HISTORY FORM THREE TOPIC 3:COLONIAL ECONOMY

 

COLONIAL ECONOMY

Establishment of Colonial Economy

The Meaning and Objectives of Colonial Economy

Explain the meaning and objectives of colonial economy

Colonial economy was introduced in order to increase production distribution and consumption of material wealth.

Why colonial economy was introduced to Africa

Colonial economy in Africa was introduced due to the industrial revolution in Europe which led to a need for raw materials, markets, areas of investment and labourers. In order to solve those problems, Europeans established five economic activities such as agriculture, mining, industry, trade and infrastructure.

Features of colonial economy

Colonial economy had several features which differ from the pre-colonial economy in the following ways:

1. Colonial economy was export oriented (e.g. production of cash crops, mineral.
2. It was exploitative in nature,that is Africans were highly exploited.
3. It went hand in hand with alienation of Africans (Africans were alienated from their land which was used by the Europeans).
4. Colonial economy used forced labour (in areas where colonial rulers opened projects).
5. Colonial economy was a cash economy that is, exchange was done on monetary terms.
6. It went together with the use of high capital in opening of economic activities like agriculture, mining etc.
7. Colonial economy involved small scale and large-scale production.
8. It went together with introduction of tax. This tax went to the colonial government.

The Tactics used to Establish Colonial Economy

Analyse critically the tactics used to establish colonial economy

Establishment of colonial economy in Africa

In establishing colonial economy Europeans used different methods: Creative, destructive and preservation.

a. Creative

Colonial rulers introduced new modes of production in Africa such as:

1. The introduction of a cash economy, exchange took place through cash.
2. Introduction of land alienation where European took fertile belonging to Africans.
3. Colonialists introduced large-scale farms e.g. tea plantations and settler farms in Africa.
4. Africans were forced to pay tax in cash to the colonial government.
5. It went together with the construction of infrastructure for the benefit of colonial powers.
6. Africans were forced to work in colonial projects.

b. Destructive

Colonial power tended to be destructive to Africa:

1. Colonialism destroyed African local industries in order to gain market and labourers.
2. Colonial governments tended to destroy African culture e.g. initiation ceremony. This was done to obtain cheap labour.

c. Preservative

1. Colonial governments preserved peasant economy in some areas e.g. in Uganda, West Africa etc.
2. African mode of production was allowed to continue e.g. Feudalism in Uganda and primitive communal mode of production in other areas.

Activity 1

1. Colonial economy was destructive, creative and preservative, discus.
2. Discuss the methods that were used by Europeans to establish colonial economy in Africa.

Sectors of Colonial Economy

The Various Sectors of Colonial Economy

Identify the various sectors of colonial economy

In order to fulfill their needs colonial masters introduced several projects/sectors such as:

1. Agriculture
2. Trading
3. Mining
4. Industrial
5. Infrastructure

The Features of each Sector of the Colonial Economy

Explain the features of each sector of the colonial economy

Agriculture

Agriculture at this time was basically one crop production. In this it was of small scale and large-scale production.Crop production was divided into three forms as follows:

1. Peasant economy
2. Plantation economy
3. Settler economy

Peasant economy

Africans were left to continue with production of cash crops on a small scale in some areas.Peasant economy was introduced in Uganda, cottonand coffee in Tanganyika’s Sukuma Land, and Cocoa and palm oil production in West Africa

Activity 2

1. In some of the areas colonial rulers introduced peasant economy and plantation economy. Discuss why.
2. Explain why colonial governments used peasant economy in West Africa and Uganda.

Why peasant economy was reliable in some areas

Colonial governments continued production using the peasant economy on a small scale. This was due to the following factors:

1. Africans had experience growing cash crops such as palm oil, cotton while Europeans did not. Hence they allowed Africans to continue producing.
2. The system was cheap and the cost of production was covered by the peasants.
3. It was due to negative response from the Africans while some societies resisted the introduction of plantation farming e.g. in West Africa.
4. It was simple to force Africans on production e.g. basing on quality of productions for instance in Sukuma Land each family was required to produce two acres of cotton.
5. Europeans were unable to live in some areas with tropical climates as they feared tropical diseases. Therefore, Africans were left to continue with production in these areas.
6. The system helped colonial governments at large with selling cash crops. Africans were required to contribute on the construction of roads and others social services.
7. Some areas had high populations e.g. in West Africa, hence it was not possible to alienate all of them from their land.

Plantation economy

These were large-scale farms under the colonial government; they were mainly based on cash crops production e.g. Sisal in Tanganyika (Morogoro and Tanga).

Settlers economy

This system involved the production of cash crops at a larger scale.European and some Asiansettlers owned these large-scale farms. Examples of these areas where settlers introduced this type of economy are Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Algeria.

