Grade 8 History- Reading

The colonisation of Africa

The colonisation of Africa was part of a global European process

reaching all the continents of the world. European colonisation
and domination changed the world dramatically. Historians argue
that the rushed imperial conquest of the African continent by the
European powers started with King Leopold II of Belgium when
he involved European powers to gain recognition in Belgium. The
Scramble for Africa took place during the New Imperialism
between 1881 and 1914. The focus of this lesson will be on the
causes and results of European colonisation of the African
continent, with special focus on the Ashanti kingdom (colonised
by the British as the Gold Coast, and today the independent
African country of Ghana).
European colonisation of Africa in the late 19th century

Africa before European colonisation

Due to worldwide insufficiency of world knowledge, the size and

abilities of Africa as a continent was majorly undermined and
oversimplified. Before colonisation, Africa was characterised by
widespread flexibility in terms of movement, governance, and
daily lifestyles. The continent consisted not of closed reproducing
entities, equipped with unique unchanging cultures, but of more
fluid units that would readily incorporate outsiders into the
community with the condition that they accepted its customs, and
where the sense of obligation and solidarity went beyond that of
the nuclear family. Pre- colonial societies were highly varied,
where they were either stateless, run by the state or run by
kingdoms. The notion of communalism was accepted and
practiced widely; land was held commonly and could not be
bought or sold, although other things, such as cattle, were owned
individually. In those societies that were not stateless, the chiefs
ran the daily affairs of the tribe together with one or more
councils. The colonisation of Africa through Europe brought about
many forms of government that are still visible today. Before
colonisation, however, there were many forms of government in
Africa, ranging from powerful empires to decentralised groups of
pastoralists and hunters.
Africa before European colonialism

The use of iron tools marks a significant turning point in African

civilization. Iron tools enhanced weaponry, allowed groups to
manage and clear dense and thick forests, plough fields for
farming, and making everyday life more convenient. Because the
iron tools allowed Africans to flourish in their natural environment,
they could live in larger communities which led to the formation of
kingdoms and states. With this creation came the formation of
modern civilizations, common languages, belief and value
systems, art, religion, lifestyle and culture. Another unique
characteristic of pre- European Africa was the favouring of oral
tradition within these societies. Stories were told and handed
down generations in verbal form. This poses a threat to the
survival of these stories because certain aspects could be
forgotten or told in a different way. National borders were also not
much of a concern before colonization. European countries
fought over African countries mainly for their natural resources.
Lines were drawn through African communities which had existed
for many years, and these lines can presently be seen as national
borders. “A brief history of European Colonisation in Africa”

Berlin Conference 1884

The Conference of Berlin and British ‘New’ Imperialism, also

known as the “Congo conference” began. In 1884 at the request
of Portugal, German Chancellor Otto von Bismark called together
the major western powers of the world to negotiate questions and
end confusion over the control of Africa. The countries
represented at the time included Austria-Hungary, Belgium,
Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway (unified from 1814-
1905), Turkey, and the United States of America. Of these
fourteen nations, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal
were the major players in the conference, controlling most of
colonial Africa at the time. Britain, France, Germany, Belgium,
Italy, Portugal, and Spain were competing for power within
European power politics. One way to demonstrate national pre-
eminence was through the acquisition of territories around the
world, including Africa. Another reason for European interest in
Africa is the industrialization when major social problems grew in
Europe: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, social
displacement from rural areas, etc. These social problems
developed partly because not all people could be absorbed by
the new capitalist industries. Europe saw the colonization of
Africa as an opportunity to acquire a surplus population, thus
settler colonies were created. With this invasion, many European
countries saw Africa as being available to their disposal.
However, several disputes took place regarding which European
country would colonise a specific African country. Thus, in 1884,
Portugal proposed a conference in which 14 European countries
would meet in Berlin regarding the division of Africa, without the
presence of Africa.

The first meeting at the Berlin Conference, 1884

The initial task of the conference was to agree that the Congo
River and Niger River mouths and basins would be considered
neutral and open to trade. Despite its neutrality, part of the Kongo
Basin became a personal Kingdom (private property) for
Belgium’s King Leopold II and under his rule, over half of the
region’s population died. At the time of the conference, only the
coastal areas of Africa were colonized by the European powers.
At the Berlin Conference the European colonial powers
scrambled to gain control over the Interior of the Continent. The
conference lasted until February 26, 1885 – a three month period
where colonial powers haggled over geometric boundaries in the
interior of the continent, disregarding the cultural and linguistic
boundaries already established by the Native Indigenous African
population. What ultimately resulted was a hodgepodge of
geometric boundaries that divided Africa into fifty irregular
countries.

