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Impact of colonization on Africans
Impact of colonization on Africans
What are the economic impacts of colonialism
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Many different tribal communities inhabited Kenya, during its pre-colonial period. Today there are about 42 different tribes in Kenya who are all different from each other ("Safari in Africa”). The Agikuyu and the Miji Kenda were farmers, the Maasai and the Samburu lived off of livestock, and the majority like the Luo and the Abagusii practiced a mixture of crop cultivation and pastoral work. Subsistence production was the norm and manual labor came from the family. Classes were mostly non-existent and poverty was not much of an issue either as reciprocity was largely practiced. Relations between other tribal communities were for the most part were good as they traded, married with each other, and had limited and sporadic conflicts (Ndege). Foreigners first appeared in Kenya with the constant visits by Arab traders who eventually created Arab and Persian colonies. (“A Brief History”) The Portuguese who later held their own colonies in what is now Kenya were defeated by the Ottoman Arabs, who ultimately were overpowered by the growth of the British and Germans. This constant change of power in the area was due to competition in slave trade. However, like in the rest of Africa, the official start of colonialism in Kenya began with the 1884/85 Berlin Conference.
With the 1886 Anglo-German Agreement and agreements through the Berlin Conference, Britain established protectorate over Kenya. Kenya’s boundaries were delineated without the consultation the tribal groups and communities that inhabited the area. With the new boundaries Britain brought together over forty formerly autonomous communities into one territorial country (Ndege). These boundaries were responsible for separating tribes and communities, such as the Maas...
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...ortunately cannot really be answered since we cannot see what these countries would be like if colonialism never was a part of their history.
Works Cited
"A Brief History on Kenya | Republic of Kenya | The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya." A Brief History on Kenya | Republic of Kenya | The Embassy of the Republic of Kenya. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Harris, Richard L. The Political Economy of Africa. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Pub., 1975. Print.
"Kenya Constitution." Early Kenya History. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"Kenya Profile." BBC News. BBC, 09 Oct. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
Ndege, Peter O. "Colonialism and Its Legacies in Kenya." Lecture. Fulbright – Hays Group Project Abroad Program. Web.
"New Histories." New Histories. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"Safari in Africa with Shadows Of Africa." Shadows Of Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.
In East Africa, there is an area know as the Great Rift Valley. It is in this Great Rift Valley, where the world’s most dominant long distance runners come from, Kenya. In the past three decades, runners from Kenya have simply dominated the sport of long distance running in all facets including cross-country, track, and the marathon. In the world rankings for marathon running, Kenyans hold 8 of the top 10 spots for the men and 6 of the top ten spots in women’s rankings. (Entine, Par. 2) But how can one country be so overpowering in a sport that anyone can participate in? There are a number of factors that all work together to make Kenyan runners the best of the best. Rigorous training regimens, the physical geography of Kenya, country and world support of the athletes, genetics and early participation of children are all factors in the study of why Kenyan runners are by far the best long distance runners in the world. To start off, you must look at the physical geography in which the Kenyans train.
...e, Brian. "A Wartime Alliance." White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safaris. New York: H. Holt, 1999. 167-73. Print.
The colonization of Africa officially began in 1884 with the Berlin Conference. Western European powers began to split up the land and resources in Africa among themselves. This period of history became known as the Scramble for Africa. The Scramble for Africa occurred because as the slave trade ended, capitalists saw Africa as a continent that they could now exploit through legitimate trade. European capitalists found new ways to make money off of the continent. With greater exploration of the continent even more valuable resources were found. The encouragement of legitimate trade in Africa brought Europeans flocking to colonize Africa. Africa lost their independence, and along with it, their control over their natural resources. Europeans used the term the "White Man's Burden," a concept used by white colonizers in order to impose their way of life on Africans within their colonies, to ...
A true saying is “Colonization often does more damage than contribution.” Colonialism encouraged Africa’s development in some areas, but in many others it severely damaged the natural progress of the continent. If colonialism was never imposed on Africa, Africa’s developments would be significantly different and many of the problems that the continent faces now would not exist today. In conclusion, at first it seems that colonialism has both positive and negative effects, but the truth is it only damages the colonized nation.
The "DBQ Project" What Is the Driving Force Behind European Imperialism in Africa? (2012): 257. pp. 177-177. Print.
