Africa for Kids: Exploring a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities (For Kids series)

Africa for Kids: Exploring a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities. Front Cover · Harvey Croze . a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities For Kids series.
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Combined with the progressive encroachment on African lands and the intensifying demand for their labour, the rearming of Africans was a major source of the instability of these years. Initially, claims on the diamond fields were limited, technology was primitive, and small-scale black diggers could compete with whites. In the mid s, however, chaotic production conditions, a flooded world diamond market, and labour shortages made the transition to larger units of production necessary. Joint-stock companies were created, bringing international capital and a transformation of mining technology.

By the thousands of claims of the previous decade had been monopolized by the De Beers Mining Company. For black and white workers the establishment of the De Beers monopoly was of immense significance. African migrant workers were now more rigorously controlled by pass laws, which limited their mobility, and by confinement to compounds for the duration of their work contracts.

Many white miners lost their jobs or became overseers, and wages for all workers were sharply reduced.

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With the discovery of the Witwatersrand , attention switched from Kimberley to the South African Republic, which was quickly transformed from a ramshackle and bankrupt agrarian outpost to the most important state in the subcontinent. The coastal colonies competed to control the lucrative Witwatersrand trade, and immigration mounted: When local capital proved inadequate, funds flowed in from Britain, Germany, and France.

In the Chamber of Mines , an organization of mine owners, was formed to drive down the costs of production. This became even more important once deep-level mines were opened in the mid s, because development costs were high, the ore low-grade, and the price of gold controlled. Skilled, unionized white workers from the mining frontiers of the world were able to protect their high wages, while the chamber formed two major recruiting organizations, the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association Wenela and the Native Recruiting Corporation, to extend, monopolize, and control the black labour supply throughout the subcontinent.

For many young men a period of labour migration could bring independent access to bridewealth. Although the process had its roots in the migration of Africans to colonial labour markets earlier in the century, migrant labour expanded after the mineral discoveries and had profound ramifications for the control of senior men over juniors and colonial administrators over taxpayers.

Chiefs thus became increasingly anxious over their lack of control over young men and women and struck alliances with colonial administrators and recruiting agents to secure the return of migrants. The first move in the scramble for Southern Africa came with renewed assertions of British supremacy in the interior. After much dispute, Britain annexed Griqualand West as a crown colony in , transferring it to the Cape Colony in The multiple crises following the diamond discoveries led during the s to failed imperial schemes to confederate the Southern African territories, but imperial wars between and effectively ended the independence of the major African kingdoms.

Of these conquests the best-known was the war in against the Zulu , which included a spectacular defeat of the British army at Isandhlwana; nevertheless, wars against the southern Tswana and Griqua, the Pedi of the eastern Transvaal, the western Xhosa, and the southern Sotho were the essential precondition for the creation of a unified South Africa. The mineral discoveries whetted German imperial ambitions, and in Germany annexed the vast, sparsely populated territory of South West Africa now Namibia.

The annexation challenged British hegemony in the region, raised fears of a German-Transvaal alliance, and accelerated the scramble for Southern Africa. Portugal received short shrift from the other powers, however. At the Berlin West Africa Conference of —85, Portugal secured the Cabinda exclave and a portion of the left bank of the Congo River on the Atlantic coast—considerably less than it claimed—and in the Kunene-Okavango region went to Germany.

Portugal gained even less in Mozambique, which remained a narrow coastal corridor. With the discovery of gold, the remaining independent African polities south of the Limpopo were conquered and annexed, and both within and beyond colonial frontiers concessionaires were spurred by prospects of further discoveries and the availability of speculative capital. The Limpopo constituted no barrier, and between and all the African territories south of the Congo territory were annexed.

In south-central Africa the British competed with the South African Republic, Portugal, Germany, and Belgium, while in east-central Africa, to the west and south of Lake Nyasa, the thrust from the south encountered the less powerful but still significant antislavery missionary and trading frontier from the east.

The continuation of the slave trade

For many of the peoples of the subcontinent, the first phase of colonialism may have been overshadowed by the series of disasters that struck rural society in the mid s, including locusts, drought, smallpox and other diseases, and a disastrous rinderpest epidemic that decimated African cattle holdings in — Whereas before the colonial period such natural disasters would have killed large numbers in the short term but probably would have had little long-term consequence, the disasters of the s drew considerable numbers of Africans into dependence on colonial labour markets for the first time and thus permanently changed the structure of African society.

In —88 the high commissioner at the Cape, fearful of Transvaal expansion northward, declared the region a British sphere of interest. It was at this point that Cecil John Rhodes entered the arena. The story of how Rhodes came to South Africa to repair his frail health and stayed to become a millionaire on the diamond fields before he was 30 is legendary.

