December 4, 2002
Colonization in West Africa
The West African community has been affected by colonization in many diverse ways, from the introduction of Christian Missionaries to the heart wounding slave trade.
The colonization of West Africa can be divided into five major parts; British, French, German, Portuguese and Independent Nation colonization.
Africa was colonized principally for its rich natural resource. According to The West Africa Under Colonial Rule by Michael Crowder the land was in great possession of diamonds, gold, tin, groundnuts, cocoa, coffee and other rich mineral resources that may not have been found in Europe (Crowder 274). The British were primarily interested in maintaining a secure communication line to India, which eventually lead to the initial interest in Egypt and other West African countries (Crowder). This was a result of some of the rich resources available in these countries.
The British colonization started with the introduction of Christianity.
Africa
Satellite image of Africa, showing the ecological ...
A spiral stack of copies of the 1994 Anchor Books ...The first people with whom the British first interacted were the people along the coast. They were the first to interact with the Europeans. It all started with the missionaries and when the colonial rulers learned of the fertile and rich resources of the land, they started trading with the people. The colonial masters traded in weapons in exchange of gold, salt, timber, cocoa and other resources. These rich resources were of great value to the Europeans and thus it created some rivalries among the European powers.
The presence of weapons and arms on the land created a lot of confusion. It generated a lot of mistrust and misunderstanding among the people. This was because the colonial masters traded the arms with some of the tribes. The tribes did not understand why other tribes should be in the possession of these weapons. Therefore the presence of these weapons created...