“The Scramble for Africa and the Berlin Conference”

Causes of colonisation

The reasons for African colonisation were mainly economic,

political and religious. During this time of colonisation, an
economic depression was occurring in Europe, and powerful
countries such as Germany, France, and Great Britain, were
losing money. Africa seemed to be out of harm’s way and had an
abundance of raw materials from which Europe could make
money from. Due to cheap labour of Africans, Europeans easily
acquired products like oil, ivory, rubber, palm oil, wood, cotton
and gum. These products became of greater significance due to
the emergence of the Industrial Revolution. Africa’s colonisation
was also as a result of European rivalries, where Britain and
France had been in a dispute since the Hundred Year’s War.
These countries became involved in a race to acquire more
territory on the African continent, but this race was open to all
European countries. Britain had had some success in halting the
slave trade around the shores of Africa. But inland the story was
different -- Muslim traders from north of the Sahara and on the
East Coast still traded inland, and many local chiefs were
reluctant to give up the use of slaves.

During the nineteenth century barely a year went by without a

European expedition into Africa. The boom in exploration was
triggered to a great extent by the creation of the African
Association by wealthy Englishmen in 1788, and as they
travelled, they started to record details of markets, goods, and
resources for the wealthy philanthropists who financed their trips.
With the beginning of colonisation in Africa, morality became an
increasing issue. The Europeans could not comprehend the
existence of the Muslim Swahili trade which made them want to
implement the Three C’s: Christianity, Commerce, and
Civilisation. First, Europe experienced a Christian revival in the
19th century.

A map of Africa depicting the natural resoures that the continent

has.

Missionaries began to focus on the large working class with the

goal of bringing spiritual salvation to the workers and their
families. The bible was made available to workers. Due to their
large successes, missionaries began to look beyond Europe.
Missions were established all over Africa. Missionaries did not
serve as direct agents of European imperialism, yet they drew
European governments deeper into Africa. In their efforts to
preach Christianity, to bring western-style education to Africa and
to ingrain monogamy in African societies, missionaries often felt
threatened by warfare within Africa. Hence, missionaries called
on European governments for protection and intervention.
Second, for centuries, European explorers have travelled
throughout the African continent in their attempts to discover new
things and to chart the African continent.

Trade would be well instantiated; the work of the Suez Canal

Company at the north-eastern tip of Africa had been completed in
1869. Lastly, Livingstone believed that civilisation could be
achieved through good government and education. The
combination of these three elements, Livingstone believed, would
end human suffering in Africa, and the ultimate level of civilisation
would be achieved within the continent. .Christianity would
therefore provide the moral principles that would guide Africans,
while education and commerce would encourage Africans to
produce their own goods to trade with Europeans. For this to
work a functioning and legitimate governing system was needed
to ensure the civil rights of the people.
Patterns of colonisation: which countries colonised which
parts of Africa

By 1900 a significant part of Africa had been colonized by mainly

seven European powers—Britain, France, Germany, Belgium,
Spain, Portugal, and Italy. After the conquest of African
decentralized and centralized states, the European powers set
about establishing colonial state systems. The colonial state was
the machinery of administrative domination established to
facilitate effective control and exploitation of the colonized
societies. Colonial states were authoritarian, bureaucratic
systems, partly due to their origins in military conquest and the
racist ideology of the imperialist enterprise. The French directed
their attention to the active economies of the Niger Delta, the
Lagos Hinterland and the Gold Coast.

Why European Countries were able to colonise Africa so

quickly

The European countries were able to colonise African countries

rapidly because there were rivalries between African leaders.
These kings and chiefs were competing with each other to be the
richest and most powerful within their tribes. During these
rivalries, European leaders would take advantage of the situation
and persuaded some leaders to be on their side to fight against
other leaders. Natural disasters also played a big role in the rapid
and easy colonisation of Africa. In 1895, a serious drought
reached many regions in Africa which was caused by a sudden
decline in rainfall. Hardly any crops were produced, and the food
shortage which followed caused the death of many people and
animals. The little crops that were produced were destroyed by a
plague of locusts. In addition to this plague, the cattle plague
broke out during the 1890’s which killed cattle, sheep and goats.
This led to even more deaths of animals and people, and due to
their physical and mental weakness, they were unable to fight
against European powers.

