The Mau Mau Emergency, one of the most violent episodes in Kenya’s colonial history which spanned from 1952 until 1960, has been subject to much debate amongst historians. It has on the one hand been seen as a nationalistic struggle for freedom from an oppressive colonial rule. On the other hand, it has been put forward that it was the breakdown of the Kikuyu tribe into a violent state of civil war. However, taken alone, neither of these explanations give the full picture of what Mau Mau was. Although the problems of colonial rule, in particular the issue of land and poverty, were the primary reasons for discontent amongst the Kikuyu people and Kenyans as a whole, this was not what Mau Mau itself was about. In fact, Mau Mau was the “widespread disaffection of the people brought about deliberately as part of a plan to cause a revolt”1, which amounted itself into a civil war amongst the previously unified Kikuyu people. Therefore, instead of it being a popular movement of the people, it was instead to a large extent carried out by a relatively small group of rebels as an attempt to subvert the government.
It must be acknowledged that the problems of colonial rule were the root cause of disaffection amongst the Kenyan people over this period, but this cannot be drawn out to the driving force behind Mau Mau, as other historians have argued. The primary cause of the disaffection was the issue of land. The colonial occupation meant that the indigenous people lost the vast majority of land that they had previously farmed to white European farmers, especially in the fertile White Highlands. For example, squatters were driven from their land, finding themselves without a home in the land of their birth.2 The fact that these squatters wer...
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...vil war amongst the Kikuyu, in which the once unified tribe was torn apart in a most horrific manner. However, this argument should not be taken to the extent of Africans reverting back to their primitive ways. Instead, it is clear that the sense of social injustice brought about by the flaws in the colonial rule of Kenya did bring about significant discontent amongst the indigenous population, but this was only to a limited extent what was behind Mau Mau, for it is clear that despite this discontent, there was little support from the Kikuyu for the violent ways of the insurgents. Therefore, despite the popular opinion in Kenya today that the Mau Mau fighters sacrificed their lives for freedom22, the logical conclusion from the evidence is that they were a violent minority who sought to subvert the government, which threw the Kikuyu people into a state of civil war.
The fictional novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about Okonkwo and his Ibo tribe, Umuofia, known now as Nigeria. This novel describes the beginning of the colonial transformation of traditional society seen in a political, economical and in a socio-cultural form. Furthermore, in this fictional story, the colonization process can be represented as it was used during the scramble for Africa, which took place in the late 19th and early 20th century (Akram-Lodhi, Colonization); back in that time colonization was justified. However, modern analysis have had demonstrate that the scramble for Africa was a colonial and imperialistic practice, these views helped to facilitate the end of colonization that began around 1950 (Hobsbawm 217). Although,
The beginning of colonization also marks the beginning of decolonization. From the day the colonists start exploiting the colonized people and belittling the colonized people for the colonists' self-aggrandizement, the colonized ones have been prepared to use violence at any moment to end the colonists' exploitation (Fanon, 3).Decolonization is violent, there is a necessity for violence. This is a point that is repeated again and again throughout The Battle of Algiers and The Wretched of the Earth. Here, the focus will be on The Battle of Algiers to discuss the violence of
The war of independence is thought to have been a war of revolution. It is not, it is the breaking of colonial rule. It was based on politics and a separation of powers. In my paper I will go from the start of a rising discontentment amongst the indigenous population and how those above them exploit the failures for their own gain in a system where they have always been favored more over.
In many accounts of the Africans, the Africans were in disagreement with the European's Scramble for Africa. Ndansi Kumalo an African veteran wrote in 1896 if many of them to give or keep their land. In a distrustful and agony tone he spoke of how the poor treatment of the Africans in the Ndebele rebellion against the British advances in South America to convince many others not to stay because it has impacted many Africans and many died in the process of it. He says “So we surrendered to the White people and were told to go back to our homes and live our usual lives and attend to our crops. They came and were overbearing. We were ordered to carry their clothes and bundles (Doc.4).” A German military officer in 1896 wrote in a newspaper article about the reactions of the Africans about the white settlers. In an awed tone he wrote about the 1906 account of the Maji Maji Rebellion in German East Africa and to give an example of how the Africans believed in a magic medicine would help them defend themselves against the white settlers (Doc.8). Mojimba an African chief in 1907 described a battle in 1877 on the Congo River against British and African mercenaries to a German catholic missionary. In an appalled and hateful tone he used this description to show that these whi...
Politically, prior to 1961 the British ruled over Tanganyika. Many of the Maasai people were not completely aware of British government because they maintained rule over themselves. Tepilit depicts a political scene where his father had no idea that the British ruled over Tanganyika. The Maasai were unaware because of the subtle way that the British used the chiefs to create and carry out the policies that the British wanted. This method of government, constructed in such a way led Tepilit’s father to be ignorant of the leadership until it ended in 1961. Tepilit’s father, however, was correct on a smaller scale because Maasailand was not under direct influence of the British rule. Tepilit even states that one Maasai rule infers that if direct interference occurs then “Rebellion would be inevitable” (Saitoti 41).
Before the genocide had even begun, the Hutu and the Tutsi had already faced fierce hostility years before any violence was immediately evident. Even before colonialism began in the 1800’s, the Hutu and Tut...
For this assignment I chose to write about Jomo Kenyatta. After reading chapters three and four of Khapoya’s book, it was hard to imagine an Africa that wasn’t under colonial rule. I can only comprehend on a very basic level the impact colonialism had on the Africans economically, physically, and mentally. It is inspiring to read further and discover the immense, calculated, and passionate efforts that many Pan African leaders played in the years that followed. I found Jomo Kenyatta to be particularly interesting. For many reasons, Kenyatta is considered one of the most significant leaders of the Pan African movement in the twentieth century. Kenyatta had a clear vision of what he wanted for Kenya (or Africa as a whole), he was prepared for the path he would have to take, and he accomplished much for the country and continent as a whole.
This essay is about the effect of Colonialism seen in the book Things Fall Apart. Through out the whole book you can see different impressions on the tribe, many other people, and the relationships between the white man and the black man. "Does the white man understand our custom about land?" "How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart." (Achebe, 17)
Lonsdale, John. "Mau Maus of the Mind: Making Mau Mau and Remaking Kenya." The Journal of African History, 31, no. 3, (1990): 393–421.
· Newsinger, John. "Revolt and Repression in Kenya: The "Mau Mau" Rebellion." Jstor. N.p., n.d. Web.
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.
"Nationalism in Africa - African Nationalism After World War Ii." - Colonial, Pan, Rule, and Nkrumah. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
While Collins does a succinct job of examining the economic and political factors that heightened colonization, he fails to hone in on the mental warfare that was an essential tool in creating African division and ultimately European conquest. Not only was the systematic dehumanization tactics crippling for the African society, but also, the system of racial hierarchy created the division essential for European success. The spillover effects of colonialism imparted detrimental affects on the African psyche, ultimately causing many, like Shanu, to, “become victims to the white man’s greed.”
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.
Having done the above analysis on my favourite text, “Anowa” by Ama Ataa Aidoo, I realise that my like for the text have heightened because the analysis of Anowa has given me a deeper understanding of Africa’s colonialism. I now know what actually led to our colonialisation (the betrayal) and how it began(the bond of 1844) through the personal lives of Anowa and Kofi.