African Colonization in the 1870\'s,

¶ … African Colonization

In the 1870's, 1880's, and 1890's great explosions in the ecclesiastical, educational, military, republican, monarchial traditions took place in Europe. It was a time of great wealth for the bourgeoisie, but tough times for workers. It was also a time of European imperial expansion, as was the case with the European rush into Africa, known as the Scramble for Africa. During this period, the notion of Empire within Europe was very key to the European perception of self. During this period and after, Africa became split into numerous colonies of white settlement. In order to remain safe on a foreign continent, the european colonizers had to portray themselves as natural and undisputed masters of a great many of Africans. They referred to European traditions to define themselves and justify their ruling position. European order, furthermore, offered models of subservience to use in Africa.

Due to the great differences between Africans and their European colonizers, the regimental traditions of Europe manifested themselves as more strictly for mere command and control in African society. European workers in Africa adopted the rituals invented by workers in Europe to help separate them from Africans. Such practices ensured Africans would not be considered workers, but, instead, slaves. In order to ensure system stability in colonial Africa, European monarchs internalized the necessity that select Africans could become members of the governing class of colonial Africa. They then set up a number of oligarchies in Africa to act as a buffer between European interests and the poor classes of Africa. In 1955, young lawyer and activist Nelson Mandela outlined the life of a woman whose condition was typical of the economic oppression during apartheid: (Ranger 445-460)

Rachel Musi is fifty-three years of age. She and her husband had lived in Krugersdorp [near Johannesburg] for thirty-two years. Throughout this period he had worked for the Krugersdorp municipality for £7 10s a month. They had seven children ranging from nineteen to two years of age. One was doing the final year of the junior certificate at the Krugersdorp Bantu High School, and three were in primary schools, also in Krugersdorp. She had several convictions for brewing kaffir1 beer. Because of these convictions, she was arrested as an undesirable person in terms of the provisions of the Native Urban Areas Act and brought before the additional native commissioner of Krugersdorp. After the arrest but before the trial her husband collapsed suddenly and died. Thereafter, the commissioner judged her an undesirable person, and ordered her deportation to Lichtenburg [a distant rural town]. Bereaved and brokenhearted, and with the responsibility of maintaining seven children weighing heavily on her shoulders, an aged woman was exiled from her home and forcibly separated from her children to fend for herself among strangers in a strange environment

That there has never been a homogeneous African culture makes it hard to accurately pinpoint the legacy of colonization. Before the Scramble for Africa of the late 19th century, Africa was hierarchical, authoritarian, and paternalistic, just like the European countries invading them. Insubordination and disobedience to the deference pyramids were punished by violence. Some tribes carried this violence out against their neighbors, from whom they stole cattle and other property. The strength of white settlers in Africa came from their technology. Before the nineteenth century, some African prophets and seers foretold of great human suffering at the hands of white invaders. There were many in tribes who resisted white settlement from the beginning, while other tribes studied the ways of the white man and tried to form alliances with the Europeans against their enemies. Many tribes were neutral, although their chiefs might accept gifts in return for cooperation. The presence of white man changed the dynamics of power in Africa in many ways.

New forms of power brought by the white man in the form of guns changed the degree of violence in Africa. Before the use of guns, it is quite likely that skirmishes between tribes were more like sporting than what we today think of as warfare. There were indeed very few casualties. With the introduction of guns, however, fatality during these skirmishes increased. Before guns, the ability of one tribe to exercise total authority over another was severely limited. This, to be sure, changed after the introduction of European tools of conquest. Even though many of the western powers pulled out in the latter half of the twentieth century, they left in place industrial structures in Africa which allowed them to economically exploit African countries. This economic setup, which sends commodities out of Africa and into the core countries with very little compensation, exist still today.