H/H/10. African History: African Nationalist Movements

Many historians, most of them African, black, or Marxist scholars, especially development and underdevelopment theorists, maintain the belief that the period of colonialism had and has had no positive impact whatsoever on Africa and that the negative aspects of colonialism have had lasting effects that can still be seen today. A good way to determine which side may be more correct than the other is to discuss African life under colonial rule, the African nationalist efforts to gain independence, and life after independence. By doing this one can see a comparison between colonial life and life after independence to determine if the leaders of the nationalist movements were successful in attaining their goals of the anti-colonial struggle. Two good examples to discuss and compare in resolving this debate is Kenya and the Congo. While they are both very different from each other, they also share some common ground with which to compare and contrast them.