references

Running head: ORAL HISTORY 1

ORAL HISTORY 2

Oral History

Name:

Course:

Instructor:

Institution:

Date of Submission:

The colonial Masters

Colonialism took part in several parts of the world from as early as the 17th century. It involved powerful countries taking control of inferior countries. Colonization in the western world took place much earlier with countries like the USA gaining their independence in the 1700s. In the western world just like I n Africa, colonization was characterized by masters oppressing the servants who were slaves. Discrimination was also part of the ruthless governing style of the colonialists. Natives were turned into slaves to provide labor for the colonial masters and any attempts to rebel would attract severe punishment and through whipping and deprival of basic needs. The family structure of the natives in most cases especially Africa was shattered as some key members of the families especially the energetic male were confined in locations far from their homes. Education was a preserve for the colonial masters and in areas where the natives got access to education; they had their own low standard schools. Natives during the colonial periods knew no luxury, even the basic needs were a mere privilege. Colonialism, despite being very abrasive, brought with it a great deal of goodies to the colonized states. The positive contribution of colonization in general included; establishment of education systems, establishment of informed methods of governance like, democratic governance, Establishment of institutions like the judiciary and legislative organizations, Establishment of modern infrastructure as well as modern systems of communication. Colonization may have caused slavery and discrimination of the colonized people but in some areas, for example Africa, people were discriminated within the local communities before the colonialists came. Colonialism also put an end to some primitive ways of life and exposed the colonized, especially in Africa to the light of civilization-western civilization.

In the early nineteenth century, colonization reached Africa with the western control of African states and the establishment of colonial rule. Colonial rule influenced by the need for raw materials for the western countries’ industries that were at the stage of development. The period was characterized by industrial revolution in the western part of the world and therefore each country wanted to get raw materials to maximize their industrial outputs.

Colonialism in Africa began after missionaries had been in Africa and had already established Christianity in different parts of Africa. The presence of the missionaries enabled t he colonialists to enter Africa and establish their rule. Some countries collaborated with the western powers while others resisted. In the countries where natives collaborated, the western powers established their rule without any strife. In the countries where there was resistance, the western powers had to take control by force. They succeeded because they had superior weapons and because their weapons were superior to the crude weapons of the Africans.

The colonial story is rich and interesting as it explains how western civilization was introduced in Africa. The African had to learn a new way of life. They had to start going to school to acquire western education. I developed interest for the story of colonialism after sharing with Bernard Nderitu; an old man of Kenyan origin who through a British friend came to Britain in the 1960s, just after Kenya gained independence. When we met with him, I had gone to Miami for a holiday vacation where he had taken his family for a week out. We shared, and he gave me a taste of his experience during the colonial times. The following is our conversation.

Me: It is arguably true that colonialism story reminds you a great deal of your country’s history. How old were you when the British came to Kenya?

Bernard: The story of colonialism is truly fascinating and for sure it reminds me the Kenyan history. When the British first entered Kenya, I was not yet born but my birth came a twenty years after the British had established their rule in Kenya.

Me: When did the British reach Kenya for the first time? Did they come from another African country or directly from Britain? When were you born?

Bernard: They first entered Kenya in 1895. They first took over the interior of Kenya a place around Lake Naivasha. Lake Naivasha is in The Rift valley area. Have you heard of the Rift valley?

Me: Yes my Geography teacher talked about it when we were studying Africa’ physical features. Is Naivasha area near Mount Kenya?

Bernard: It is approximately 180 kilometers to the south-west of Mount Kenya. That is a good trial; you must be very good in Geography.

Me: Thank you, which part of Kenya did they occupy next after Naivasha?

Bernard: By this time boundaries had not yet been drawn. The British first set up the East Africa Protectorate in 1902; the East Africa Protectorate was extended to Uganda. In 1920, the by then larger East African Protectorate became a crown colony. The crown colony was an area set aside for the settlement of the British. The highland areas in turn became the enclaves of white settlers. After settling on the highland areas, the white settlers (British) began coffee farming getting labor from the Kikuyu community. During the acquisition of this land, there was resistance from the communities that were staying in the highlands during that time. The British government established direct rule in the east Africa protectorate on 1 July 1895, and this is the time they occupied the highlands.

Me: Wow! You are narrating it like it was yesterday. How did they access Uganda from the interior part of Kenya?

Bernard: They accessed Uganda through the Uganda Railway. The British built the Uganda railway from 1895 to 1905. It was built to enable movement with goods from the Mombasa Indian Ocean to the interior. The imposition of direct rule in Kenya was due to severe financial difficulties that faced the British East African company (BEAC), the company that Sir William Mackinnon used to establish the colonial rule in Kenya.

Me: What was the reception in other parts of Kenya? How did the natives start adapting the western kind of life and how did the British communicate with the Africans?

Bernard: The British colonialists had an advantage in entering the East Africa because of the missionaries who had established their mission stations in different parts of East Africa starting from their points of entrance, the coastal region. The missionaries had learned the local languages hence it as easy for them to introduce the colonialists or better still translate to them what the Africans said. At the time they took control of the country, they had learnt the local languages and had lured some of the leaders of the communities to collaborate with them.

Me: How was the education? Did the British build schools immediately and were the Africans absorbed in the schools?

Bernard: The first schools to be built were built by the missionaries, and most of them were located at the missionary stations. The missionaries began teaching Africans but when the missionaries came, this stopped for some time as the best schools were preserved for the whites. The Africans were laborers in the white firms.

Me: What do you mean by white firms?

Bernard: White firms were the plantation farms owned by the British colonialists. They were also called the white highlands.

Me: How about the labor? Were there rewards?

Bernard: There were no rewards. Those who did not co-operate were whipped and forced to do the work. It was a serious ordeal, with inadequate food and compulsory hard labor.

Me: Apart from coffee, which other crops did the British introduce in Kenya?

Bernard: There were tea and sisal plantations besides the coffee farms. Some of the farms till exist today. Those who collaborated fully received little pay and were given food.

Me: When and why did the resistance start?

Bernard: Africans started resisting because of the unbearable conditions they were exposed to. Their land had been acquired forcefully, and they were subjected to forced labor. They had been made subjects in their land. The whites who did not work enjoyed the rewards from the forced labor.

Me: How did you struggle for independence? How did it begin?

Bernard: It reached a point when Africans felt that the hardship they were forced in was enough and decided to rebel against the colonialists. When the resistance began, the colonialists threatened to kill those who resisted. Some were practically killed while a great number that rebelled was detained. In Kenyan, the struggle for freedom was led by "maumau", a group of warriors who faced the colonialist's head on.

Me: That is a good narration, do you like history or did you study history?

Bernard: Yes, I do like history. I studied history and political science at Harvard University. I am a University professor.

Me: That is great you have a wealth of knowledge accumulated over a long time.

Bernard: I am happy for young people like you who seek knowledge.

Me: Thanks for your time. I enjoyed the conversation.

Bernard: Welcome, the pleasure is mine.