How Colonial Government favoured settlers in Africa:

At large it is said that settlers were highly favoured by their respective colonial Governments e.g. in Kenya and Zimbabwe settlers were favoured to a large extent.

Activity 3

1. Show how settlers were favoured in Kenya and Southern Rhodesia. OR
2. Show how settlers were helped by the colonial Government in Kenya

Settlers in Africa were favoured through on of the following methods:

1. Settlers were given capital by the colonial government through loans.
2. Colonial governments built social services in areas with settlers such as hospital, roads, schools to attract more settlers to Africa.
3. Settlers were favoured in the pricing of cash crops compared to peasants (crops from the settlers were bought at a higher price).
4. Colonial governments tended to force Africans to work on settlers’ farms, it helped increase production due to availability of labour.
5. Colonial governments favoured settlers through the use of the Land Act. In 1919 the Crown Lands Act helped settlers obtain land in Kenya.
6. Africans were restricted from growing the same type of cash crops produced by settlers e.g. in Kenya. Africans were restricted from growing coffee, this benefited settlers in marketing their product.

INDUSTRY

The colonial government introduced processing industries in some of the areas. These processing industries were established in areas with cash crop production. Colonial governments tended to destroy local industries in Africa in order to introduce these processing industries.

Roles of industries at the time

Industries were meant to reduce the bulkiness of raw materials e.g. Sisal, raw materials were processed to simplify carriage of raw materials from Africa to their mother countries.

Mining

White settlers formulated large numbers of mining centers in Africa to fulfill their demands e.g, in South Africa diamond and gold mines were opened.Colonial governments tended to use migrant labour due to the location of mining centers.

Role of mining: Toobtain raw materials e.g. minerals like gold, diamonds for their industries.

Trade and Commerce

European colonialists introduced trading activities while importing several items such as clothes and simple machines from Europe. On the other hand, colonial governments also exported raw materials from Africa to their home countries.

Role of trade and commerce

It helped European colonial governments to gain raw materials from Africa like crops and minerals. Europeans obtained market for their manufactured goods from Europe.

Infrastructure

In order to develop economic activities in Africa, colonial governments built infrastructure like roads, railway houses. Roads and railways were built from the interior all the way to the coast to make exportation and importation of goods easy.

Role of infrastructure

1. Roads and railways were used to carry raw materials from the interior ready for export.
2. They carried immigrant labours to areas of production e.g. Kigoma – Dar es Salaam railway was built for that purpose.
3. To carry administrators and military troops from one area to another.
4. To transfer manufactured goods from the harbour to the another
5. To transfer manufactured goods from the harbour to the interior.

Activity 4

Discuss the role of colonial economies introduced by the Europeans in Africa and how pre-colonial economy differed to the colonial economy.

The Impact of the Establishment of Various Sectors of Colonial Economy on Africa

Assess the impact of the establishment of various sectors of colonial economy on Africa

Colonial economy in Africa had both positive and negative effects for Africans.

1. Africans inherited infrastructure from the colonial governments e.g. roads, railways, that were used for carrying goods and labourers.
2. After the independence of African countries nationalisation of plantations, buildings under the colonial governments started. Buildings, plantations and harbours were now under the African states.
3. It led to the introduction of new varieties of crops from outside e.g. varieties of cotton from America, and coffee.
4. Africans inherited European economic plans which continued to be used after independence e.g, the treatment of labourers.
5. Africans were impoverished due to exploitation by the colonial governments.
6. African technology declined due to the destruction of local industries.
7. Some areas that were known for producing labour were under developed due to rationalisation, e.g Kigoma in Tanganyika.
8. Africans inherited capitalist elements from their colonial masters in some areas like Kenya and Zimbabwe.
9. It led to Europeans taking natural resources from Africa e.g. minerals, raw materials through an unequal exchange.

Colonial Labour

The Concept of Colonial Labour

Explain the concept of colonial labour

Starting from the early 20^th century, colonial governments in Africa established colonial economies such as agriculture, industry, trade, mining etc. Due to those economic activities they needed more labour.

Why labour questions came up?

The following factors led to colonial labour questions in Africa:

1. Size of economic activities e.g. plantations demanded large supply of labour.
2. Locations of some economic activities e.g. mining centers were located in interior and remote parts hence had shortage of labour.
3. Some of the African societies had negative response to the colonial powers thus it was not easier to obtain labour.
4. Population size in some areas was less hence labour problem came up.

