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Kenyan Independence Movement

Decent Essays

Kenyan Independence Movement The East Africa Protectorate was first colonized by British settlers in 1895 and with the creation of the treaty of Versailles in 1920 it officially came under British control as the colony of Kenya. The people of Kenya were never content with having the white settlers take their land from them and continuously expressed their thoughts. However, Kenya wouldn’t become an independent nation until December 12, 1963. Kenya’s road to independence was filled with oppression and disappointment. There were many separate attempts to lead Kenya to freedom, but all of them failed to reach their goals. The Mau-Mau Rebellion was the final straw for colonialism in Kenya and the natives’ last push for independence. The …show more content…

All of his attempts to draw sympathy in Europe failed and he returned to Kenya at the end of World War II to try to get his people a political voice in the government. Originally, the KAU was only made up of the Kikuyu “elite”, but ultimately it widens its sphere of influence to encompass many of the different ethnicities within Kenya. What had started as a small group of intellectuals would grow to include over 150,000 angry Kenyans by 1951. Kenyatta believed strongly that violence would only hurt their cause. If they approached things in a political and peaceful manner, it would show the British that these people were civilized and ready to govern themselves. The KAU continually tried to gain more political power in the government, but the colonial government did everything it could to prevent the KAU from succeeding. When the KAU tried appealing to the British government, they got nothing but promises. The Kenyans started growing restless, waiting for promises that will never be fulfilled. To many people, violence seemed like the only way to solve their problems. When peaceful independent movements failed to succeed, people gave up hope that their problems could be solved peacefully. The building frustration was about to burst. With World War II ending, returning soldiers expected to get some recognition for their serviced in the

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