Colonisation of Africa

2844 Words12 Pages
Virtually everything that has gone wrong in Africa since the advent of independence has been blamed on the legacies of colonialism. Is that fair? Fundamentally all colonial powers had “colonial missions.” What were these missions and why were they apparently such a disaster? Did any good come out of the African “colonial experience”? These and many other questions still remain to be subject of concern to scholars. Colonization of Africa by European countries was a monumental significant in the development of Africa. The Africans took into account the impact of colonization on them to be perhaps the most important factor in understanding the present condition of the African continent and of the African people. Therefore, a close scrutiny of the phenomenon of colonialism is necessary to understand the degree to which it influenced not only the economic and political development of Africa but also the African people’s perception of themselves. This dissertation focuses on the reaction to colonialism from 1900 to 1964 in Northern Rhodesia. It will begin by giving a brief general historical review of colonialism in Africa, details of the racial attitudes of the British, then proceeds to discuss their respective political administration and finally the reaction of the natives to colonialism. Between the 1870s and 1900s, Africa faced heavy European imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and eventual conquest and colonization. At the same time, African societies put up various forms of resistance against the attempt to colonize their countries and impose foreign domination. By the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, had been colonized by European powers. (Hanna. 1969). The European imperialist push into Africa was motivated by three main factors, economic, political, and social. It developed in the
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