Fage describes the racially based logic of European intellectuals and missionaries saying: “Mid-and late-nineteenth-century Europeans were generally convinced that their Christian, scientific and industrial society was intrinsically far superior to anything that Africa had produced”(Fage 322). In his book A History of Africa, scholar J.D. Through the dissemination of Christian doctrine, European nations such as Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands sought to educate and reform African culture. Political Cartoon illustrating the Irony of Colonial IdeologyĬhristianity was one justification that European powers used to colonize and exploit Africa. Unfortunately, the eventual result of this was the use of coercive measures, including forced labor and violence that would ultimately cripple the continent (230-231). Practically, this was carried out in the colonies through increasing infrastructure, public health campaigns, education, and political reform (38-39 73-74). In France, this idea was followed by a campaign to popularize ideas about Africans’ lack of civilization through educational and media materials (13-14). The idea of civilization was “the triumph and development of reason, not only in the constitutional, political, and administrative domains, but in the moral, religious, and intellectual spheres… the essence of French achievements compared to the uncivilized world of savages, slaves, and barbarians” (14). However, prior to this the idea existed that Europeans had a responsibility to colonize and therefore civilize Africans (12). Ultimately, these mentalities led to a violent, forceful takeover (Conklin 230-231). Towards the end of his speech, Dr.Nott states that Africans are incapable of civilizing themselves: “There Africa stands with her fifty millions of blacks, and there she has stood for the last five thousand years, with this people occupying the same countries, without one step towards civilizations and all the experiments in the United States, the West Indies, &e., have failed” (Nott 19-20). However, the same ideas, the same ideological belief in the inferiority of Africans and call toward a European view of civilization remained, as white settlers began to claim swathes of Africa for their homeland’s possession. Nott gave this lecture in the United States 35 years before the official beginning of colonialism. Nott, a medical doctor, goes on to assert that the black, white, and “red” races are categorically different from one another and could not possibly be related. According to a lecture given the USA, 35 years before the official start of colonialism, the so-called inferiority of Africans was evident in the “deep-rooted intellectual and physical differences seen around us, in the White, Red, and Black Races, are too obvious and too important in their bearings, to be longer overlooked…”(Nott 3). Africans were considered culturally inferior, an idea that was supported by scientific racism. The sentiments expressed in “White Man’s Burden” were not uncommon during this time. It was Kipling’s belief that Africans must be pulled toward the “light” in order to see the error of their, in his view, savage nature. Kipling bemoans that the African people will come “slowly to the light” and would lament their release from “bondage.” In essence, Kipling believed that these non-white racial groups were so backward that they would be unable to comprehend the benefits of Europeanization. The lines following this initial declaration reveal the prevailing attitude in regards to how such a civilizing mission would proceed. The idea of the White Man’s Burden was to better (“seek another’s profit”) an ostensibly backward people (anyone who was not white). Fifteen years following the Berlin Conference, the supposed imperative of civilizing non-whites was expressed in Rudyard Kipling’s poem published in 1899 in McClure’s Magazine entitled “White Man’s Burden”: One of the justifying principles behind colonialism was the need to civilize the purportedly backward peoples of Africa. In 1884, the Berlin Conference marked the official beginning of colonialism in Africa. The philosophy underpinning the “White Man’s Burden” consisted of the “Three C’s of Colonialism: Civilization, Christianity, and Commerce.” Map of Colonial Africa However, the leaders spearheading the movement cited the “white man’s burden,” a term popularized in Rudyard Kipling’s poem to morally justify imperialist expansion. In reality, European colonization devastated traditional African societies and economies. As the imperial powers of Europe set their sights on new geographic regions to expand their spheres of influence in the 19 th century, Africa emerged as a prime location for colonization due to its wealth of natural resources and purportedly undeveloped economies ripe for exploitation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |