African Heroes Resisted European Colonial Conquests PDF

FOR ONLINE USE ONLY African DO who heroes NOT DUPLICATE Chapter resisted European Seven colonial conquests...

FOR ONLINE USE ONLY African DO who heroes NOT DUPLICATE Chapter resisted European Seven colonial conquests Introduction In Standard Four, you identified our national heroes. You also learnt about the invasion of our nation and the contribution of our heroes to the fight LY against that invasion. In this chapter, you will learn about African heroes who resisted colonial conquests, the strategies they used to resist colonialism and the characteristics of the heroes. You will also learn about the reasons N that made them resist colonialism. O African heroes SE African heroes were leaders who resisted the establishment of colonialism in Africa during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Guided by the information they had received from the explorers, missionaries and traders U described in Chapter Five, European nations began to establish colonies in Africa and to control Africans economically, politically, socially and militarily. These nations included Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal and E Italy. African heroes mobilised their people to resist colonial invasion because they did not want to be under colonial domination. They wanted to preserve N their independence economically, politically, socially and militarily. LI Colonialism and colonial conquests Colonialism is a process through which one nation dominates another nation N and controls it economically, politically, socially and militarily. Europeans O decided to establish colonies in Africa during the second half of the 19th century. The 1860s and 1870s were decades when European nations and private associations sent missionaries, explorers and traders to Africa to R collect information that would help them to colonise the continent. FO The reasons for the European nations’ efforts to colonise Africa were related to the Industrial Revolution which had occurred in many European nations. The Industrial Revolution started first in Britain and then spread to other European nations such as France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Holland. 70 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 70 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY Agricultural raw materialsDO NOT such DUPLICATE as cotton, coffee, sisal, tobacco, tea and sunflower were, therefore, needed. The industries also needed minerals such as copper, diamond and gold. Apart from that, the colonialists also needed cheap labourers who would work in colonial economies, for example on farms, in mining centres, in processing industries and in construction activities. They also needed external markets for selling the industrial commodities produced in Europe. Africa had a large population. Europeans wanted to transform Africans into buyers and consumers of industrially produced commodities. In addition, they looked for good areas in Africa in which to invest surplus capital in order to generate more profit. Africa was, LY therefore, an excellent place for them to solve their economic problems, such as shortages of raw materials, cheap labour and markets, and areas to invest surplus capital for more profit. N Various European nations rushed to Africa to acquire colonies. The O competition for colonies was so intense that the nations were almost about to fight for colonies in Africa. They scrambled for the coastal areas of Eastern SE and Western Africa because it was easy to do business and control the sea routes. These were areas such as Zanzibar, Sofala in Mozambique, Pate in Somalia, Lamu and Mombasa in Kenya, and Tanga in Tanzania. They also U scrambled for areas with fertile land and good climatic conditions. These areas were good for settlement, agriculture and livestock keeping. Furthermore, they scrambled for areas with navigable rivers such as the E River Nile, the River Congo and the River Niger. These were necessary for N navigation and the transport of goods, services and people. The European nations also competed for great lakes such as Lake Victoria, Lake Nyasa, LI Lake Rukwa, Lake Natron, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Edward and Lake Albert. N As discussed in Chapter Six, they held the Berlin Conference in Germany in 1884 and 1885 with the view to dividing Africa among themselves in a O peaceful way. It was called by the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Some of the European nations which attended this conference were Belgium, R France, Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal. They drew the map of Africa and divided the continent into a number of colonies. Each nation laid FO claims to some places in Africa. After the Berlin Conference, the European nations established their rule in Africa. The colonial occupation and the conquest of Africa began in the late 1880s and continued throughout the 1890s. 71 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 71 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY Exercise 1 DO NOT DUPLICATE Answer the following questions: 1. Give two factors that made Europeans colonise Africa during the late 19th century. 