind of money?” Besides, he added, “Why concede the African Renaissance to Koreans? We’ve got some very good African sculptors right here.”
Elsewhere, commemorations have been sparse or marked primarily by back-and-forth visiting by dignitaries from neighboring countries, as was recently the case in Cameroon, rather than by public outpourings.
“It’s tough to mobilize people for celebrations, because the flowers of independence have faded,” Mr. Thioub said. “The last 50 years have not at all met the people’s hopes and expectations.”
Jean-François Bayart, a senior research fellow at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, noted that there had been major achievements since independence. West African cities, for example, have both grown tremendously and continued to feed themselves, a balancing act he suggested was unparalleled.
Still, there is a “malaise” in this anniversary year, he added. “The balance sheet of independence is not brilliant, and people speak of lost decades. It’s not as catastrophic as some say, but there are problems,” Mr. Bayart said.
The notion of independence itself — in a context of bad governance, economic inequality, poverty and dependence on foreign aid — has been called into question by some African intellectuals. “Our parents are still asking us when this independence is going to be over,” the narrator says mockingly in a recent satiric novel, “The Catapillas, Those Ungrateful Ones,” by the Ivory Coast writer Venance Konan, a bitter commentary from a country racked by civil war and government misdeeds.
Voices are regularly raised against the continued use of the African Franc, which is seen as a humiliating adjunct of European money. It carries a guarantee of a fixed rate against the Euro, but requires that the ex-colonies keep a substantial portion of their currency assets in the Paris treasury.
Then there is the reliance on heavy inflows of foreign aid, which equaled a quarter to nearly a third of government spending in countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Mali in 2008, according to figures compiled by a World Bank economist, Mamadou Ndione. In Niger, a leading member of Parliament said that aid routinely accounted for over half of the budgets passed by himself and his colleagues.
Against the weakness of institutions like parliaments stand the voices of African intellectuals and other civil-society activists, who have mobilized throughout the region for reform. In Niger, there were mass protests last year against the rollback of democracy by the former president, Mamadou Tandja. In Guinea, demonstrators — and the violent suppression of them — ultimately led to the military junta’s transfer of power to civilian leadership this year.
Even here in Senegal, often considered exemplary because there has never been a coup, widely followed writers like Abdou Latif Coulibaly criticize Parliament as being nothing more than “an instrument in the service of the executive.” Democracy is held hostage by elites, he argues, and his books have been routinely banned from the major bookstores as a result.
Mr. Coulibaly lays some of the blame with his fellow citizens, and said in an interview several years ago with the French political science review Politique Africaine that they mistakenly “consider that power is a matter of essences, a heritage, something in the blood, that what is normal for a state is unlimited monarchy.”
Independence Dates of Selected African Nations
26 July 1847: Liberia
28 February 1922: Egypt
24 December 1951: Libya
1 January 1956: Sudan
2 March 1956: Morocco
20 March 1956: Tunisia
6 March 1957: Ghana
2 October 1958: Guinea
1 January 1960: Cameroon
27 April 1960: Togo
26 June 1960: Madagascar
30 June 1960: DR Congo
1 July 1960: Somalia
1 August 1960: Benin
3 August 1960: Niger
5 August 1960: Burkina Faso
7 August 1960: Côte d'Ivoire
11 August 1960: Chad
13 August 1960: Central African Republic
15 August 1960: Congo
17 August 1960: Gabon
20 August 1960: Senegal
22 September 1960: Mali
1 October 1960: Nigeria
28 November 1960: Mauritania
27 April 1961: Sierra Leone
31 May 1961: South Africa
1 July 1962: Rwanda
1 July 1962: Burundi
3 July 1962: Algeria
9 October 1962: Uganda
12 December 1963: Kenya
24 April 1964: Tanzani (Tanganyika 9 December 1961 - Zanzibar 10 December 1963)
6 July 1964: Malawi
24 October 1964: Zambia
18 February 1965: Gambia
30 September 1966: Botswana
4 October 1966: Lesotho
12 March 1968: Mauritius
6 September 1968: Swaziland
12 October 1968: Equatorial Guinea
20 September 1974: Guinea-Bissau
25 June 1975: Mozambique
5 July 1975: Cape Verde
6 July 1975: Comoros
12 July 1975: Sao Tome and Principe
11 November 1975: Angola
29 June 1976: Seychelles
27 June 1977: Djibouti
18 April 1980: Zimbabwe
21 March 1990: Namibia
24 May 1993: Eritrea
The Challenge of Decolonization in Africa
Benjamin Talton – Temple University
In the decades that followed independence, African leaders worked to shape the cultural, political, and economic character of the postcolonial state. Some worked against the challenges of continued European cultural and political domination, while others worked with European powers in order to protect their interests and maintain control over economic and political resources. Decolonization, then, was a process as well as a historical period.
