Class In African History Essay

Class played a major role in the development of African history in the twentieth century. Specifically, class differentiation contributed to the political movements and social disparities that characterized the continent during the time period. An example of the importance of land in social class is the growth of Mau Mau. After Governor Eliot encouraged the settlement of whites in Kenya in 1902, many of these white settlers set up a system of agriculture through land grants given to them by Eliot. Unfortunately for the white settlers, their methods of producing goods were not as efficient as those of the Kikuyu. This eventually led to the establishment of native reserves in 1925 where Kikuyu with little money were moved off their lands and forced to produce agricultural goods for the whites via sharecropping. This system of sharecropping further divided society, making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Those who lost their land, lost their

Not only did education provide a means for Africans to elevate themselves above their traditional ways (as intended by the colonial powers), but it also created class division. As Cooper states: “The sudden effort to promote secondary and university education in the 1950’s and 1960’s gave Africa a substantial class of people conversant in literature, science, and technology, and with ambitions to know more…In the early twenty-first century, education of sufficient quality to lead to professional opportunities has increasingly become a privilege for the children of those already in such position.” Even though there was a ‘substantial class of people’ in the 1950’s and 60’s who were receiving an education, there still was a rather large number of people who were not. The trend shown is one of a widening gap between those who can afford a decent education and those who cannot. Clearly, education was a form of social