Introduction
Africa has been a continent of mystery for many people around the world. Other regions, especially Europe, were curious about its traditions, customs, and the hinterlands with their occupants. This led to the numerous expeditions by explorers and missionaries, which resulted in the invasion and eventual colonialization.
Conversely, the aftermath of WW1 saw drastic changes in Europe, and as such, it led to the socio-cultural revolution in the African continent pioneered by the missionaries and local leaders (Harms 462). Moreover, various factors contributed to these changes among the locals. For instance, men who had traveled to far places to offer labor in mines in the western and southern parts had an insight into the new world.
Also, rudimentary education to the children opened their perspective on world affairs. Similarly, the adults who went for treatment in modern colonial hospitals realized that the world was in flux (Harms 262). Therefore, this formed the basis from which the inherent changes were bound to take place. This paper explores the impacts on religion, education, and medicine realized by colonialism.
Colonial Impact on Religion
The colonialism paradigm in Africa was manifested on different fronts that are a mystery to discern. Ziltener et al. assert that it portrayed a complicated and complex intricate interrelation of social, cultural, political, and economic factors that make it hard to measure the real effects left in its wake (158).
However, there is a common agreement on the various institutions which initiated and determined the development of religion up to the post-colonial period in many African countries. Although with different forms, Africans had been religious people in nature since time immemorial. Besides, the advent of colonialism and the challenges resulting from its rule made the Africans evaluate their worldview from a religious perspective.
For instance, during WW 1, there were more than ten thousand missionaries in Africa comprising six thousand Catholics and four thousand Protestants (Harms 477). Christianity was spread through schools, missions, and churches that had a dressing code such as trousers, dresses, and shoes for those in a position to afford them.
The new religion banned some leisure activities such as wrestling and dances, and instead, they introduced football which became popular to the present. Also, the Africans began changing to Christian names like the European system that emphasized the first and last names.
Furthermore, the emergence of Africans who were unaffiliated with mission societies resulted in Independent churches led by William Harris, who was a Liberian prisoner (Harms 479). Although he did not start his church, he encouraged followers to join the Catholic church on Ivory Coast and Methodists in Ghana while those in local areas started their own.
Among other reasons, they confronted witchcraft that was prevalent and assisted in achieving prosperity and curing. Also, they brought a new dimension to Christianity by believing in both God and following a preacher (Harms 488). This led to the growth of such churches with over five thousand denominations in more than 34 countries. This is prevalent in the continent up to the present time.
Education
The colonialists left a major impact on the education sector during their reign in the African countries. This can be attributed to the requirement by their enterprises for Africans who had formal education for jobs such as clerical, interpretation, and accountancy. Those who could be qualified for such jobs had been educated in the missions established early.
Following the First World War and the Industrial Revolution, education was expanded through primary school in Africa. By 1881, the French had established universal education comprising arithmetic, literacy, cleanliness, efficiency, and order, while the British followed suit in 1891 (Harms 472). In addition, they introduced primary education to get workers but not for the learners to advance to higher education.
Furthermore, they wanted to expand the sector with minimal cost, thereby depending on mission schools whose African teachers spread literacy to more people. Also, post-primary institutions were opened to enable students to learn English, while in Muslim colonies, they opened Gordon schools. This, in turn, led to masses being educated in British colonies as the French established schools that trained learners with the elite students excelling up to university (Harms 474).
Furthermore, the Portuguese and Belgian education depended on missionaries and was taught in local dialects as they preferred moral and religious principles as compared to literary or technical instructions.
Perhaps the notable impact that education left in Africa was the group of elite Africans that emerged from their system and later became leaders in various countries. Three students from Achimota in Ghana became presidents in Ghana, Gambia, and Zimbabwe, respectively. Similarly, their counterparts from Fort Hare in South Africa, including Nelson Mandela, became leaders of Zambia and Tanzania (Harms 477).
This has continued to the present, where various states have curriculums that are inclined toward their former colonial countries’ education systems.
Impact on Public Health and Medicine
Medicine was practiced in Africa through healers who used herbs to treat patients. In cases where the sickness was not responding to given doses, the services of diviners and priests were sought. Together, they blocked witchcraft or interceded in appeasing the spirits on behalf of the patient. Conversely, this was interrupted by the coming of Europeans who had introduced the germ theory by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch in the 1860s and 70s, respectively (Harms 465).
Consequently, this led to the biomedical treatment, which was cascaded down to Africa after the pioneer Baptist missionaries, especially in Congo, died from tropical ailments. Therefore, in 1893, Livingstone college was founded by the Church Missionary Society to train their emissaries on skills as part of their work as well as the White Fathers in the Catholic church (Harms 467). By the year 1930, they had established a viable medical system. For instance, the French had installed a fully equipped hospital in every capital city of their territories with doctors posted in the medical clinics in the countryside.
For the British, they had opened 4 and 22 health centers for Europeans and Africans in Uganda, respectively. Further, they had 300 dispensaries and 57 hospitals in Nigeria. In Congo, both inpatients and outpatients ranged from 85,000 to 800,000 in the year 1936 (Harms 467). It has been highlighted that the expansion of these services was facilitated through the collaboration of doctors, nurses, and African workers. However, in the beginning, people were suspicious of the medical teams, and they fled.
This was during epidemics such as sleeping sickness in Congo and the Plague in Senegal that ravaged the country for more than 30 years (Harms 469). Consequently, the prevention of the aforementioned diseases was the major impact created among the Africans. Also, the training of nurses and other clinicians meant that the local population could be diagnosed with ailments by their people.
In summation, the end of the First World War and the Industrial Revolution in Europe led to the emancipation of the African continent. The advent of missionaries and realization by the colonial masters of the importance of education and medicine enabled the local people to learn how to read, calculate and diagnose. As a result, they became teachers educating the masses as their counterparts became nurses. Consequently, the impacts are inherent in the present countries, which have many learned people with various professions.
Works Cited
Harms, Robert. Africa in Global History with Sources. 1st ed., W. W. Norton, 2018.
Ziltener, Patrick, et al. “Research Note: Measuring the Impacts of Colonialism: A New Data Set for the Countries of Africa and Asia.” Journal of World-Systems Research, vol. 23, no. 1, 2017, pp. 156-190.