Yet the nations and regions of Africa experienced it with varying degrees of success. By 1990, formal European political control had given way to African self-rule—except in South Africa. Culturally and politically, however, the legacy of European dominance remained evident in the national borders, political infrastructures, education systems, national languages, economies, and trade networks of each nation. Ultimately, decolonization produced moments of inspiration and promise, yet failed to transform African economies and political structures to bring about true autonomy and development.
The Year of Africa
"Most of our weaknesses," declared Kenneth Kaunda, first president of Zambia, in a March 1966 speech, "derive from lack of finance, trained personnel, etc., etc., etc. We are left with no choice but to fall on either the east [the Soviet Union] or west [the United States and Western Europe], or indeed, on both of them." What Kaunda does not state is that the weaknesses that he speaks of were, first and foremost, products of European colonial strategies.
When decolonization began, there were reasons for optimism. The year 1960 was heralded throughout Africa and the West as "the Year of Africa" for the inspiring change that swept the continent. That year seventeen African territories gained independence from the strong arm of European colonial rule. These seventeen nations joined the United Nation's General Assembly and gave greater voice to the non-Western world.
Fully recognizing the potential for the remarkable change that African independence could bring to global politics, on February 3, 1960, Harold Macmillan, prime minister of Great Britain from 1957 to 1963, delivered his famous speech, "Wind of Change," to the South African parliament. "The growth of national consciousness in Africa is a political fact," Macmillan said, "and we must accept it as such. … I believe that if we cannot do so we may imperil the precarious balance between the East and West on which the peace of the world depends." He cautioned Western nations to change their behavior toward Africa to prevent the continent from falling under the sway of the East [the Soviet Union].
The Cold War
It was this fear of Soviet influence in Africa, particularly on the part of the United States, that created such a major problem for African nations. Western powers viewed African independence through the lens of the Cold War, which rendered African leaders as either pro-West or pro-East; there was little acceptable middle ground. Naïvely, most African leaders believed that they could remain neutral in the Cold War. Along these lines, in his speech on the occasion of Kenya's independence from Britain in 1963, Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta (in power from 1964 to 1978) declared:
“The aim of my government which starts today is not to be pro-left or pro-right. We shall pursue the task of national building in friendship with the rest of the world. Nobody will ever be allowed to tell us, to tell me: you must be friendly to so-and-so. We shall remain free and whoever wants friendship with us must be a real friend.”
Nonetheless, no matter which side they chose, Cold War politics deprived African nations of the freedom to truly shape their political paths. Although Western European powers granted aid to African nations, they also coerced governments to support their agendas and instigated and aided coups [an armed overthrow of a government] against democratically elected governments. In the Congo, for example, Joseph Mobutu took a strong anti-communist position and was subsequently rewarded by the United States. It mattered little that in 1960 he helped remove and murder democratically-elected Patrice Lumumba, was among the most anti-democratic leaders on the continent, and siphoned Western aid and revenue from the nation's natural resources into personal accounts. Mobutu's rise to power and economic and political damage to Congo in the process—with the help of his Western allies—demonstrates that the politics of the Cold War, more than anything else, defined the successes and failures of African decolonization.
Neo Colonialism
In the 1960s, Frantz Fanon described neo-colonialism as the continued exploitation of the continent from outside and within, together with European political intervention during the post-independence years. One of the many questions that African leaders faced was whether continued economic and political interaction with former colonial powers threatened their independence and ability to govern themselves. The ex- colonizers wanted to retain their former colonial territories within their sphere of influence. This continued relationship, Fanon argued, benefited African politicians and the small middle class but did not benefit the national majorities. The result was tension between the ruling classes and the majority population.
In 1964 he wrote in Toward the African Revolution: "Every former colony has a particular way of achieving independence. Every new sovereign state finds itself practically under the obligation of maintaining definite and deferential relations with the former oppressor."
Early in the decolonization process, there were fleeting moments in which the emerging African and Asian nations did seek to remain neutral in the Cold War. Foremost among these initiatives was the 1955 Bandung Conference, held in Bandung, Indonesia, from April 18 to 24, 1955. Representatives from twenty-nine Asian and African countries gathered to chart a course for neutrality in the Cold War conflict. The attendees agreed that to avoid being trapped within a Western or Soviet political orbit, developing nations must not rely on the industrialized powers for economic and political aid. Therefore, they vowed to work together by pooling their developmental and technological resources to establish an economic and political sphere, a third way, to counterbalance the West and the Soviet Union.
However, it was a challenge for African nations to develop international links, due largely to the lack of effective communication and transportation networks. In addition, the senior African administrators who ran the colonies were removed with European rule, to be replaced by Africans with far less experience. Moreover, the political system that African leaders inherited was structured to benefit the evolving ruling classes with little regard for the needs of the people. There were few real efforts beyond the political speeches of Kwame Nkrumah—Ghana's first president, in power from 1957 to 1966—toward developing a pan-African political or economic agenda.