European powers could easily take control of any source of land

by using force and violence. They accomplished this by using
more powerful weapons, and had the advantage of the newly
invented machine gun called the Maxim gun which was invented
in the 1880’s. This gun could fire eleven bullets per second, and
outdid the weapons that the African forces had. African armies
did not manage to get hold of European weapons because it was
not sold to them. Thus Africans were at a military disadvantage.
An outbreak of new diseases made an appearance during the
late 1890’sand the first one was a range of smallpox epidemics.
The Europeans who were already in Africa had developed
immunity to these diseases due to past experiences of these
outbreaks in Europe. The indigenous African population had no
immunity or resistance to these diseases and thus weakened the
African population. A large number of the African population thus
died out, or became too weak to fight back.

Results of colonization

The impact that colonisation had on Africa can be described as

both good and bad. In terms of European political practice in
Africa, all colonising countries share similar attributes. Colonial
political systems were un-democratic; Law and Order, as well as
Peace, was a primary objective of colonial governments; Colonial
governments lacked capacity and Colonial governments
practiced "divide and rule." Firstly, colonial governments did not
allow popular participation, and all political decisions were made
by the small political elite with no or little input from the African
population. Secondly, the African population was not satisfied
with the way that Europeans imposed on their governing system
without any proper representation, thus the maintenance of
peace under the African population was made an important
priority for the colonial government. Thirdly, seeing as most
colonial governments were not rich, they did not fund the
governing of their colonies fully. Although they were responsible
for raising the money for their own colonies, they still lacked the
incometo properly develop and maintain a successful governing
system. This meant that colonial governments were not able to
provide basic infrastructure, such as roads and communication
networks, nor were they able to provide basic social services
such as education, health care, and housing. Lastly, the principle
of “divide and rule” meant that policies that intentionally
weakened indigenous power networks and institutions were
implemented.

Due to the lack of revenue within the colonies, little attention was
given to promoting social change or development. Although all
the colonies did not experience the same extent of social change,
these colonies share the same characteristics in terms of social
change. Firstly, colonial and political practices caused a large
scale movement of people. In some areas, migrations were
primarily from one rural area to another. In other places, the
migration was from rural areas to urban areas. These movements
resulted in dislocation of peoples that impacted society and
culture. Social and cultural beliefs and practices were challenged
by these migrations. Long-held practices had to be adapted, and
at times were completed abandoned, to fit the new colonial
circumstances. Secondly, and partly due to the first
consequence, the dislocation of families also occurred. Men
mainly left the household to work in mines and on plantations,
leaving their wives and children behind. As a result, women and
adolescents were forced to take on new roles and to cope in
absence of their husbands and fathers. Due to colonialism, the
African family structure had been severely changed.
Prior to colonialism, the extended family structure (family that
extends beyond the immediate family) was the norm in most
African societies, but by the end of colonial era, the nuclear family
(family consisting of a pair of adults/ parents and their children)
was becoming the norm in many African countries. Thirdly,
urbanization emerged as colonization was imposed. During
colonialism, urbanization occurred fairly rapidly in many African
colonies. A number of pre-colonial African societies had towns
and small cities. However, even in these societies, most people
were engaged in agriculture in rural villages or homesteads.
Urban living resulted in changes in economic activities and
occupation, and in changes in the way people lived. These
changes often challenged existing values, beliefs, and social
practices. Fourthly, the religious beliefs of Africans were adapted
or changed. A small percentage of the African population
regarded themselves as Christians, and today more than half of
the African population is Christians. Colonial rule provided an
environment in which Christianity, in many forms, spread in many
parts of Africa. While Islam was widespread in Africa prior to the
coming of colonialism, it also benefited from colonialism. British
and French colonial officials actively discouraged Christian
mission work in Muslim areas.

Lastly, the public education system of African was also changed.

The majority of colonial governments did little to support schools.
Most formal schooling African colonies were a result of the work
of missionaries. Missionaries felt that education and schools were
essential to their mission. Their primary concern was the
conversion of people to Christianity. Missionaries believed that
the ability of African peoples to read the Bible in their own
language was important to the conversion process. However,
most mission societies were not wealthy, and they could not
support the number of schools that they really wanted.
Consequently, with limited government support, most African
children did not go to school during the colonial era. In fact at the
end of colonial rule, no colony could state that more than half of
their children finished elementary school, and far fewer attended
secondary school.

“Colonialism’s impact on Africa”

Case Study: The Ashanti kingdom

The coast of West Africa before the arrival of Europeans

The city of Elmina, located in the Gold Coast West Africa, in the
late 19th century.

