Introduction
Race politics among Africans affected the introduction of western culture into the continent. During the past thirteenth century, Europeans in Africa viewed Africans as an opportunity to find workers for their industries and farms. Back in Europe, they viewed Africans as an opportunity to spread their culture and religion to the continent. Despite being in Africa, the Europeans imprisoned Africans and held them captives to work for them in the farms and industries in Europe. In return, they increased their numbers in Africa and established settlements in various parts of the continent. Among the benefits that they acquired while conducting their activities in Africa include spreading their religion and culture to the local people. This paper discusses European intervention in Africa and the results that this invasion caused. African views of a foreigner will be analyzed, and the foreigner’s views about Africans. The changes in African politics since the thirteenth century will be discussed and how European culture and politics affected these political and cultural beliefs. Additionally, issues of European dominance over Africans will be addressed and how intermarriages between European men and African women resulted in the abandonment of African beliefs.
African views about race identity and political beliefs changed over many centuries ago during the slave trade era. African enslavers sold their people to the Europeans as enslaved people with the expectation of receiving huge favors from the European slave dealers such as the Portuguese. However, this practice was lowered due to the intentions of various enslaved people who viewed the incidences and staged rebellions against their treatment leading to some of them taking control of various ships that transported them to Europe (Northrup, 2014). According to research in contemporary history, some rebellious enslaved people turned against their masters in “383 ships and only twenty-three ships reached the shore” (Northrup, 2014, p. 167). Slavery and slave trade appeared to African rulers to benefit from the trade more than the Portuguese benefited. They also treated the Europeans as mighty people, and for one to become a successful leader, one had to acquire their education. Many Africans during the seventeenth century sought European education and culture to become successful.
European knowledge has dominated African countries, especially West Africa since trade transactions needed foreign languages to be complete. Despite conducting the trade in Gold Coast, the European officials appointed African linguists as key African employees (Northrup, 2014). Traditionally, linguists decided their languages of specialization, but due to the growth of the trade, they attended formal schools in Europe and Africa to learn European languages. “The Royal African Company in 1964 appointed schoolmaster for African and Eurafrican children in Cape Coast Castle” (Northrup, 2014, p. 68). Africans worked hard to obtain western civilization, culture, and religion. African beliefs were not honored during trade between Africans and Europeans. For instance, the Portuguese, who assimilated most West Africans, viewed living Africans’ ways as degeneration of their classes. On the other hand, Africans viewed European culture as useful and learned their language, dress, and eating behaviors (Northrup, 2014). From the African perspective, European culture and political and religious beliefs were perfect hence the difference in race politics.
African rulers and elite people who acquired European encouraged other Africans in their countries to join European schools for education. The individuals felt that European culture was perfect, and, in their persuasion, they stated that for one to be a leader, they had to learn European culture. The introduction of European culture to African countries expresses the dominance of western culture and the reign of white diplomacy. An example of an African individual educated in Britain was William Ansah Sessarakoo in 1975 (Northrup, 2014). On his return to Ghana, he dressed in European clothing styles and looked like a “Consummate English Gentleman” (68). Although his father changed his clothing style to mark his return to his home country, Sessarakoo advised people to join western culture through education. He explained the benefits that learned people would get by learning the new culture apart from translators in the transatlantic trade. Another African who encouraged Africans to acquire western knowledge in the sixteenth century was King Afonso of Kongo. The king had received favors due to his European style acceptance and wanted the same for his people, encouraging them to follow his steps.
Outsiders interpreted African reactions to European culture in various. For example, the Portuguese took advantage of the situation and manipulated them with their culture and religion. While they believed that adopting African culture was downgrading themselves, the Portuguese encouraged them to follow their culture. Coastal Africans learned European languages and culture through social and economic encounters (Northrup, 2014). Other encounters where Africans learned the languages was through African women and European men relationships. Europeans who spent long periods in Africa started families with African women, and the results of their marriages were children who fostered commercial and cultural relations. African culture was not preserved through these marriages because the male Europeans taught their children western culture, and they grew as Europeans (Northrup, 2014). An example of an encounter between African women and Europeans was the Portuguese traders in Upper Guinea. Christian Jews had relationships with African women, which led to the establishment of new culture in Guinea, although the information was undocumented. Since the women received protection from their husbands, they were assimilated into European culture, raising children with a European background.
African welcome for foreigners is different from European foreigners. Whereas Africans welcome Europeans for trade and new opportunities, Europeans welcome Africans in their countries in expectation of return favor. For instance, three Tswana rulers from south Africa visited London seeking European protection from European settlement in their home country (Northrup, 2014). The British did not respond hostility, but they welcomed them and introduced them to western culture, intending to invade their country, which would later affect the country because the help they sought came with disadvantages. European imperialization resulted as the Africans abandoned their religious and political beliefs and focused on Europeans’ new religion and political ideologies. Before the introduction of western religion, Africans had their religions as monks, and other religious leaders presided over critical societal matters. According to Northrup (2014), Christianity developed in the kingdom of Ethiopia in the fourth century. Interactions between African religious leaders and Europeans led to the distinction of the culture because they were taught new ways and afforded opportunities that they abandoned their religions.
