Colonialism And Imperialism: Traditional African Society

Question One:
African Societies, pre-European led colonization, and imperialism had a distinctly different cultural and geographic structure. Traditional African society was organized around several different institutions such as kinship, and nonkinship, as well as early political structures. The family unit falls mainly under kinship, as one would expect. The institution of marriage as it existed then is not the current idea of it being a contract and a union between the two individuals involved. Instead, it was a collectivized thing, wherein the two families would essentially become one, because of this, their opinions were considered heavily and the marriage terms were negotiated extensively. After this, when the marriage was solidified and there are children, the organization becomes that of non-kinship groups.
Non-kinship groups consist mainly of age grades. Khapoya writes that the first step of entering the age grades is an initiation into society. This usually consisted of ritual circumcision at puberty. Ottenburg, as referenced by Khapoya, cites the presence of four age grades in the Afikpo people, who are a …show more content…
They perceived it to be their duty, as showcased in the White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling. While this poem addressed the imperialist nature of the United States, it is as just as fitting to describe the mindset held by Europeans when seizing the African continent and its people. The final rationale category used by the colonists is an economic rationale. Relatively straightforward, Africa was rich with resources and people. This allowed Europeans to exploit the resources of Africa and then dump the surplus goods produced with African resources back into the continent, thus giving Europe a dual economic boon and further impoverishing Africans, as pointed at by