Imperialism In Kenya Essay

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During the time period 1850-1914, even though Britain imperializing, Kenya was, in turn, very beneficial for the inhabitants of Kenya. However, the direct rule of Britain put Kenya through a massive transition from being independent to being colonial dominant, in which the natives of Kenya had lesser rights than did before and were treated inhumanely. Before being imperialized, Kenya was already divided into forty-two tribes. The two main kinfolks to be known are the Masai and the Kikuyu. These tribes helped in making the country's diversity, rich culture and heritage. Nonetheless, Kenya didn’t have much global contact; however, they did trade with the Arab merchants but kept it limited because they wanted to preserve their traditional aspects, …show more content…

Britain transformed Kenya into a rather more modernized society than was before, for example, introducing transportations such as railroads, education, and new kinds of sports. The first railway to be constructed around the 1890s connected Mombasa to Kisumu, which took for about 32,000 workers from Britain to build. Many of the workers stayed in Kenya to start a business since it was easier and convenient than doing so in Britain. Along with transportations, there were schools built to help kids to nurture their brains. The first school built in western Kenya and was established at Kaimosi in 1902. Last but not the least; Britain introduced various kinds of sports that kept many of the Kenyans occupied, such as cricket, tennis, soccer golf and fly fishing. This type of progression in Kenya is evident in the primary source written by the British Captain in the article of “Modern History”, when he states, “It is inherent in a great colonial and commercial empire like ours that we go forward or go backward. To allow other nations to develop new fields, and to refuse to do so ourselves, is to …show more content…

The Kenyans weren’t allowed to govern their own society instead the Britain’s took that right away from them and gave themselves a higher place in society. This type of behavior is apparent in the primary source written by one of the Kenyan leaders, in which it states, “In order to find it we Africans must first achieve the right to elect our own representatives. That is surely the first principle of democracy. We are the only race in Kenya which does not elect its own representatives in the Legislature and we are going to set about to rectify this situation. We feel we are dominated by a handful of others who refuse to be just. God said this is our land. Land in which we are to flourish as a people. We are not worried that other races are here with us in our country, but we insist that we are the leaders here, and what we want we insist we get…” This excerpt emphasizes the need for the Africans of Kenya to unite in their quest of independence and the application of their own democracy. He notes that he does not mind the company of the Europeans in Kenya, but rather, is discouraged by the fact that the Kenyans aren’t treated equally in their own country, and that they don’t run their own administration. Although the Kenyans had problematic issues in the leadership of the Britain’s, however, the “whites” were in

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