African Colonial Underdevelopment
INTRODUCTION
This research considers the
This is an excerpt from the paper...
This research considers the proposition that the European colonial powers underdeveloped the countries of Sub Saharan Africa. Most of the colonies of Sub Saharan Africa gained their political independence subsequent to the end of the Second World War. As newly independent nations, their rela tive levels of economic development varied widely; however, all could be considered to have been underdeveloped. In this research, Kenya is used as the focal point for the exploration of the issue.Pre colonial development, as used in this research does not refer to the subsistence agricultural system developed by the peoples of Kenya. Rather, it refers to that period in the history of Kenya subsequent to the arrival of European explor ers, traders, resource developers, and soldiers, and prior to the time the British Foreign Office transferred its Kenyan administrative responsibilities to the British Colonial Office in 1905, and prior to the time (about 1920) when the Colonial Office developed coherent agricultural development policies. The Foreign Office itself did not assume administrative responsibilities until 1895. Prior to that time, the Europeans 1 2on the scene had a free hand, insofar as they were able to either persuade or compel the peoples of Kenya to do their bid ding.1 Agriculture is possible in Kenya from altitudes ranging from sea level to more than nine thousand feet, in tropical, sub tropical, and temp
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even the ownership of the reserve lands had been transferred to the crown.13 Thus, native Kenyans became tenant farmers even on those lands reserved for their use.14 By 1920, almost 50 percent of the best agricultural land in Kenya had been made available for the exclusive use of settlers.15
This early stage of the development of Kenyan agriculture was characterized by three salient features. First, by a
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10Cone, and Lipscomb, 175.
11M. P. K. Sorrenson, Origins of European Settlement in Kenya (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), 61 142.
12Sorrenson, Land, 16 23.
13Ibid., 27 28.
14Ibid., 28 29.
15P. Mosley, The Settler Economies (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 22.
5strong precedence to the immigrant white settler over the native Kenyan. Second, by encouraging native Kenyans on the reserves to grow economic crops, as opposed to their tradi tional subsistence crops.16 Third, by the legalizing of actions which made the accumulation of large estates by the white settlers a relatively easy task. Lastly, by making the reserve lands crown lands, the Kenyans were made tenant farmers on their own lands.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT
The Colonial Period considered is from 1
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1883
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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