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In Rhodes entered the Cape parliament, and in the s he played a key role in securing the British annexation of the Tswana kingdoms that straddled the road to the interior. One of the leading mine owners in Kimberley, by he had bought out his rivals and created the De Beers consortium. A flurry of treaty making in —89 left the BSAC with land and mineral concessions throughout present-day Malawi and Zambia. Despite the dubious legality of the treaties, the chiefs agreed to accept British jurisdiction over non-Africans in their domains and over external relations.

In the European chancellories, where the frontiers of Africa were being decided, the treaties played an important role in negotiations. In —91 British, Portuguese, and German conventions established the frontiers of many of the modern states of Southern Africa. As their hopes of discovering gold waned, settlers and the BSAC began expropriating African land, labour, and cattle.

Settlers who participated in the war were granted lavish farms and mineral claims, both of which soon passed to speculative syndicates. A land commission perfunctorily set aside two reserves for the Ndebele on poor soils.


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In the Ndebele rose in revolt and were joined by a number of eastern Shona polities. Only the arrival of imperial troops and the collaboration of other Shona groups saved the company state. The uprising led the British to intervene directly in BSAC affairs by appointing a resident commissioner in Bulawayo responsible to the imperial high commissioner in Cape Town. These events left few resources for occupation north of the Zambezi until the late s.

Given the fragmentation and social divisions of the region, he found little difficulty in implementing a policy of divide and rule. West of the protectorate, Africans were drawn more gradually under colonial rule, despite pleas from the Lozi king Lewanika that the British provide technical and financial assistance in exchange for mineral concessions, as promised in an treaty.

The 20 years following the restoration of the Lozi monarchy after the Kololo interregnum had been filled with civil war and succession disputes. By inviting the missionaries, and subsequently the BSAC, to Bulozi, Lewanika, like the Ngwato king Khama III to his south, hoped to bolster his internal position and gain the skills to enable him to deal with the intruders. Bulozi became a protectorate within a protectorate, tied to the Southern African political economy. In northeastern Zambia , too, the process of imposing colonial rule came later, but in the end it was swifter and less violent than it had been to the south or east.

Africa for Kids: Exploring a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities by Harvey Croze

The natural disasters of the s diminished the ability of the more powerful groups to resist, while weaker peoples at first welcomed the end of Bemba, Ngoni , and Swahili exactions. A lack of resources spared the region major confrontations with colonialism by contrast, among the Ngoni led by Mpeseni , where gold was believed to exist, the onslaught was as dramatic as in Zimbabwe and the expropriation as brutal. Nevertheless, attempts to impose closer settlement, interfere with local agricultural techniques, and extract forced labour combined with natural disasters to produce extremely high morbidity and mortality rates in the early years of company rule.

For much of the 19th century, Portuguese colonists in Angola and Mozambique were fewer in number and weaker in authority than those in the interior of South Africa. At the beginning of the century, fewer than 1, settlers in each colony huddled on a number of estates around inland forts, along the Bengo and Dande rivers in Angola, and along the lower Zambezi in Mozambique. Most of them had intermarried with local peoples and were independent of Portugal. The metropolitan Portuguese were unable to control either the coastal trade or the activities of the merchants and warlords in the hinterland, who often acted in their name.

In the absence of regular taxation or an effective system of customs and tariffs, the economies of the territories were poor and their administrations weak and corrupt. Despite a mythology that held that the Portuguese, unlike the northern Europeans, did not differentiate according to race, from early times it is clear that whites had superior status and prestige—if not always greater power—in Angola and Mozambique.

Although both territories gained somewhat from the Napoleonic Wars, it was not until the end of the 19th century that Portugal regained any of its colonizing energy. From the mid 19th century, Portuguese capital began to enter the colony. The Portuguese made land grants in the Luanda hinterland, and planters experimented with raising coffee, cotton, cacao, and sugarcane, using the slaves who could no longer be exported. In the absence of an adequate administration or communications network, the plantations in Angola were never highly successful, although coffee cultivation spread among African peasant farmers in the region.

Africa for Kids: Exploring a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities

The appropriation of African land for plantations was resisted, and Portuguese attempts to expand their colonial nucleus led to a series of wars with African peoples, followed by famine and epidemics. The instability of the last decades of the 19th century paved the way for the colonial period that followed. Portuguese attempts to develop Mozambique met with even less success, given the lack of investment and prevailing disorder, as escaped slaves, soldiers, and porters formed bandit bands in broken country and attacked Portuguese settlements and African villages.

In many areas domestic slavery underpinned the migration of young men to the labour markets of the south by the s. Liberal governments in Portugal from mid century were anxious to outlaw the feudal aspects of the prazo system but were unsuccessful, despite four military campaigns and a declaration in that the prazos were crown property. Until the s the Portuguese had little authority beyond their coastal enclaves. The only bright spot in their fortunes in southeastern Africa was the growing prosperity of Delagoa Bay , as trade with the Transvaal increased.