Moreover, the failure to dismantle the internal political structures imposed by European colonial regimes allowed ethnic and regional-based political competition to remain at the core of local and national political structures. Generally, the absence of national identities and political movements facilitated the continued intervention of the former colonial powers in Africa's internal affairs.
In addition, with few exceptions, European powers continued to dominate the economic affairs of the former colonies. Under European rule, people were forced to grow cash crops. This practice continued after independence, and the farmers remained vulnerable to the vagaries of the world market. A fall in world prices created political instability. This was the case in Ghana in the 1960s when the price of cocoa collapsed, and in Rwanda in the 1980s, when the price of coffee fell. The former contributed to Nkrumah's fall from power in 1966, and the latter to civil war and ultimately genocide in the early 1990s.
Tragedy in Congo
In Congo, Patrice Lumumba, its first prime minister, battled the forces of the Cold War but with more tragic consequences. On Independence Day, June 30, 1960, Lumumba delivered a speech in the presence of the king of Belgium, denouncing the atrocities of colonial rule and declaring that Congo would establish an autonomous government and an economy for the people:
We are going to show the world what the black man can do when he works in freedom, and we are going to make of the Congo the center of the sun's radiance for all of Africa. We are going to keep watch over the lands of our country so that they truly profit her children. We are going to restore ancient laws and make new ones which will be just and noble...
And for all that, dear fellow countrymen, be sure that we will count not only on our enormous strength and immense riches but on the assistance of numerous foreign countries whose collaboration we will accept if it is offered freely and with no attempt to impose on us an alien culture of no matter what nature...
The Congo's independence marks a decisive step towards the liberation of the entire African continent.
Western powers viewed Lumumba as dangerous and vulnerable to falling under Soviet sway, and they quickly collaborated on a plan with the United Nations' assistance to undermine him. He served as prime minister for fewer than seven months before he was deposed and assassinated as part of a plot drawn up by the United States, Belgium, and their allies within the Congo. Because Western powers feared that the country's resources would be nationalized or, even worse, be made available to the Soviet Union, they thought it necessary to have a pro-Western government installed, regardless of its legitimacy within the Congo or its commitment to democracy and development.
Between the early 1950s and the mid-1970s, as African leaders south of the Sahara took direct control of their economies, political institutions, and resources, they entered the brutal trap of Cold War–era global politics. European economic and political influence remained deeply entrenched in Africa throughout the period because of their strategic interests in maintaining unobstructed access to Africa's natural resources and in supporting governments friendly to Western political interests. More important, there was an acute failure of African leadership in many of the newly independent African nations as Western aid and a focus on anti-communism paved the way for political corruption and self-interest among African leaders. Decolonization, therefore, released Africans from their status as colonial subjects but failed to rid African nations of the sway of their former colonial rulers, other Western powers, and a culture of political and economic exploitation and corruption.
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The Real “White Man’s Burden
~By Ernest Crosby 1899
Take up the White Man's burden;
Send forth your sturdy sons,
And load them down with whisky
And Testaments and guns.
Throw in a few diseases
To spread in tropic climes,
For there the healthy negros
Are quite behind the times.
And don't forget the factories.
On those benighted shores
They have no cheerful iron-mills
Nor eke department stores.
They never work twelve hours a day,
And live in strange content,
Altho they never have to pay
A single cent of rent.
Take up the White Man's burden,
And teach the Philippines
What interest and taxes are
And what a mortgage means.
Give them electrocution chairs,
And prisons, too, galore,
And if they seem inclined to kick,
Then spill their heathen gore.
The Brown Man’s Burden
~By Henry LaBouchere 1899
Pile on the brown man's burden
To gratify your greed;
Go, clear away the "negros"
Who progress would impede;
Be very stern, for truly
'Tis useless to be mild
With new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
Pile on the brown man's burden;
And, if ye rouse his hate,
Meet his old-fashioned reasons
With Maxims up to date.
With shells and dumdum bullets
A hundred times made plain
The brown man's loss must ever
Imply the white man's gain.
Pile on the brown man's burden,
compel him to be free;
Let all your manifestoes
Reek with philanthropy.
And if with heathen folly
He dares your will dispute,
Then, in the name of freedom,
Don't hesitate to shoot.
The White Man’s Burden
~By Rudyard Kipling 1899
Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain,
To seek another's profit
And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine,
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
(The end for others sought)
Watch sloth and heathen folly
Bring all your hope to nought.
What is the main message of Kipling’s poem? What is the “white man’s burden”?
Summarize the main message of the other two poems. What criticisms of imperialism do they offer?
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