2004 From Mukogodo To Maasai: Ethnicity and Cultural Change in Kenya (Westview Case Studies in Anthropology), Westview Press, pp. 27-35
Jomo Kenyatta began his journey in the country of Kikuyu. When he was 10 years old he became gravly ill and had to have surgery. It was then that he was brought to the Church of Scotland mission and encountered Europeans for the first time (“Jomo Kenyatta”, Britannica). After being exposed to the Europeans, Kenyatta later ran away from home to become a student of the Church of Scotland mission. During this time, he studied the Bible, English, Math, and worked for a European settler to pay his tution. He later left the mission and moved to Nairobi where he would encounter his first affiliation with an African political protest movement, the East Africa Association (EAA), led by a fellow Kikuyu named Harry Thuku. Kenyatta empathized with the movement because it involved his people, the Kikuyu. One of the main goals of the EAA’s was to regain the land that had been taken by the Euorpeans when Kenya ...
European colonization in Kenya had a large impact on Africa’s religion and culture. Africa had over 100 ethnic groups in which were effected from the colonization. (Doc.2). The Europeans believed that Africans did not have a developed religion and believed in bizarre thing such as witchcraft (Doc.6). But, in the Abaluyia Story of Creation, it told how the world and man was created, which was really like the European religion of Christianity in which Adam and Eve was made in a similar way. This proved that they indeed did have an organized religion (Doc.7). In 1962, 80% of Kenyans believed in the indigenous beliefs, but after in 2002, only 26% of the population believed in the indigenous beliefs. Because Europeans believed in Christianity, Protestant beliefs went from 7% in 1962 to 38% in 2002, and Catholic beliefs went from 3.5% to 28% (Doc. 8). Europeans felt they gave Africans the Christian religion, a “superior” form of government, and a more developed civilization (Background Essay). The colonization in Kenya changed their culture also. Kenyans changed their clothing. Leaders of Kenya including the first president Jomo Kenyatta wore clothing very similar to the clothing of the Europeans (Doc.5). This made people feel that their clothing was not in fashion and they had to follow the way of the Europeans. This decreased the amount of people wearing their regular clothing and the amount of people following their own culture. Kenya’s religion and culture truly converted, because of European colonization.
As the Europeans started to invade Africa and split up the land, they paid no attention to the already existing natural boundaries. Over time, villages with different cultures had set these boundaries. The Europeans ignored these invisible borders as they invaded. This caused soci...
This resulted in the decline of 70% of the Herero population.1 Nowhere else was colonialism quite so brutal, but almost everywhere it tended towards unrestrained brutality as soon as it was challenged.2 Warfare created considerable unrest among African people. Afterwards, the people of Africa came to the realization that the consequences of resistance against European colonists could be devastating. As well, the Europeans demonstrated that they had the technology and resources to gain control. Secondly, colonial expansion changed the face of Africa’s political structure. The Berlin Conference of 1884-85, attended by 13 European nations and the USA, set the ground rules for partition of Africa.
A number of policy interventions have been originated since independence to address the growing employment problem in Kenya, and with that, make an attempt at bettering the lot of the Kenyan youth. The earliest among these were the Kenyanization policies adopted at independence in which it was envisaged that young Kenyans would quickly take over duties and responsibilities from departing colonial staffers. Other policy measures included promotion of growth and development of the informal and jua kali sector in the 1990’s.
The roots of the colonial history of Kenya travels back to the Berlin Conference in 1885, whe...
On the eastern coast of Africa lies a land full of sunny blue skies and large plains in which zebras and elephants roam. This land is the country of Kenya. Outside of Kenya’s cities and towns lies many samples of natures beauty. Unfortunately, the people living in this land are troubled by their struggle with the government and trying to form a democracy. Matthew Carotenuto stated, “Much of the world had historically viewed Kenya as an island of peace and economic potential in a roiling sea of stateless chaos.” What he means is that people have long seen Kenya as a peaceful place that is surrounded by countries suffering from all sorts of violence and unfortunate circumstances. What many people do not know is that Kenya has a long history for political violence going way back to when the country was colonized. Understanding that Kenya’s past violence was due to their struggle for social and political authority helps us understand some of their violence issues today. According to Maina Kiai, violence broke out after Kenya’s 2007 election. Many people had thought that Kenya was a more peaceful country compared to others in Africa because they were working towards a democracy. Currently Kenya is a republic (“Kenya” The World...). Another thing Kiai mentioned is that one of Kenya’s major political problems is that Kenya's constitution gives the president full power to elect anyone he wants into a political position for any salary he chooses. Scott Baldauf and Robert Crilly also explain how Kenya is trying to become a democracy but its political system is weak and allows the president too much power, making the nation a dictatorship in disguise. This leads to many ethical issues within the governments systems. We should care about Ken...
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.