The Tactics Used to Create Colonial Labour

Analyse the tactics used to create colonial labour

In order to solve the problem of labour shortage in Africa colonial governments took the following measures:

1. Introduction of forced labour: Colonial governments used coercive force like army and police to force Africans to work in colonial economies. In Tanganyika 1944 about 12,00 labourers were forced to work on sisal plantations.
2. Europeans imported manufactured goods in Africa such as clothes, bicycles that were sold for cash, Africans were required to work to buy such products.
3. Colonial governments introduced tax in the form of cash thus Africans were required to work in colonial economies to earn money to pay tax.
4. Colonial governments registered Trade Unions with the aim of finding labourers e.g. SILABU (Sisal Labour Bureau) in Tanganyika and W.N.L.A. (Witwatersrand Native labour Association) in South Africa.
5. They introduced laws and ordinance e.g. the “Kipande” system in Kenya where Africans were required to have an identity card showing their place of occupation. In Tanganyika there was a Masters and Native Servants Act of 1906
6. Introduction of land alienation. In Kenya and Zimbabwe Africans were removed from fertile areas and had to work to earn money.
7. Colonial governments introduced rationalisation so some areas were special for labour production e.g. Kigoma, Rukwa and other areas were special for crop production.
8. They introduced colonial education to gain administrators for lower posts in Africa e.g. clerks and messengers which were used on colonial economies and other colonial offices.

The Types of Colonial Labour

analyse the types of colonial labour

Colonial labour force was divided into different types, namely migrant labour, forced labour, communal labour, family labour, contract labour, resident labour, indentured labour and feudal relation labour

The Impact of the Establishment of Colonial Labour to African Societies

Assess the impact of the establishment of colonial labour to African societies

Introduction of indigenous/ natural economy

• Pre- colonial economy - this economy was established in Africa before the coming of the colonialist (this economy involved Agriculture or crop production). During the 19^th century Europeans came to establish economic activities in Africa, activities such as mining, trade, agriculture, infrastructure to mentioned a few.
• In order to introduce these activities the colonialists used different mechanisms to break up natural economic activities in East Africa.
• Colonialists started with the destruction of African local industries, Africans were not allowed to work in their industries. Therefore, the local textile, iron-smelting industries in East Africa were destroyed. Examples of destroyed industries are the textile industries of Sukuma land, Buganda and Congo.
• In addition, the colonialists introduced cash crop production which disrupted food crop production. Colonialists aimed to gain raw materials from the indigenous people. Colonialism introduced land alienation, which led to the decline of indigenous natural economies like crop production.
• Colonialists also introduced forced labour to provide manpower for their economic activities, this resulted in the destruction of African economies like agriculture and industry.

They introduced the following:

1. Introduction of cash tax.
2. Introduction of cash (money) economy.
3. Introduction of laws and ordinance e.g. “Kipande” system in (Kenya) and Masters and Native Act 1906 (Tanganyika). Construction of infrastructure in East Africa (helped colonialists to obtain markets, labourers and raw materials while affecting Africans.

Effects of colonial economy to the Africans: Colonial economy in Africa had both positive and negative effects on the African people.

1. Africans inherited infrastructure from the colonial governments e.g. roads, railways, that were used for carrying goods and labourers.
2. After the independence of African countries nationalisation of plantations, buildings under the colonial governments started. Buildings, plantations and harbours were now under the African states.
3. It led to the introduction of new varieties of crops from outside e.g. varieties of cotton from America, and coffee.
4. Africans inherited European economic plans which continued to be used after independence e.g, the treatment of labourers.
5. Africans were impoverished due to exploitation by the colonial governments.
6. African technology declined due to the destruction of local industries.
7. Some areas that were known for producing labour were under developed due to rationalisation, e.g Kigoma in Tanganyika.
8. Africans inherited capitalist elements from their colonial masters in some areas like Kenya and Zimbabwe.
9. It led to Europeans taking natural resources from Africa e.g. minerals, raw materials through an unequal exchange.

Activity 5

NECTA 1998;

1. Discuss the mechanism, used by colonialists to break up the natural indigenous (wenyeji/ wazawa) economy of East African people.
2. Using concrete examples of any East African society show the pattern of the physical and social infrastructures were determined by the system of the colonial economy.
3. How did the colonial Government ensure constant supply of labour in their colonies in East Africa?
4. Why was the settler economy a success in Kenya but a failure in Uganda?

Discuss the notable effects of colonial economy as being introduced by the colonialists in Africa and Explain how Africans were affected by the introduction of colonial economies in Africa during the early 20^th century.

NECTA 2000 Starting from the late 19^th Century colonial Government obtained colonies in Africa. While in these colonies they introduced their economies and offices that led to the need of supply of labour.In order to obtain enough supply of labour colonial Government introduced several methods some of them were direct and others were indirect as follows:

1. Land alienation
2. Taxation
3. Forced labour
4. Registration of Trade Union (e.g. SILABU in Tanzania)
5. Introduction of Laws & Ordinance (e.g. Kipande in Kenya)
6. Introduction of rationalization e.g. Kigoma for labour.
7. Introduction of colonial education
8. Introduction of importation of manufactured good

• READ TOPIC 4:Colonial Social Services
   

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