African Independence

Between the years of 1955 and 1975 Africa gradually started to gain their independence from overseas European Nations. The only countries exempt form this takeover were Libya, South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt. This time period was also called the Scramble for Africa. African countries had no say in what the Europeans were doing due to the fact that the imperialistic Europeans were far more dominant in weaponry. Even though Imperialism also involved placing your own traditions into the country being taken over, many of the people in Africa were not pleased. Very few enjoyed the perks that were provided by the Europeans but little did they know that Europeans were just here for natural resources for themselves rather than helping the African population. That was the scenery of what was going on after 1955.

By 1975 Africa broke through the shackles of the European countries and gained their independence. A very important figure in Africa during this time period was named Jomo Kenyatta. Jomo gained a good education while growing up and soon studied politics while he worked as a carpenter. He was put in prison for trying to prevent the British from turning the Government system in Africa into communism which by the way would be a very bad mix with imperialism. After being let out of jail 7 years later, Africa had gained their independence and Jomo became the president of Kenya.

Some other important leaders during this time period was Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes was a racist British leader who tried instill British control over Africa. The famous picture of him standing over Africa with puppet strings really shows his character during this harsh time. Two other important figures during this time were Nelson Mandela who soon became president of South Africa and Kwame Nkrumah who was the leader of Ghana.

I will speak of Nelson Mandela in the next blog but Kwame Nkrumah also one of the men who deserve credit for part of the whole African Independence change. His three goals were to first learn to govern, second unify the four territories of the gold coast and lastly gain independence for his nation. on March 6 of 1957 Nkrumah declared Ghana independent.