Colonization In Africa

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DID THE EUROPEAN IMPACT AFRICAN CIVILIZATION IN THE EARLY DAYS?

Joshua E. Awatha
Prof. Lisa Bratton
March 14, 2014

The impact of the Europeans in Africa during the early days is a controversial topic. Different individuals have different opinions; some feel that European colonization brought civilization to Africa. They believe that Africa during the early days was a primitive, uncivilized and undeveloped place. Therefore, they believe that Africans benefited heavily from European colonization.
A different opinion exist, some feel that the European colonization of Africa was not aimed at colonization. The colonization brought about violence, ethnic tension, slavery, and division of Africa. They argue that Europeans had personal interests in Africa that were meant at exploiting and intimidating Africans to slavery.
Africa had been open to trade long before the European invasion mainly with the Arabs and Indians. The first Europeans to Africa came as missionaries, mainly to preach Christianity and introduce education. According to Andrew,1 though missionaries in Africa came to spread and introduce the gospel, they served as a foundation to colonization. The missionaries had already studied the African culture and mapped the continent, sending the information back home. This information was in turn used by the colonizers to conquer the Africans. The missionaries introduced education in Africa but taught against violence and war; therefore, it is ironic that their statesmen used the same negative virtues to conquer Africa. The missionaries had been able to conquer the minds of the Africans into subjection long before the colonizers landed in Africa.
The colonizers brought civilizat...

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...outh Africans settled for poor housing with little or no health care, water, security, education and viable transport, and employment. This led to the death, imprisonment, torture and suffering of the South African people under the European colonizers apartheid rule.
In conclusion, the arrival of the Europeans to Africa impacted negatively on the continent. It led cruelty, hatred, division, mistreatment and color discrimination towards the Africans. This led to wide suffering, murder, torture, poverty, under development and exploitation of the African resources. The consequences of European colonization can be felt in Africa to date in the extreme activities such as the genocide in Rwanda. Africa is also characterized by ethnic violence, slums, landlessness and underdevelopment which can all be traced to the European invasion of the continent.

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