Ghana: The Gold Coast of Africa

Bryant H. McGill once said “Education should prepare our minds to use its own powers of reason and conception rather than filling it with the accumulated misconceptions of the past” (McGill ). There are misconceptions all around us; people look at certain things in a particular manner but what each person sees comes from their background. I have recently come to the realization that there are many misconceptions held about the African continent; my current class has helped me see these misconceptions and understand why they are incorrect and how I formed them. With the help of our Western society, I developed beliefs that Africa was a continent full of poverty, civil unrest, and in desperate need of help. Much of the media coverage in Africa showed droughts, famine, the need for clean drinking water; everything that was exposed to the American population about Africa through these channels carried a negative connotation. I was never taught or informed about the complex culture and fascinating traditions that make up such a diverse continent. The ancient kingdoms of West Africa were complex, developed civilizations that had rich culture, traditions, values, norms and skills that exceeded those of societies of the rest of the world such as European ones. In this paper, I will first further explain some of the common misconceptions that I had about African in general and about their ancient kingdoms.

The current state of African countries are totally connected to the colonization of Africa by European powers. The Europeans that dissected and formulated the country lines in Africa, believed that they were providing a needed and great service to Africa. Once they divided Africa up, assigned the each region to a European power, they installed ideologies and policies to establish and justify their subjugation of Africa. In his speech Why Africa is Not Free, Malcolm X commented “You have to realize that up until about 1959, Africa was dominated by the colonial powers. And by the colonial powers of Europe having complete control over Africa, they projected Africa always in a negative light-jungles, savages, cannibals, nothing civilized” (1965). Once African countries gained independence, the ideologies emplaced by the Europeans still had effect.

Slave trading companies also conjured images of an undeveloped continent in which ethnic groups resided in mud huts among wild animals in jungles and grasslands.. On the contrary, African ethnic groups lived in civilized and developed communities no differently than people in which living conditions varied by an ethnic group’s location, their economic situation, and other factors. Most Africans that lived in sparse areas lived in unpretentious conditions compared to those that resided in cities and towns. Despite modest means, resident housing in Ghana and other West African villages were comprised of stone and other sturdy materials. There is also evidence of homes in these villages that contained glass windows. Olaudah Equiano, a slave

The scramble for Africa represents the most thorough and systematic process of colonialism in world history. The European colonial powers managed to conquer and control almost the entire continent of Africa in a short, twenty-five year period from about 1875 to 1900. Some of the European states involved were already well-established global powers; the others were up and coming nations that desired to emulate and compete with the dominant imperial states. Various factors allowed for and contributed to the conquering of the whole of Africa by European states. The slow, but ever-growing European presence on the perimeter and the completion for dominance between the major European states acted as the platform for the inevitable quest for the middle. The obstacles brought on by indigenous resistance were no match for the European military might and technological superiority. The idea that indigenous territories were in need of Western intervention aided by scientific racism served to legitimize colonialism, especially in the face opposition within the imperial powers. The spark that set off the chain reaction of conquest was the Belgian occupation of the Congo by King Leopold II. Scramble for Africa was bloody and eventful end to the Long 19th century that was brought on by colonialism and that left the continent of Africa in a state of shambles up unto the present day.

The continent of Africa is often associated with disease and a lack of health care. Robert Collins focuses on this issue by selecting authors that discus both the historical, geographical, and economic explanation for the prevalence of disease in Africa as well as discussing external factors, such as colonialism, which have severely impacted health care on the continent. Africa has always struggled with certain diseases, such as malaria and sleeping sickness, but when much of the continent was colonized, new disease, such as small pox and more sexually transmitted diseases were introduced to the African people. Colonization did bring with it a few advances in the medical field like new treatments for old diseases as well as modern medical

An Image of Africa Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad has been depicted as “among the half-dozen greatest short novels in the English language.” [pg.1] Chinua Achebe believes otherwise. In Chinua Achebe’s An Image of Africa: Racism is Conrad’s Heart of Darkness he simply states that, “Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist” [pg.5] Achebe argues that the racist observed in the Heart of Darkness is expressed due to the western psychology or as Achebe states “desire,” this being to show Africa as an antithesis to Europe. He first states Conrad as “one of the great stylists of modern fiction.” [pg.1] He praises Conrad’s talents in writing but believes Conrad’s obvious racism has not been addressed.

Liberia owes its establishment to the American Colonization Society; founded in 1816 to resettle freed American slaves in Africa. An attempt at colonization in Sierra Leone had failed in 1815. Six years later native rulers granted a tract of land on Cape Mesurado, at the mouth of the Saint Paul River, to U.S. representatives, and the first Americo-Liberians, led by Jehudi Ashmun, began the settlement. In 1824 an American agent for the society, Ralph Randolph Gurley, named the new colony Liberia and the Cape Mesurado settlement Monrovia. Other separate settlements were established along the coast during the next 20 years. Soon, however, conflicts arose between the settlers and the society in the United States. By the time Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor in 1841, the decision had been made to give the colonists almost full control of the government. A constitution modeled on that of the United States was drawn up, and Liberia became an independent republic in July 1847. Roberts was its first president, serving until 1856. Liberia was recognized by Britain in 1848, by France in 1852 and by the United States in 1862. The Americo-Liberian communities eked out a precarious existence during the 19th century. Claims over i nterior territory were disputed not only by the indigenous Mandinka (also known as Mandingo or Malinke), Kru, and Gola peoples, but also by European states that did not recognize Liberian jurisdiction over the interior. U.S. support led to a series of agreements with Britain and France between 1892 and 1911, which marked the present boundaries. (Liberian control over the interior peoples, however, was not completely assured until the 1940s.) Loans from Britain and the United States partially eased the country's financial difficulties. Liberia declared war on Germany on August 14, 1917, which gave the Allies an additional base in West Africa during World War I (1914-1918). In 1926 the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company opened a rubber plantation on 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land granted by the Liberian government the year before. Rubber production became the mainstay of the nation's economy.

Memories of the Ivory Coast Many people have never heard of the Ivory Coast. It is a vivacious country in my opinion, having lived there and experienced some greatly memorable along with not so pleasurable moments. This West-African Republic was once a French colony where my grandparents and parents lived and immensely appreciated the exquisite quality of life. Unfortunately, this did not remain for very long after 1994 and the death of the long standing President Houphouet- Boigny.

What was the Scramble for Africa? The Scramble for Africa was a period of time where major European countries fought over and colonized land in Africa, stretching from South Africa to Egypt. The scramble for Africa began shortly after the slave trade, and ended at WW1, and is a strong representation of the ‘New Imperialism’. The first country to act was Belgium, who colonized Congo at 1885, but soon, other countries such as Portugal and Great Britain joined in in order to not miss out.

Namibia as a Pleasant Surprise on the African Continent Tourists coming to Namibia often have a complete misperception of what it is like here. Most tourists expect to be greeted by half-naked savages, brandishing torches and knives and dancing about a campfire, the women sitting and grinding maize, whilst the lions prowl around the perimeter of the settlement. I have seen numerous people disembark from luxury ocean liners in the port of Walvis Bay with looks of absolute astonishment on their faces, as if they expected to be ferried out on a rowboat on to a deserted beach. We are actually quite civilized here, but it seems as if most of the rest of the world do not realize it.