Like Lions They Fought: The Zulu War and the Last Black Empire in South Africa by Robert B. Edgerton

African Americans are fighting for their lives in a war that they do not even know exist. In Ralph Ellison’s short story, “Battle Royal,” this idea is made clear by the narrators struggle to be seen as an equal among the white men in the story. Ellison uses a white woman, a blindfold, and an electric rug as symbols to illustrate the struggles African Americans face.

Thesis Statement: Apartheid may have been a horrible era in South African history, but only so because the whites were forced to take action against the outrageous and threatening deeds of the blacks in order to sustain their power.

Africa DBQ     Africa is an extremely large continent filled with 54 countries. European occupation of Africa has shaped the very structure and function of many of these diverse countries. Socially and economically, European influence is very obvious through imperialism, the act of one country extending power and rule over another, as well as colonization, the act of establishing a colony in another country. The effects of European imperialism and colonization have greatly damaged Africa in many different aspects of life.     European imperialism as well as colonization worked to control much of Africa.

The main theme of Battle Royal occurs again with the incident of the electrified rug. After the battle has ended, the boys are allowed to pick bills and coins off of a rug. As they try to take the money off the rug, they are jolted with electricity. Even though the pain factor involved in picking the cash off the rug is very high, the boys force themselves to carry on. This brilliantly captures the economic hardship faced by the black community and the negative effect of this hardship on social harmony. Once more, a theme of suppressed dignity emerges. It shows that even after their biggest fight for respect ended, African Americans were forced to endure racism and prejudice in other

Going Solo, Roald Dahl’s memoir of his work in East Africa and his service in the RAF, covers the buildup to World War II and his involvement in it. In the book mention is made of the British colonialism in Africa. The British colonialism in Africa plays a large role in the memoir as if not for their colonization of Africa Dahl wouldn’t be in Tanzania, an African country. Dahl speaks about British colonialism in Africa that, “The police constables were all blacks, acting under a couple of white officers at the top, and they were not famous for being gentle with prisoners,” (qutd. Dahl 9). In fact, British colonialism is important because the colonization of Africa effected it in many ways, but not all for the better of the people.

The first major piece of work to be written about the Anglo-Zulu war, with a small chapter devoted to the battle of Isandlwana, is called The History of the Zulu War and Its Origin by Frances Ellen Colenso. Written in 1880, one year after the war concluded, Colenso wrote in a Pro-nationalist focus. He applauds the camp tactics employed by Lord Chelmsford, General of British Forces in South Africa and Natal, and does in no way seem to dislike or question the Generals commands. As stated above, this a very short chapter in a very large book. There are thirty pages devoted to Isandlwana in a book of over 400 pages. The thesis of the book is “However insufficient the result may prove, we shall at least hope that our work may give some slight assistance to the maintenance of which alone can ensure the true honour of the British name .” The way the book was written, it is a very pro-British book with emphasis on helping the British reputation. The book does leave out a lot of important details because it is written one year after the event. Reading it, the book

Disparity of power in society is often created in the chaos of wars, in which it leads to abuse in power and loss of identity in individuals. Through the anti-war poem Homecoming by Dawe, responders have discovered and gained an insight on the power of war, which has impacted and led to the degradation of the ‘homecoming’ soldiers in ‘they’re…them’, as an anaphora illustrates the bitter attitude of the persona, merging and exhibiting Dawe’s dismissive perspective of war. The dominance of conflicts has impacted on the soldiers the most as it is denoted in the free verse lines, reflecting the unstructured senseless tragedy of war that stimulated their powerlessness. On the same hand, Dawe continues with his critical view of militarism in confronting

In the 1830s, the British Government began to look to South Africa for the abundant gold and diamond in the area, as well as, with the hopes of gaining control of the most strategic port and route to trade with India. The British acted quickly, and started to take control of the cape of South Africa. In 1833, they emancipated the Afrikaners’ slaves, created more taxes, and auctioned off previously communal land. This caused great rage within the Boer community. The Boers were Dutch and Huguenot people that migrated to South Africa in the late 17th century (Great Trek). Starting in 1835, the Boers left their homeland with the goal of starting a new life free from British rule. The majority of the migrants left from the Eastern frontier of South

The avowal that the apartheid ‘vision for democracy’ necessitated state terror and repression is evident when examining the South African apartheid system between 1960 -1994. The system of apartheid spiked significant internal resistance, hence, the ideology for apartheid stems from the creation of a white state surrounded by economically interdependent and politically dependent black states, which required state terror and repression to ensure mounting resistance and international condemnation did not abolish the apartheid system. The government responded to a series of popular uprisings and protests with police brutality, which increased support for armed resistance. Detentions were set without trial, torture, censorship and the outlawing of political oppositional organizations such as The African National Congress, the Black Conscious Movement, the Azanian Peoples Organisation, The Pan Africanist Congress and the United Democratic Front, were all a result of the apartheid government due to political resistance.

Throughout the 18th and 19th century, Europe underwent an Industrial Revolution. People began relying heavily on machines. Various countries required resources for their industrial lifestyle, and thus they enforced a policy of imperialism. Imperialism is when a country politically, economically, and socially stronger takes control over a weaker country and utilizes the resources from that country. However, many countries abused their power during imperialism. European nations are guilty of abuse of power in the Congo, India, and South Africa.

This section demonstrates how the fear manifested itself among the whites. The Afrikaners’ power is not in numbers, as “they were few” but instead in political authority. They exploit this and impose harsh laws on the black to try to control and restrict them. However, they have bound themselves in their fear of the natives, a force that is perhaps more confining than their rules. Instead of trying to understand their fear and show their compassion towards these other human beings, they instead choose to hide it so that they will not appear weak. Additionally, the solution of love that Paton suggests presents a conundrum. In order end the fear, they must love, but to love they must stop being afraid. This demonstrates the almost impossible nature of true equality occurring between the natives and the Afrikaners.

Thus we see how J.M. Coetzee successfully shows the future of the novel in Africa and its problems with the two conflicting characters of Elizabeth Costello and Emmanuel Egudu and as according to a critic “typically produces irritation or discomfort” in a

History is subjective because it is a subject that is based on a person’s knowledge and opinions. While some events have obvious causes, other events must be analyzed to find their true impetus. One complicated era from history that has a debatable cause is Apartheid. While some historians cite complex causes for Apartheid, most people in the general public simply believe racism was the root of the institution. While racism did factor into later practices of Apartheid, racism was merely a byproduct of the social and cultural effects of the institution. When evidence is examined, the real cause of Apartheid becomes obvious. This era of South African history was not simply based on social practices such as racism; Apartheid was rooted

In this thesis the writer “J.Matisonn” writes about how the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) not only addressed issues of crimes against humanity that also affected the Human rights of people but the other thing the TRC did well if anything according to this article it that it also addressed those people , organizations and even institutions who used media and propaganda in order to not only further the cause of the Apartheid government but to hurt so many families and relatives in the process.

opinion of how the country works as he grew up, and when he was 16 the