In Portuguese rights to Delagoa Bay were recognized internationally. Although Portugal failed in its major territorial ambitions in the late 19th century, it nonetheless acquired about , square miles 2,, square km of African territory, of which it controlled about one-tenth. The greatest resistance came from those people with the longest experience of Portuguese rule and with the necessary firearms. In Angola the major campaigns were against the Kongo, Mbundu, and Ovambo peoples; in Mozambique against peoples of the Zambezi valley, the Islamized Makua and Yao, and the Gaza kingdom, which was finally defeated in The majority of Portuguese troops in both territories were black, a situation that turned every campaign into a potential civil war.

Fragmentation of political authority, resistance of traditional elites threatened by colonial rule, and the precipitate introduction of taxes and forced labour policies also made resistance in the Portuguese colonies the most prolonged in early 20th-century Africa. Colonial markets were of particular importance to Portugal, and tariff barriers were erected to protect its manufactures. Starved of capital and racked by financial crises, Portugal planned to develop the colonies by attracting immigration and foreign capital and by fostering plantation agriculture.

In Mozambique, however, local employers could not compete with the Witwatersrand. Since the s, Mozambican migrants had traveled to the farms and sugar plantations of South Africa, while by the s sterling had begun to replace cattle and hoes as bridewealth. By more than half the mine workers on the Rand came from Mozambique, while thousands worked on South African farms. The Germans were the last imperial power to arrive in Africa. Their annexation and control of South West Africa was eased by the intense cleavages that had opened up between the local Nama and the Herero chiefdoms, a result of their increasing involvement in the world economy during the 19th century.

Throughout the 19th century, displaced communities of Khoekhoe and Oorlams from the Cape had made their way into South West Africa, competing for the sparse water and grazing land. At first they settled peacefully on land granted them by the local populace, some of them establishing mission communities. The advent in the s of the Oorlam chief Jonker Afrikaner and his well-armed followers significantly altered the regional balance of power. Responding to an appeal from the Nama, who were being driven from their grazing lands by Herero expansion, Afrikaner settled at Windhoek.

By gaining control over the all-important trade routes from Walvis Bay and the Cape Colony, he ensured, until his death in , Nama dominance over the Herero.

Wars between the Nama and Herero were exacerbated from the mid 19th century by the increasing cattle and ivory trade and the availability of firearms; apart from a breathing space between l and , the Nama-Herero wars continued from to Initially Germany hoped to exploit the territory through a concession company, but it could not raise sufficient capital. The government was increasingly forced to intervene in local affairs, especially when settlers appropriated Herero cattle and grazing lands. The most formidable opponent of the Germans was Hendrik Witbooi, a Nama chief who tried unsuccessfully to unite the Herero and Nama against the Germans.

After a lengthy guerrilla war, he was defeated in The rinderpest epidemic, the alienation of the better-watered highlands, unfair trading practices, and increasing indebtedness led to an uprising by the Nama and Herero peoples in l— They were crushed in a genocidal campaign: The Nama were reduced by two-fifths. The handful of settlers had to turn for labour to the Cape Colony and Ovamboland, which was formally brought under colonial rule only when the South Africans took over South West Africa during World War I. Welcome to the resourceful global of contemporary mosaic layout, a ordinary artwork that dates again to precedent days.

Things to Make in the Holidays. Get a prey's-eye view of a fearsome Allosaurus, take a too-close-for-comfort examine an Oviraptor's bone-crushing jaws, and notice what it might be prefer to jump, wing-to-wing, with a flock of Pterodactylus. Cool Sewing for Kids. Find out about the fundamentals of fiber arts whereas developing cool stuff. The Cool stitching for children identify teaches the 1st steps of ways to stitch.

They had to eat grass, even if it meant grazing need to click your tongue on the roof of your mouth all night to avoid the hot sun. Preview — Africa for Kids by Harvey Croze. Exploring a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities 3. Africa is brought to life in this imaginative look at the plants, animals, and people that make it such a fascinating continent.

Studies of both traditional tribes and modern African cities showcase Africa's diversity, and authentic activities allow kids to dive into the rich culture by making a Maasai bivouac shelter, writing a fable in the African style, working as a fie Africa is brought to life in this imaginative look at the plants, animals, and people that make it such a fascinating continent.

Studies of both traditional tribes and modern African cities showcase Africa's diversity, and authentic activities allow kids to dive into the rich culture by making a Maasai bivouac shelter, writing a fable in the African style, working as a field biologist, making a ritual elephant mask, and learning to tie an African Kanga dress. This cross-cultural study also shows kids what challenges Africa faces today while giving them a look at what it is like to live on this interesting continent. Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

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