British Colonize Nigeria Essay

This is an insult to their religion. They resent the English command and they are angered by their disrespectful ways. They also believed they had a chance to beat the British army if they were united which is why they responded in this manner. Another piece of evidence from Ndansi Kumalo describing the African resistance is illustrated when he claims that “There was much bitterness because so many of our cattle were [...] taken away from us; we had no property [...]. [...] But we meant to fight to the last feeling that even if we could not beat them we might at least kill a few of them and so have some sort of revenge.” In this quote, one can comprehend that he promotes violence through his message and encourages the Africans to fight the British. He most likely responds to imperialism in this way because he is despises the way the Africans are treated. He hated how the British men would molest the African females, take away their cows, and force them to carry their objects like slaves. He doesn’t like the treatment and he believes that the only way to stop this treatment is to declare a

When the Europeans scrambled to colonize Africa, the reactions of the natives was progressively more apprehensive. At first the natives found that they could be peaceful with this strange new white man. Soon after, though, they found that these new men mistreated and cheated them greatly, and had superior military technology. Given these new conditions of the relationship the Africans decided it was in their best interest to take up arms against the Europeans and try to rid themselves of the harmful White Man.

This is another reason why they decided to imperialize Africa. In 1899, a European poet named Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called “The White Man’s Burden”. In it, he shares his beliefs that Europeans must now help take care of the Africans, and said, “Go bind your sons to exile to serve your captives’ need/Your new-caught, sullen peoples, half-devil and half-child/Fill full the mouth of Famine and Bid the sickness cease” To reword, the newly colonized Africans were a burden to Europeans, and in Europeans eyes inferior, leaving Europeans to be stuck feeding and taking care of them. Believing that someone is inferior to or weaker than yourself can be known as Social Darwinism. An example of Social Darwinism was Hitler’s feelings towards Jews.

In 1886, the British commissioned the Royal Niger Company to administer and develop the Niger River delta. Majority of the African rulers signed their land away (Doc. 1). This shows that the Europeans wanted to work with the Europeans, so they can obtain their land. An assumption I made is that the Africans were afraid of the British, and that resulted in the elimination of many African lands. Prempeh I, Ashanti Leader, responded by turning away from the offer of protectorate status in West Africa, 1981 (Doc. 2).

Europeans filled in the blanks of African history by using exoticism to come up with origin theories that made sense to them. Because the African population has a different physical appearance than Europeans, they were viewed as the “other” race, and therefore were inferior in the minds of Europeans. Africa, however, was a society that was equally as complex as any European nation, unique with their own kingdoms and customs. Because of this, it was incorrect for Europeans to label Africans as “savage” individuals. Africa’s culture is rich and deserves to be interpreted in the way that they see fit, rather than having European stereotypes of the past define their culture of

Between the years 1881 and 1914, African territory was being invaded by Europeans during the New Imperialism period. Before Europe’s invasion, Africa consisted of various tribes and had no central government due to this during the mid nineteenth century. Europe attempted to colonize Africa using harsh military force and resulted in the European Scramble for Africa. The European Scramble for Africa caused African leaders to have different reactions such as some wanting to have no conflicts, but peace, surrendering to the Europeans due to fear, and also attempting to fight back against the Europeans.

In the 19th and 20th centuries Europe was thriving and wealthy while most of their colonies in Africa were suffering under their rule. The Europeans all wanted a piece of Africa’s land with its plentiful resources and free labor. Around this time, Europe was going through the industrial revolution and because business was booming the European countries need more resources than they already had. The Africans had the land the Europeans wanted to use to continue having booming businesses, they also had African slaves and workers that they can use so they don’t have to pay for labor. In the 19th century leader of the Europeans countries want to discuss how they will divide Africa without the leaders of Africa knowing. The Europeans then started to invade Africa and take control over the citizens. As the Europeans got more powerful, the Africans become more miserable. Unable to match the guns Europe had, African countries began getting claimed, one by one with the exception of two. The Europeans ruled in a cruel way that left many Africans dead or suffering. Many countries tried and successfully broke away from Europeans after many years under colonization. The Europeans had a negative impact on the lives of many Africans in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially with racism and assimilation. People were taught to be a human they had to be like a European which led to many racist views on African people and culture and is why some nations like France used assimilation to make

European Imperialism in Africa had one real driving force behind it, racism. After 300 years of Europeans cashing in on Africa’s coasts, the explorers finally ventured inward, wreaking havoc on the continent’s environment and inhabitants, not giving a second thought to the people whose lives they ruined. This is made clear though the British’s new industry they built their and the economy formed atop it poorly affected the people they took advantage of and the moral obligations they had but did not follow.

Before the Europeans began the New Imperialism in Africa, very little was known about the inner parts of the continent. However, after some explorers delved deeper into the heart of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, Britain had only small occupations of land in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the rich resources from the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African countries and take over. This led to the scramble and ultimately, the partition of Africa. During the Age of Imperialism, from 1870-1914, Britain was a major country, which proved to be true

As mentioned before, violence was a key component in Europe’s colonization of Africa. Countless fights and rebellions took place, and the Europeans won the vast majority of them. One African veteran of a rebellion against the British recalled that after the natives surrendered, they “were treated like slaves” and harmed by “the White people” (Document 4). Another African, the leader of the Herero people, wrote about the Germans in a letter to another African leader saying that “each day they shoot someone dead for no reason at all” (Document 5). This segment does contain some bias since it was written to explain the difficult situation of someone being oppressed by Germans. Nonetheless, brutality against Africans was known to take place and this was one of many incidents. As shown in these two sources, Africans were essentially not treated as humans; they were persecuted by Europeans in unfair and often uncalled for ways. Previous to the unwelcome appearance of the Europeans, the natives were able to live their lives under their own terms for the most part. But the arrival of Europeans brought on drastic change: Africans went from being free to practically

Ever seen something that may look odd to you? Or someone that shows up and you seem to wonder why they’re doing what they’re doing? Do you feel a little unpleasant about their actions? That’s totally normal, because that’s what we call cultural collision. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, he shows how cultural collision affected the Ibo culture in Nigeria because of colonization and the arrival of Europeans who brought forth a new religion, a new lifestyle and ways that challenge the Ibo culture. The conflict in Things Fall Apart is the struggle between change and tradition. Chinua Achebe demonstrates Okonkwo’s daily life as a struggle to resist changing from

Imperialism is defined as one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imperialism was present and growing. The main countries involved in the imperialism in Africa were the French, German, and Great Britain. The French’s empire was mainly in North and West Africa while Britain’s colonies were scattered throughout the continent. Germany ruled over such countries as Tanganyika, Togoland, and Cameroon, until their defeat in World War I.

The semantic basis of the term 'post-colonial' might seem to suggest a concern only with the national culture after the departure of the imperial power. ( Tiffin et al. 3 ) As a post-colonial literary work, Achebe shows the oppressions of Igbo under the British colonizers such as, social injustice, cultural legacy changing. In the traditional Igbo rule of justice, people who are grievance come to a group of nine elders dressed masks and acted as Gods to solve the conflicts. However, when the white people arrive they build their own courts and rules for Igbo instead of their traditional judgment, which is an example of social injustice toward the Nigerian tribe. Religion in Africa is a major aspect of their culture. When British arrive, they

Nigeria is a country with great history from centuries ago. However it is evident when

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.