African Colonialism

Paper Summary:

This paper concentrates on the effects colonization had on the African people from their point of view. The paper explains that the Europeans imposed their own governmental, educational and religious systems on the Africans thus confusing their own unique cultural heritages. The paper explains how this caused many divisions amongst Africans and it tore societies apart. The paper also notes the difference between the styles of rule of the British and French yet shows how for the Africans the effects were the same. The paper concludes that the effects of the colonization of Africa are still felt today in the form of many cultural and social imbalances.

From the Paper:

"A. Abu Boahen's book African Perspectives on Colonialism is a determined effort to take the much studied topic of colonialism within the African continent and give it that native spin that has been sorely lacking. He notes that although there have been many works handling the issue of African colonialism; it seems that "most of these authors have looked at the subject primarily from a Euro-centric point of view." (Boahen, vii). Boahen also aims to legitimize the independence revolutions that have occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century by placing them more properly within their historical context. The overall effect European colonization of Africa had upon the African people was that they possessed an almost duel sense of history; they held ties to their own unique cultural heritages as well as the formalized governmental, educational, and religious systems that the Europeans had brought and imposed upon them. Many Africans are Christians, many speak predominantly English, French, or Portuguese; and simultaneously, many others wish to reject all remnants of European brutality. The divisions between the imperialist powers have ultimately divided the people of Africa in manners that make many regions particularly tumultuous, and the powers of the European-style governments particularly limited."

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