Colonialism In Kenya

Britain once bragged at the Berlin Conference that “the sun never sets on the British empire.” Britain was taking over the world in the 20th century by colonialism. Colonialism occurs when one nation takes control over another. During the Berlin Conference, all of Africa, excluding a few countries, was placed under European control. In Africa, Britain wanted to strip them of their raw materials to benefit their factories and cash crops such as coffee, tea, and cocoa. Although colonialism was viewed negative by farmers who were getting their lands taken away, Kenya did benefit through British colonization. Throughout a new government, conversion in religion, and change in jobs and schooling, Kenya was affected educationally, religiously, socially,

Although the “religious sentiment is not highly developed among the native of East Africa,” religion was abundant in some Kenyan tribes (Document 6). Most tribes in Kenya had “some notion of a Supreme Being,” and tribes all around Kenya had myths about God and creation (Document 6). In one creation story, it is told that “god created man so that the sun would have someone for whom to shine” (Document 7). These myths, whether true or false, were completely different from the creation stories of the British. In British Colonization, many schools were being created, and within these schools, kids are being western educated. Young children are being raised Roman Catholic, and when they grow up, their family could possibly be raised in the same western religion (Document 9). Through school, missionaries were able to convert countless children. In 1962, 80% of Kenyans had indigenous beliefs (Document 8). In just 40 years, the percent of Kenyans who had indigenous beliefs decreased to 26%, while the percent of Protestants in Kenya rose over 30% to 38% (Document 8). The missionaries, who showed “apparent devotion to their work,” were able to raise the percentage of western religions in Kenya from around 10% to 66% in just 40 years (Document 9 & 8). The missionaries greatly affected the religion in Kenya because they were able to convert

Under European control, new schools were formed, a new government was introduced, more jobs were created, and slavery was abolished. Now, this may seem all positive, but colonialism did result in some negative change because Africans were forced to pay taxes, give up land, and convert to a new religion. Although European assistance was needed in Kenya, all the changes affected the citizens. Colonialism is important in history because it can benefit a country, but it can also tear one apart. In the end, European colonialism hugely affected Kenya through social, political, education, and religious