Essay Sample on European Colonization of Africa: Impact and Resistance

Introduction

The entry of the Europeans in the scramble for Africa is one of the significant historical events in the history of the continent that left immense changes. The leading European countries partition of Africa led to the establishment of administrative units in the model of their colonizing countries and the exploitation of the local resources (Conejero, 2019). Most of the African communities resisted the partition and the occupation of Africa. In contrast, other communities collaborated with the Europeans and were made the agents of oppression against other African tribes. The Europeans used the divide and rule strategy to be able to isolate and conquer African tribes by exploiting their weaknesses and the inability to come together in unity. The impact of European intrusion in Africa has been covered in literature by African authors such as Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Chinua Achebe in the River Between, and Things Falls Apart respectively (Conejero, 2019). There are common themes in the literature such as the division of African people and tribes, erosion of the African cultural practices, undermining the leadership institutions of the African tribes and the introduction of western religions and education. This paper will assess the impact of the European intrusion into Africa from the lens of two African celebrated literature authors Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

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Tribal Division and Conflict between Africans

The Europeans used the divide and rule tactic to be able to conquer and partition the African content. After the coming of the Europeans, the African communities which had previously lived harmony amongst themselves, conducted barter trade and even intermarried became enemies and began fighting amongst themselves (Conejero, 2019). The European intrusion was a significant cause of instability as tribes turned against each other and also amongst themselves. In the River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o the Europeans disrupted the peace in the African villages by introducing a new religion and education which led to the emergence of pro the traditional African way of life and those that adopted the white man religion and culture (Thiong'o, 2015). Ngugi in 'The River Between' writes about the ill-fated love story of Waiyaki and Nyambura which is faced by the rivalry between the pro-Christianity and pro traditionalists. Waiyaki popularity attracts enmity from Kabonyi who labels him as a traitor for trying to marry Nyambura who is uncircumcised against the traditional Kikuyu customs. Nyambura's father decision to embrace Christianity which is the white man religion sets him apart from his people who view him differently (Thiong'o, 2015).

"The two ridges lay side. One is Kamino; the other was Makuyu. Between them was a valley. It was called the valley of life. Behind Kamino and Makuyu were many more valleys and ridges, lying without any discernible plan. They were like many sleeping lines which never woke. When you stood in the valley, the two ridges ceased to be sleeping lions united by their common source of life. They became antagonistic" (Thiong'o, 2015).

This shows the division that the Europeans caused to the local tribes in Africa, in this case, the Agikuyu which significantly made it easy for the Europeans to rule the African tribes. Waiyaki seeks to join the rift between the traditionalists and the Christianity conformers, but this only ends with a tragedy which significantly depicts the irreconcilable differences that existed between the Christians and the traditionalists despite all of them being of African descent.

The Replacement of the African Traditions and Institutions

One of the most visible impacts of the European invasion of Africa is the replacement of traditional institutions with western institutions, which was detrimental to the sustainability of peace (Conejero, 2019). Africans turned against their own when they embraced the leadership, education and religious institutions of the white man. The pre-colonial institutions were significantly weak, and on the coming of the Europeans, they easily fell apart as the Africans took different sides. Religious rigidity, dissatisfaction, ethnic discrimination and brutal justice of Africans against Africans significantly led to the acceptance of the Christian missionaries who came first and prepared the way for the white man who later took their lands and freedoms in the bid of administrative conversion of Africans to Christianity.

One of the areas of conflict caused by the intrusion of the Europeans, which significantly disrupted African cultural practices. Ngugi shows how first some Africans turned against their cultural practices and embraced Christianity teachings. Even those that embraced traditional methods in one way or the other such as Waiyaki was already corrupted by European traditions. Ngugi depicted Waiyaki dilemma on how to handle both European education and the traditional cultures and aimed at showing them that both could co-exist. However, this was not the case due to multiple externalities and aggressiveness of Kabonyi who wanted to secure his power and control of the people (Thiong'o, 2015).

In Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart,' he clearly outlines the difference caused by the coming of the Europeans to African territories that had previously lived in harmony with each other. Slowly by slowly, the Europeans caused discord and enmity between the Africans. The Igbo society in 'Things Falls Apart' begin to experience social dissonance in which the religion is threatened, and the very tribal life and traditions of the people became weakened (Achebe, 2010). Chinua Achebe slowly unveils the bitter truth that the traditional way of life of the Igbo ceased to exist by the coming of the Europeans. The arrival of the new religion to the people of Igbo significantly threatened the tribal life and beliefs of the Igbo.

The coming of the British significantly offsets the traditional checks and balances which were established to create justice for the Igbo people. The British viewed the Igbo laws as barbaric, but this is not true because Chinua Achebe unveils the hypocritical and the inhumane nature of the British law which is used to intimidate and only benefit the white settlers to gain more power and control of the people (Achebe, 2010).

"The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together, and we have fallen apart" (Achebe, 2010).

The above quote shows the victory of the white man finally by being able to divide the people using a new religion and disregarding the Igbo traditional way of life. As such, the ability of the white man to win over the hearts of Igbo people to abandon their traditional cultural practices significantly led to the decline of the Igbo people unity and religious traditions in favor of the white man religion (Achebe, 2010).

Conclusion

The two significant impacts of the European intrusion into Africa was the decline of the traditional African practices and religious beliefs as well as the enmity and suspicion between the tribes and the people who had previously lived in harmony. The coming of the white man was instrumental to the decline of the traditional institutional order and practices as a number of Africans embraced the white man education and religion which led to the inter-tribal discord like in the case of Kamino and Makuyu which are not only separated by a river and a valley but also the traditional African practices and the white man civilization. The white man's influence slowly causes a division of the Igbo people and disregard of the traditional beliefs. This discord between the tribes made it easy for the European to trample on African leaders, beliefs and religion and impose their western culture and Christianity to the Africans.

References

Achebe, C. (2010). The African trilogy: things fall apart; no longer at ease, [and] arrow of God (Vol. 327). Everyman's Library. Retrieved from https://chrisnareme.gq/historical/chinua-achebe-things-fall-apart-everymans-library.pdf

Conejero, P. (2019). British colonialism in Nigeria and Kenya: a post-colonial study through" things fall apart" and" the river between," Rodin. Retrieved from http://rodin.uca.es/xmlui/handle/10498/21140

Thiong'o, N. (2015). The river between (Vol. 4). Penguin. Retrieved from https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-river-between-1