European treatment of Africans was unfair, and their actions could be termed as inhuman. The treatment was not limited to African men only but women too. Northrup (2014) explained that European women mistreated the Africans in some parts of Europe as they asked many questions. The women were curious about the rate of whiteness on African skin. They also counted their finger and toes to ascertain that they were human. European missionaries also did not believe in African religious leaders. This is evident where the mission women visited the brazen mission park to ensure that circumcision rite was practiced in the mission. The doubts of Europeans on Africans demonstrated their disbelief in African faith, hence creating tension among the Africans. African leaders judged Europeans as honorable men and that they were always right. For instance, the Gold Coast king heard Portuguese claims and termed African leaders as dirty and that the Portuguese representative dressed as the Portuguese King’s brother (Northrup, 2014, p.15). these utterances from African leaders about their African brothers degenerated them before the Europeans who took advantage of the situation.
African numbers in Europe increased for the elite members and enslaved people. As trade intensified between the Europeans and Africans on African land, rulers sold more people into slavery, growing the African population in Europe in the fifteenth century. The jobs that Africans secured in the western countries included servants, musicians, laborers, and artisans (Northrup, 2014). This increase in enslaved Africans in Europe reduced the number of white enslaved people because the outsiders saw Africans as workers and not white people. Toward the end of the thirteenth century, few white enslaved people’s supplies. In addition, the Ottoman intervention lowered slave supply from Slavic regions to Europe, and the trade was diverted to North Africa (Northrup, 2014). Other parts that Europeans sourced their enslaves include the sub-Sahara Africa. The Portuguese purchased enslaved people from north to south Africa, and when they were in excess, they sold some of them to the Spanish kingdom. This explains how Europeans viewed the continent during the thirteenth century as a source of labor for their production processes.
Before traveling to European countries, African elites intended to change their lands and protect themselves against white supremacy. However, on arriving in Europe and receiving better welcome and treatments, the Africans discovered that the white were generous people. Therefore, the Europeans assimilated them into their culture and taught them their cultural beliefs ad Christianity. Europeans used the African elites as their passwords to Africa. Also, the Africans were not strong enough to defend their culture against strong Europeans who established their culture, religion, and politics in the continent. Some African rulers collaborated with European rule due to fear of fighting them because their military was weak compared to the Europeans’. Others supported European invasion because they wanted protection against their internal enemies and rebels. The introduction of the slave trade led to increased hate among Africans since the enslaved people hated their rules who sold them to slavery. According to Northrup (2014), enslaved Africans who freed themselves in their transportation ships wished that the leaders were accompanying them so that they would kill them first.
Due to trade between Africans and Europeans, Europeans understood the Africans and were familiar with their looks and cultures. Although they never cared for the skin color of the Africans, Europeans focused on changing the religious and political beliefs of Africans. According to Northrup (11), Portuguese traveling through the Atlantic coast was not surprised of the dark-skinned people below the Sahara.” Initially, Africans were reluctant to any transactions with Europeans due to the fear of losing their culture. However, over the centuries, they embraced commercial transactions between them, and their relationships intensified, which led to intermarriages and loss of African culture. However, conflicts arose between Africans and Europeans since some Africans resisted the sale of other Africans, and the main trade item in the trade was the enslaved people. This resistance demonstrated the strength in fighting for African culture and dignity preservation. Disunity among Africans led o victory for the Europeans since some Africans supported them in fighting the resistors. Due to the tremendous support from Africans, European ships’ population increased as they expected more captives from the battles of rebellion and other sales.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ignorance among Africans was the main cause of their invasion by the Europeans. Despite some Africans being elites, Europeans invaded Africa because they taught them their culture, which prevented them from resisting European rule. African rulers played a role in the invasion because some of them supported the Portuguese for material gain and protection from the foreigners. Another factor that facilitated easy penetration and settlement of Europeans in the continent was their treachery in giving incentives to African rulers in return for the enslaved people that they acquired from them. The elite Africans could have sought help from other continents instead of asking for Britain’s help. This is because Britain is one of the European countries; hence, they could only increase their suffering than solve their problem. Acceptance of intermarriages between African women and European men was a problem that led to the failure of African culture because the resulting children learned European culture hence undermining the local culture.
Reference
Northrup, D. (2014). Africa’s discovery of Europe: 1450-1850. Oxford University Press, USA.
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