West Africans developed an extensive self-contained trading

system, based on skilled manufacture. From the 8th century
Muslim traders, from North Africa and Arab countries, began to
reach the region. Gradually, communities began to convert to
Islam. By the end of the 11th century some entire states, and
influential individuals in others, were Muslim. At the same time,
West African trade slowly expanded towards Egypt and possibly
India. Arabic texts mention that from the late 8th century Ghana
was considered 'the land of gold'. Mali also possessed great
wealth. In 1324-5, when Mansa Musa, its emperor, made a
pilgrimage to Mecca, he took so much gold with him that in Egypt,
which he also visited, the value of the metal was debased. Prior
to the European voyages of exploration in the fifteenth century,
African rulers and merchants had established trade links with the
Mediterranean world, western Asia, and the Indian Ocean region.
Within the continent itself, local exchanges among adjacent
peoples fit into a greater framework of long-range trade.

The Ashanti and their early contact with European traders

and explorers

The Ashanti kingdom, or Asante, dominated much of the present-

day state of Ghana. It was ruled by an ethnic group called the
Akan, which in turn was composed of up to 38 subgroups, such
as the Bekiai, Adansi, Juabin, Kokofu, Kumasi, Mampon, Nsuta,
Nkuwanta, Dadussi, Daniassi, Ofinsu, and Adjitai. Gold Coast
began encountering European traders in the mid-1400s, when
the Portuguese began trading with coastal peoples. By the
seventeenth century, many European trading giants including the
British, Dutch and French began building fortifications along the
coastline in order to assert their positions. These interactions
were to have a profound effect on African coastal settlements and
African institutions came under considerable European influence
very early on. West Africa had a long history of connection to
trans-Saharan gold trade, and from the 15th century was drawn
into trade with Europe, in gold and increasingly in slaves. The
Ashanti kingdom had emerged from the mid- 17th century,
benefitting from access both to rich agricultural resources and
gold, much of the labour for production of which was provided by
a domestic slave trade.

The Expansion of the Asante Kingdom,1700-1807

Many parts of West Africa was still unknown to the rest of the
world, thus By the late 15th century and early 16th century many
European nations like Portugal started to send the missionaries
and explorers to investigate various parts of Africa and West
Africa in particular. As early as in the 19th century European
powers like France, Germany, and Britain likewise sent number
of missionaries, explorers, traders and philanthropists in West
Africa. These groups were sent in Africa to investigate the
needed knowledge about Africans, their history and culture,
mostly knowledge about raw materials, visibility, potential areas
and the nature of African population British traders had operated
off what was to become known as the “Gold Coast” with little
direct intervention by British authorities.

When the Ashanti kingdom showed ambitions to expand its

control southwards in negotiating treaties with African authorities
and protecting trading interests, the British invaded Ashanti in
1874 and burnt its capital. The majority of European Explorers
spent their time to investigate and to detail the interior and coast
of West Africa to help European powers that were searching
areas with potential materials as European countries were
experiencing mushrooming of industries. Explores assisted the
European merchant groups; penetration of west Africa interior in
18th century was real a hard and difficult but with the aid of
explorers, European merchant groups had advantage of trading
in West Africa freely with assurance of security of themselves and
their trading commodities.

The British and the colonisation of the Gold Coast

As Britain increasingly colonised more and more African

countries, the British had become the dominant power along the
coast, and they began annexing and laying claim to territory
gradually. The expansion of the Asante kingdom towards the
coast was the major cause of this, as the British began to fear
that the Asante would come to monopolise coastal trade in their
place. The British placed the Governor of neighbouring Sierra
Leone, which was already annexed, in charge of British forts and
settlements along the coast. He formed an unfavourable opinion
of the Asante, and began the long process of attempting to bring
them under British control. However, disputes over jurisdiction of
the area known as Ashanti led to war between the British and the
Asante, and in 1824, the Asante succeeded in killing the
Governor as well as seven of his men. In retaliation, the British
(with the help of tribes oppressed by the Asante, including the
Fante and the Ga) beat the Asante back in 1826, and
successfully ended their dominance of coastal regions. The
establishment of British law and jurisdiction in the colony was a
gradual process, but the 1844 Bond with the Fante is popularly
considered to be its true beginning. This recognised the power of
British officials and British common law in the Gold Coast and
over the Fante people. In 1850, a Governor was appointed to
Gold Coast who was not also Governor of Sierra Leone, and this
is how the colony of Gold Coast was born. A supreme court was
established in 1853, and led to British common law becoming
enforced. However, all of this brought financial challenges, and
saw the policy of making the colonies pay come in to force in the
Gold Coast for the first time.
European troops entering Kumane during the second Anglo-
Ashanti War.