2. Mention the European nations that attended the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. LY Activity 1 D  raw a table showing the heroes of Africa who opposed N colonial invasion, the year and their territories. An example O has been given below. Examples of African heroes who resisted the establishment of colonial rule SE Hero Year Area U Urabi Pasha 1882 Egypt Characteristics of African heroes E African heroes who opposed colonialism were guided by the following unique N characteristics: LI (i) Patriotism – they deeply loved the societies which they ruled. N (ii) They hated colonial domination and foreign invasion. (iii) They wanted to preserve their independence and autonomy. O (iv) They wanted to preserve peace and security in their areas. R (v) They wanted to protect natural resources and the peoples in their areas. FO (vi) They were ready to die fighting for their territories or societies. 72 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 72 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY Exercise 2 DO NOT DUPLICATE Answer the following questions: 1. Highlight five main characteristics of African heroes who opposed colonial rule. 2. State the objective of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. LY Activity 2 Discuss the reaction of your group to the effects of colonial N invasion and present it to your fellow pupils in class. O Reasons for resisting colonial conquests SE African heroes resisted European colonial conquests for a number of reasons. U (a) To preserve Africans’ independence African heroes led resistance movements against colonialism in order to E preserve Africans’ independence and autonomy. Europeans wanted to establish colonialism in order to dominate Africans economically, politically, N socially and militarily. This could limit Africans’ control over their areas. LI (b) To protect Africans’ natural resources N Africans resisted colonial conquests in order to protect their natural resources. The Europeans wanted to use African natural resources such as fertile land, O minerals, rivers, lakes, forests and wild animals to produce raw materials for their industries in Europe. They wanted to use African natural resources R for their own benefit. That is why African heroes led the resistance against European colonialism. FO (c) To resist exploitation and oppression Europeans wanted Africans to work in their agricultural plantations, mining centres and construction projects. They paid them low wages or no wages 73 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 73 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DOwages at all. The paying of low NOT DUPLICATE was a strategy for reducing production costs and maximising profit. They also wanted to exploit Africans through high prices of the industrial goods that were sold in Africa. Colonialism also introduced oppression, racism, dehumanisation and segregation into Africa. African heroes and the people they ruled were not ready for this kind of exploitation and oppression. (d) To oppose taxation African heroes and their people resisted colonialism because they opposed taxes. When Europeans came to Africa to colonise Africans, they introduced LY taxation. There were three forms of taxes. One of them was tax in cash; every adult person was required to pay tax in the form of money. Another kind of tax was tax in labour; a person who did not have cash was forced to N provide labour on colonial agricultural farms and in construction works. The O mount of work done was regarded as the same as the amount of money one was supposed to pay as tax. The third form was tax in kind. Africans were forced to give valuable goods such as cattle or goats to the government. SE Europeans forced Africans to pay taxes for two reasons. First, they used taxation as a means of collecting revenue that would be used to meet the U cost of running the colonial government and other institutions. Secondly, they wanted to make Africans work in European economic investments so that they could get some money for paying the taxes. This ensured constant E supply of labour to colonial plantations. Africans were not willing to pay the taxes. Therefore, they united to resist colonialism. N (e) To protect trading interests LI Some African heroes resisted colonial invaders because they wanted to N protect trading interests, which were very beneficial to them. Examples of such resistance movements included the movements organised by Chief O Abushiri, Bwana Heri and Makunganya in the coastal areas of Tanzania. These leaders or heroes wanted to protect the commercial empires that extended from the coast to the interior of Tanzania. The leaders controlled R the long distance trade, organised caravan routes, engaged in slave trade FO dealings and collected taxes from the traders who passed through their commercial territories. Thus, colonialism threatened these pre-colonial commercial interests. Therefore, Africans resisted it. 74 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 74 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY Exercise 3 DO NOT DUPLICATE Answer the following questions: 1. Mention three factors that made Africans resist colonialism. 2. Why did European colonial invaders alienate large pieces of land in Africa? 