Essay On Imperialism In Kenya

1001 Words3 Pages

Within Kenya, the colonial period was a pivotal era, as it completely altered the country both in positive and negative ways. The time-honored tribes diminished, while the Christian converts grew. Democracy was born, while crops, with little materials to help them grow, died. Overall, the British colonization of Kenya had a mostly negative impact even though it established a democratic government and left Kenya a more modernized country, it completely destroyed the culture and economy of the native people in the process. The age of colonial imperialism was during the 19th and 20th century, where European powers assimilated citizens into the official religion and society of their country. Across the globe, different areas were colonized by
Kenya is still troubled in a political sense, which is clearly demonstrated by the riotous elections of December 2007, in which around 1,000 people were killed in (Sisson). During one of the more recent elections, there were numerous massacres and protests trying to obstruct the concept of democracy. Under British rule, attempts to impose models of democracy on Kenya, originally a tribal country, were made. These have influenced the corrupt Kenyan government into holding democratic elections, which turned extremely abusive. A large amount of Kenyan’s are not yet ready to take away their tribal identity to forge a national identity for Kenya. High authorities of Kenya including president Jomo Kenyatta wore clothing similar to the clothing of the Europeans (Sisson). This made people feel that their clothing was not in fashion and they had to follow the way of the Europeans, although it meant losing a cultural aspect of their tribal group. The lack traditional tribal apparel being worn was decreasing the amount of people following the culture they were raised under. With a new religion and semi-new lifestyle, Kenya’s citizens were becoming more European than Kenyan. Additionally, climatic conditions make it impossible sometimes some years in some countries to cultivate crops in Kenya. Climate changes such as drought and flood are example. Because Africa is in

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