The British fought against the Ashanti four times in the 19th
century and suppressed a final uprising in 1900 before claiming
the region as a colony. The first Anglo-Ashanti War began in
1823 after the Ashanti defeated a small British force under Sir
Charles McCarthy and converted his skull into a drinking cup. It
ended with a standoff after the British beat an Ashanti army near
the coast in 1826. After two generations of relative peace, more
violence occurred in 1863 when the Ashanti invaded the British
"protectorate" along the coast in retaliation for the refusal of Fanti
leaders to return a fugitive slave. The result was another stand-
off, but the British took casualties and public opinion at home
started to view the Gold Coast as a quagmire. In 1873, the
Second Ashanti War began after the British took possession of
the remaining Dutch trading posts along the coast, giving British
firms a regional monopoly on the trade between Africans and
Europe. The Ashanti had long viewed the Dutch as allies, so they
invaded the British protectorate along the coast. A British army
led by General Wolseley waged a successful campaign against
the Ashanti that led to a brief occupation of Kumasi and a "treaty
of protection" signed by the Ashantehene (leader) of Ashanti,
ending the war in July 1874. This war was covered by a number
of news correspondents (including H. M. Stanley) and the
"victory" excited the imagination of the European public.

In 1894, the Third Anglo-Ashanti War began following British

press reports that a new Ashantehene named Prempeh
committed acts of cruelty and barbarism. Strategically, the British
used the war to insure their control over the gold fields before the
French, who were advancing on all sides, could claim them. In
1896, the British government formally annexed the territories of
the Ashanti and the Fanti. In 1900, a final uprising took place
when the British governor of Gold Coast (Hodgson) unilaterally
attempted to depose the Ashantehene by seizing the symbol of
his authority, the Golden Stool. The British were victorious and
reoccupied Kumasi permanently. On September 26, 1901 the
British created the Crown Colony of Gold Coast. The change in
the Gold Coast's status from "protectorate" to "crown colony"
meant that relations with the inhabitants of the region were
handled by the Colonial Office, rather than the Foreign Office.
That implied that the British no longer recognized the Ashanti or
the Fanti as having independent governments.

Results of colonisation of the Ashanti kingdom and Britain

In December 1895, Sir Francis Scott left Cape Coast with an

expedition force. It arrived in Kumasi in January 1896. The
Asantehene directed the Ashanti to not resist. Shortly thereafter,
Governor William Maxwell arrived in Kumasi as well. Asantehene
Agyeman Prempeh was deposed and arrested. Britain annexed
the territories of the Ashanti and the Fanti in 1896, and Ashanti
leaders were sent into exile in the Seychelles. The Asante Union
was dissolved. Robert Baden-Powell led the British in this
campaign. The British formally declared the coastal regions to be
the Gold Coast colony. A British Resident was permanently
placed in the city, and soon after a British fort.

As a final measure of resistance, the remaining Asante court not

exiled to the Seychelles mounted an offensive against the British
Residents at the Kumasi Fort. The resistance was led by Yaa
Asantewaa, the Queen-Mother of Ejisu. From March 28 to late-
September 1900, the Asante and British were engaged in what
would become known as the War of the Golden Stool. On March
28, 1900 Governor Frederick Hodgson met with the chiefs at
Kumasi and demanded that the Asante hand over the sacred
Golden Stool to him. On April 25 the telegraph wires were cut,
and Kumasi was surrounded. Thirty British were dying per day in
June. On June 23 three officers and 150 made a sortie and
managed to escape. Governor Hodgson reached Cape Coast on
July 10. The British sent 1,400 troops from other parts of Africa,
and the Asante’s nine-month struggle for independence failed. In
March 1901 Governor Matthew Nathan visited Kumasi, and he
deported 16 Ashanti leaders and imprisoned 31 at Elmina. The
people were disarmed, and only licensed hunters could carry
guns. The British annexed the Asante confederacy as a Crown
Colony and did not allow chiefs to rule in Kumasi until Prempeh
became Kumasihene in 1926. In the end, Asantewaa and other
Ashanti leaders were also sent to Seychelles to join Prempeh I. In
January 1902, Britain finally added Asante to its protectorates on
the Gold Coast.

Asante was forcibly incorporated into the British Gold Coast

colony in 1902, along with further territory to its immediate north
which had not belonged to the kingdom itself. The later addition
of British Togoland creates borders for the colony that are
essentially those that exist for modern Ghana. When the British
defeated the Ashanti people, they collected all the gold treasures
of the area. In addition to this, the Ashanti people lost their
independence. They did not receive any political rights in the
Gold Coast and power was taken away from legitimate Ashanti
leaders. People were forced off their land onto farms or factories
which ultimately made the British richer. The British then spent
money on things that will improve their ability to remove wealth
and natural resources from the Gold Coast. They built railroads
and roads, but only to their own benefit in order for products to be
shipped off to Europe.