Kenya And British Colonialism

The British colonization of Kenya destroyed the culture and economy of the native people, but it established a democratic government and left Kenya a more modernized country.[1] During the 1880’s through 1914, the start of WWI, was an age of imperialism. One place that felt victim to this imperialism was Africa. At this time Africa was a wholly unmodernized continent. The reason the Europeans went after Africa was the introduction of the idea of social Darwinism and the “white man’s burden”. Social Darwinism is the belief that only the strongest and the most cunning can make it to the top of the social ladder, and it was the White Man’s Burden to step in for these undeveloped countries

British imperialism did many things for the Ugandans. It did both good, and bad, but the British did not do much to help them. The country was stable before the British came, but after, they were not doing that well. Uganda did become stable eventually after the British. They helped them obtain more resources and ways of transportation, but they took over their government. The British only cared about what was good for themselves and were greedy. They only wanted power and control over the country, they did not have many means to help them out, without mostly benefitting

British Imperialism is a monstrous, militarized, and advanced system of oppression. British imperialism in Africa destroyed indigenous peoples lives and land. Once the slave trade became illegal, Britain's economy was in shambles. Therefore, Britain's imperialists went to Africa seeking wealth from its raw materials. The British was able to overthrow an already weakened governments, and put in place settler colonies. They installed authoritarian governments and exploited Africans by forcing them to do strenuous labor for Britain's profit. British imperialism in Africa is important today because it provides an answer as to why an entire continent is suffering for mass poverty, famine , and underdevelopment.

It is the year 1870, the start of imperialism in Africa and many other regions. Imperialism is when a country acquires power through domination of others. The Europeans took control of Africa with their steam engines, advanced medicine, and superior weaponry. Imperialism harmed Africa because imperialist governments created laws that treated Africans cruelly and unfairly, Europeans changed how the tribes of Africa lived, and the Europeans used treaties to control Africans.

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

Though Kenya’s impoverished and underdeveloped conditions were certainly not highlighted in the film, I believe it is important to observe. These conditions are best displayed by the state of the primary school. In the film, students were forced to sit 5 students to a desk and were crammed into a tiny room. Moreover, the Kenyans were highly grateful for the concept of free education. This highly contrasts the state of American schools, which are typically well funded. Americans are used to the concept of free education, so much so, that people now desire free higher education. I believe this theme is important to note because it is the key difference between the Kenyan and American

Colonialism occurs when one nation takes control over a group of people or certain territories. During the Berlin Conference in 1885, the European countries divided Sub-Saharan Africa into regions that they would control. These countries included Belgian, Italy, Spain, Germany, Great Britain, and France. Most of Africa was divided and controlled by the European powers. The only independent countries at this time were Ethiopia and Liberia. These new boundaries caused many problems for the African people, as they were separated from their families, placed with hostile groups, and taken away from their groups in society. In conclusion, the colonization of Africa had many negative effects on the African people.

During the 19th century, Imperialism started to break out across the globe. The Age of Imperialism actually began in 1870, mostly impacting European states, Africa, and the Middle East. This is where countries gained power by taking over and claiming land that was already inhabited. States were driven by power and influence, and they all wanted to be the best. This lead to tension and competition for power among countries. However, places with the biggest army, most advanced technology, and organized government system were usually the most successful, especially Great Britain. With this tension over power came conflict over land and territory. Because of its natural resources and huge coastlines, Africa became the main target for claiming land. European states first started claiming land on the coast of Africa and then they all fought over who could have the most land. The Berlin Conference was a meeting between all the states fighting for land, including Britain, France, Germany, and the U.S. The intent of this conference was to settle tension over territory and reduce conflict over land on the African

There was a great question asked by numerous individuals in the eighteenth century with what happens to people’s lives when their country is a colony of another country. This was very important to Americans when they were being ruled by Great Britain, and even to this day it remains important when countries find themselves controlled by more powerful outsiders. But what is colonialism? Colonialism occurs when one nation takes control of another. Kenya’s experience as a colony of Great Britain gives us more of an idea of what being colonized meant both to the people being controlled and to those who control them. Although it seems hard to believe, Kenya was created by the Europeans and generally this had a positive on effect on Kenyans because it began development.

In the 1800s Europe underwent a renewed period of imperialism which was very sophisticated in its nature. Much emphasis was placed on gaining or controlling a colony. The resources and wealth gain from the colony was used to finance war and the army as well as the economy. The stronger a European military gets the more power full that country become in Europe and as such gaining the wealth from a colony could either break or build the power and prestige of a nation. When France for example, moved into West Africa, rival nations such as Britain and Germany seized lands nearby to halt further French expansion. In essence the Europeans taught of the colonies as a source of security. So strong and sophisticated was the sentiment of nationalism that it set of what was known as a ‘Scramble for Africa. West Africa was already known to the European but the interior was untouched. The Belgian king Leopold the second occupies and carry profitable economic activities in the Congo (South Central Africa). Before long Britain, France, Germany and Italy were all lock in a tussle, pressing rivals claim to the region. According to Bickers and Henriot

In the wake of the industrial revolution, many European countries gained economic power as well and eventually military power. The first to invest in the industrial revolution was Great Britain, making the nation one of the most hegemonic powers since it was able to gain advantage over the other European nation who was involved in the Balance of Power, which was created in 1815, and involved Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, France, and Austria. The Balance of Power was created to help prevent major wars between the nations whereby, every nation stated would have and equitable military based on its size and location however, since Britain industrialized, the nation was able to erode the balance of power and industrialization was able to make size obsolete because of mechanized and advanced weaponry. As a result, Britain was able to surpass the other nations and was able to expand its nation and belief around the. Ultimately, as a result Britain was able to become the most hegemonic nation around the world. One of the locations Britain was able to colonize was Africa by the nineteenth century where it was ultimately able to aid the Africans, by spreading Christianity and helped improve the overall conditions in the conquered area and assimilated the Africans to European cultures, as well as advance the Africans technology.

Imperialism was a time of new inventions, technology, and many other things. Imperialism had many positive things like, transportation, spread of technology, and an increase in education. Because of Imperialism transportation became a thing. Also communication with other foreign countries became a thing. Then there was an increase in education too.

The country known as Uganda was once a British colony just like the majority of its neighbors in East Africa. It was initially intruded into by the Arab traders led by Speke and the British explorers led by Stanley in 1862 and 1875 respectively. They both paid homage to Mutesa who was the King (kabaka) of the Buganda. Uganda remained predominantly under the colony of the British until 1962 when they were granted internal self government by Britain (History World, 2011).

They couldn’t get jobs or get a well education like the Tutsis and health care was low. The Tutsis assassinated the Hutus president by a plane explosion which made them furious and started a massacre. The Tutsis had majority of the weapons while only the farmers of the Hutus had weapons. They wiped out forty-five percent of Hutus teachers, students and five percent of the population were killed (Cause and effects,n.d).

Jomo Kenyatta’s ethnography, Facing Mt. Kenya was written in the 1930’s about Kikuyu society during 1890-1910, the early years of British colonialism in Kenya. Since the coming of the early colonization the Kikuyu people have tried to develop a religious attitude that would define it’s own culture while adapting forcefully to the European conforms of religion.