3. Mention the types of taxes which the colonialists introduced into Africa. LY Activity 3 Imagine that the area where you live and do various economic activities N such as agriculture, industry and trade is invaded by foreigners. Will you O accept the invasion? If yes, why? And if not, why? Methods used by African heroes to resist colonial invasion in Africa SE There were several methods that were used by African heroes to resist U colonial invasion. The following methods were used in the anti-colonial movements in Africa: (a) Unity E To resist the invaders, African communities united. For example, in Kenya, N the Mazrui united various ethnic groups in Mombasa to resist British invasion LI of Mombasa. N (b) War This is the method used by African heroes in some areas to fight colonial O rule. They fought using traditional weapons such as spears, shields and arrows. The people in areas like Ethiopia and the coast of East Africa used R guns. The Ethiopian leader at that time was King Menelik II, who fought against Italian invaders and won the war in 1893. FO 75 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 75 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY Exercise 4 DO NOT DUPLICATE Answer the following questions: 1. Mention five areas in Africa that fought against colonial invasion. 2. Describe one way that helped African heroes to resist colonial invasion. Activity 4 Assume that you are a hero in your area. Mention the three tactics you LY would use to prevent robbery. The contribution of African heroes to the resistance against N European invasion O African heroes made great efforts to resist European invasion in order to protect their independence. They united African groups into one community. Some of the heroes who united their communities were King Menelik II of SE Ethiopia, Mkwawa of German East Africa and Urabi Pasha of Egypt. Activity 5 U Draw a table showing the names of heroes who helped to resist European invasion by indicating the respective year or years and the parts/areas E where the resistance took place. Two examples have been given below. N Examples LI Leader/ Hero Part/area Year/ years N King Menelik II Ethiopia 1893 Chief Mkwawa German East Africa 1891-1898 O Failure of African resistance movements R Although Africans resisted the colonial conquests, they were not successful. Africans were defeated. The following are the reasons for their defeat: FO (a) Disunity Africans did not fight as an organised force. Each African hero organised his people or society and army to fight against the invaders and protect his territory. Thus, it was easy for the invaders to defeat them. 76 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 76 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY (b) Poor weapons DO NOT DUPLICATE Africans used military weapons which were technologically poor when compared to the European military weapons. They used spears, stones, bows and arrows. Europeans used guns and bullets. It was difficult for Africans to compete against the colonialists who had more powerful weapons. Consequently, Africans were defeated. (c) Traitors Some Africans sided with the colonisers to fight their fellow Africans. This happened in areas where there were hostilities between African groups. LY Weak societies helped the Germans to defeat their strong neighbouring enemies. N (d) Weakened societies O Some African societies had been weakened by the disasters and crises of the late 19th century, and therefore they could not effectively resist the Europeans. Some societies such as the Maasai had their cattle economy SE disrupted by the rinderpest pandemic. Other societies had been weakened by the slave trade, disease and famine. Thus, they could not effectively resist colonial rule. U Despite these weaknesses, which led to the defeat of Africans and to the establishment of colonialism in Africa, it is necessary to appreciate these resistance movements. The movements showed that Africans were not E willing to be colonised. N Exercise 5 LI Answer the following questions: N 1. What did African leaders do to fight colonial invasion? O 2. What helped African heroes to resist the invasion of their communities? R Exercise 6 FO Answer the following questions: 1. Why was the conference convened by Bismarck called the Berlin Conference? 77 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 77 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY 2. DO What kind of areas didNOT DUPLICATE the colonialists prefer? Why? 3. If you were an African hero, what tactics would you use to fight colonial invasion? Write True for a true statement and False for a false statement. 1. The invaders from Europe came to Africa to help Africans develop the agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors. _________ 2. Patrice Lumumba opposed the colonial invasion of the Congo. LY _________ 3. The Berlin Conference was convened by the first German Chancellor, N Otto von Bismarck. _________ O 4. African heroes were characterised by bravery, love, patriotism, peace- loving, progressiveness and a dislike for exploitation. _________ 5. SE The methods used by the colonialists to invade Africa were peaceful methods. _________ U Vocabulary E Conquest the subjugation and assumption of control of a place or N people by military force LI Hero a person who is admired for his/her courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities N Resistance  the refusal to accept or comply with something passively or O actively Tax  a compulsory contribution to state revenue, levied by the R government on workers’ income and business profits, or added to the cost of some goods, services and transactions FO 78 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 78 30/07/2021 11:49