Dr. David Livingstone donated thirty years of his life to the people and wilds of the African interior; in doing so Livingstone inspired such love and affection in the hearts closest to him upon his death, Chuma and Susi embarked on a thousand mile journey to deliver his earthly remains and his final journal to the coast of Africa, where his remains were transported to Britain for burial; even though he portrayed the typical English worldview of the Colonial period: Africans needed English guidance and purpose to be a civilized people. Dr. Livingstone saw the need for trade, Christianity, British control and abolishment of slavery without recognizing the existence of cosmopolitan societies; while Professor Trevor Getz’s book COMOSPOLITAN AFRICA c. 1700-1875 explained the existence of cosmopolitan societies thriving and growing in Africa before and without the influx of Europeans and the onslaught of worldwide slavery from the African continent providing proof of Dr. Livingstone’s narrow worldview as stated in the scope of the assignment.
According to the quote provided: “The promotion of commerce ought to be specially attended to, as this, more speedily than anything else, demolishes the sense of isolation which heathenism engenders…for by that means we may…introduce the Negro family into the body corporate of nations” (Livingstone). For several centuries prior to the sojourn of Dr. Livingstone the African people had been trading in minerals and slaves with the influx of ideas, technology, and contact with the outside world howbeit the majority of the contact was via the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Ocean until the fifteenth century. Typical ‘English’ worldview plagued Dr. Livingstone and many other Europeans during the Col...
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...gems, living arrangements, and political hierarchy. Professor Trevor Getz has proven without a doubt Dr. David Livingstone provided his listeners and readers with a narrowed view regarding the African people in general during his thirty years living and working them. Anthropologists, sociologists, archaeologists, and historians working under the umbrella of a greater worldview have the advantage over missionaries and explorers from the days of European dominance and colonialism involving the myriad cultures and people of the African continent. Livingstone with all of his contributions to understanding of the African people he encountered could not see the forest for the trees when he stated; “…introduce the Negro family into the body corporate of nations.”
Works Cited
Getz, Trevor R. Cosmopolitan Africa c. 1700-1875. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 2013. Print.
Because the trans-Atlantic slave trade was profitable for African elites and brought western many valuable goods to West Africa, when it was effectively shut down after 1808 by British patrols, people along this coast were eager to keep the European trade lines alive. The imposition of this “legitimate trade” (any non-slave trade) saw a huge rise of African export of gold and palm oil. For these the British traded guns and technologies of the Industrial Revolution, some that interested Africans and some that did not. With the help of the new, swift, sturdy clipper ship, the British were able to transport these goods faster than ever before.
Understanding how the different cultures merged and morphed during this time can be even more difficult. Surveying and excavating a site such as Elmina in Africa, can make this task less daunting. Its history as a trade center and a major slave trade port can give us a unique insight into African and European relations. This information can give modern people an idea of what the slave trade was like in Africa, what it did to the people, and how they reacted to it. It can also be a step in identifying the reason the slave trade was so popular at the time. Racist sentiments throughout the European nations weren’t the only thing that kept the slave trade going for as long as it did. Economic stability in the trade was a major part of its success. Culture played a vital role in everyday life for these people, and the more it is understood, the more it can show us about Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonialism. New information may be uncovered here, and it has the potential to shine a new light on modern day understanding of colonialism, the slave trade, and the indigenous people in
Until well into the 1800’s Africa was relatively unknown to Europeans. They controlled less than ten percent of the continent. By 1882 Britain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain were all claiming parts of Africa. In 1900, they had divided ninety percent of Africa into colonies. Although European ships had for centuries traded at ports along the coast, they brought back little knowledge of Africa’s interior. Later Europeans started exploring the continent. The best known of these explorers was David Livingstone. This Scottish missionary spent thirty years in central Africa, and gave Europeans their first detailed information about Africa and its people.
Over time concepts of ‘Race’, defined as a distinct group with a common linage, and ‘Primitive’ which pertains to the beginning or origin, , have been inextricably linked with the perception of Africa. The confusion of the two in the minds of people at the end of the 19th centaury, and some of the 20th, caused a sense of superiority amongst the ‘White Races’ that affected every aspect of their interaction with ‘the Black’. The ‘Civilisation’ of Africa by conquest and force was justified by these views.
Achebe opens his lecture, "An Image of Africa," with the story of a student who sent him a letter saying how he was "particularly happy to learn about the customs and superstitions of an African tribe," not realizing that "the life of his own tribesmen in Yonkers, New York, is full of odd customs and superstitions" as well (1784). Western thou...
Mazrui, Ali A. "The Re-Invention of Africa: Edward Said, V. Y. Mudimbe, and Beyond." Research in African Literatures 36, no. 3 (Autumn 2005): 68-82.
In the first segment of his film series, Different but Equal, Basil Davidson sets out to disprove the fictitious and degrading assumptions about African civilization made by various Western scholars and explorers. Whether it is the notion that Africans are “savage and crude in nature” or the presumed inability of Africans to advance technologically, these stereotypes are damaging to the image and history of Africa. Although European Renaissance art depicts the races of white and black in equal dignity, there was a drastic shift of European attitudes toward Africa that placed Africans in a much lower standing than people of any other culture. The continent of Africa quickly became ravished by the inhuman slave trade and any traditional civilization
The earliest slaves were captives taken in warfare and most slaves appeared to have been the property of kings, priest, and temples, and only a relative small proportion were in private possession, which is not the case for transatlantic slave trade. The Arab trade of Zanj and Bantu slaves in Southeast Africa is one of the oldest slave trades, slaves were believed to be sold from the slave market of Zanzibar to the Somali coast. The Zanj who were taken as slaves to the Middle East were often used in strenuous agricultural work. As the plantation economy boomed and the Arabs became richer, agriculture and other manual labor work was thought to be demeaning. Male slaves were often employed as servants, soldiers, or laborers, while female slaves were long traded to the Middle Eastern countries and kingdoms by Arab and Oriental traders as concubines and servants. In terms of legal considerations, Bantu slaves were devalued. Somali social mores strongly discouraged, censured and looked down upon any kind of sexual contact with Bantu slaves. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary explorer, wrote of the slave trade in the African Great Lakes region, which he visited in the mid-nineteenth
"Africa Before Transatlantic Slavery: The Abolition of Slavery Project." Africa Before Transatlantic Slavery: The Abolition of Slavery Project. E2BN, 2009. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. .
Toyin, Falola. “The Power of African Cultures.” Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom: University of Rochester Press, 2003. Print
... Cambridge Encyclopedia of Africa. Ed. Roland Oliver. 1. New York: Trewin Copplestone Books Limited, 1984. Print.
Polsgrove, Carol. Ending British Rule in Africa: Writers in a Common Cause. Manchester University Press, 2009.
...ation of Central Africa.” [pg.6] Achebe states that Conrad’s image of Africa is not of his own, but of the Western imagination and that Conrad is simply showing the norm.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.
David Livingstone was one of Africa’s most important explorer. He lived from 1813 to 1873. He was originally a Scottish doctor and missionary.