Scramble for Kenya

Imperialism is de beauteousd as unity countrys domination of the political, economical, and br other(a)ly life of a nonher country. In Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imperialism was present and growing. The master(prenominal) countries involved in the imperialism in Africa were the French, German, and Britain. only of these countries were in a constant scramble to become the near powerful, to befuddle the most riches, and control all over high abundances of the internal resources in Africa. One region in particular beingness that of present daylight Kenya was desirable to the British.Although Britains reasons to imperialize Kenya were selfish and harmful, in the long emission Britain helped Kenya progress. On a quest to catch out natural resources in Kenya the Portuguese were among the initiative European settlers along the beach of Kenya. Up until the 19th century, very little was know about Kenyas solid ground beyond the coast until the arrival o f the British who came and colonise Kenya. Kenya was under the control of British amongst the 19th century and mid twentieth century. In the early 1800s, European powers began hasten to get a hold of unclaimed territories within flying fields of saki in Africa.Zanzibar and the interior of Eastern Africa caught the attention of both Germany and Britain. To evacuate conflict, in 1886, Germany and Britain signed a pact in which they agreed upon what go throughs they would pursue. Germany would take the coast of present day Tanzania and Britain had access to the subject area where Kenya and Uganda lie. 1 Britain was as well interested in other areas in Southern Africa however, the British were hesitant in accepting intact responsibility for the region they had access to.The prove was Britain all(prenominal)owing a commercial company, the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC), the right to care and develop the eastern territory. The IBEAC was responsible for the lan d stretching from the eastern coast of Africa to Uganda all the way to the northwestern part to Lake Victoria. 2 The British settlers were particularly attracted to Kenyas fertile highlands. Britains main interest in Kenya was not to control the local plenty, but to configuration a railway that would charge Uganda and Zanzibar, to the Indian Ocean.The railway was important for strategic and economic reasons. It was to be the main link that would connect Lake Victoria and Uganda. Uganda became a source of interest since the source of the Nile river was thought to be in that location. The verbal expression of the railway take to immigration of people from India who were imported to twist on the railway. In order to maintain control over the Kenyans, the British limited their education to serviceable skills for working on farms. The colonial authorities forced Kenyans to work. In 1901, the British compel tax payments in every area that they controlled.In order to make path f or the incoming British, indigenous agricultural peoples such(prenominal) as the Kikuyu and the Kampa were removed form their land and relocated. No longer allowed to farm on their own land, many Kenyans were forced to work for Europeans growing cash-crops. Wages for these workers were very low. Laws were in any case put in place by the colonial administration that allowed employees to be fine or imprisoned if employers were not buoyant with their work. It was these crimes, among other abuses, which gave rise to independence movements in Kenya which eventually liberated the country from the British.Discrimination, guile of taxes, forced beat back, and confiscated land caused friction between Kenyans and the colonial government. 4 The friction led to eventual resistance by Kenyans against the British rule. Rebellious groups were organize one of them being the Mau Mau. The Mau Mau was a rebellion group formed to oppose British rule from 1890 until 1960. They worked on plans to f orce the British to leave. The loss of European life is very little. The main victims of Mau Mau frenzy are other Kikuyu who refuse to backing the cause.Among the Mau Mau themselves as many as 11,000 died in encounters with British forces. In 1929 one of the nationalist leaders, Jomo Kenyatta, was sent to England to negotiate on behalf of the Kikuyu companionship by presenting their concerns to the British government. In October 1952, there was a sudden outbreak of break and assassination in Kenya. Kikuyu terrorists and their ritual oaths of truth to their secret organization reflect the usance of Jomo Kenyattas political group, the Kikuyu Central Association. The colonial government reacted immediately, declaring a state of emergency and sensational Jomo Kenyatta.Kenyatta was charged for planning the Mau Mau uprising, he was sentenced in March 1953 to seven years imprisonment. Jomo Kenyatta was still in detention as of 1960, but his colleagues pick out him president of their hotly formed political party, the Kenya African subject Union. Kenyatta is finally released by the British in 1961. 5 In elections in May 1963, Kenya African National Union won the majority of the seats. license of Kenya was achieved in December 1963, with Kenyatta as summit minister. A year later, under a new constitution, Kenya becomes a republic. In 1964, Kenyatta was elected president.British imperialism changed Kenyan society in a number of ways. Large total of new peoples from different cultures took up mansion in Kenya bringing in new ideas, missionaries brought about changes in religion, and land and labor practices changed. In addition to spreading their religion, missionaries also influenced and changed Kenyan culture in other ways. They established European style churches, schools, and hospitals which would have an ongoing impact upon the Kenyan people7. he cultural changes Kenya has undergone during the British imperialism has helped Kenya progress as a whole.