Imperialism In Uganda
The British Take Over
- The British first became intrigued towards Uganda because they were trying to discover the source of the Nile River.
- In 1877 British Missionaries started arriving in Buganda, at the request of the Kabaka.
- In 1885 Uganda, among other nations, is given to the British during the Berlin Conference.
- Then, in1888, the Imperial British East African Company sets up in Uganda with the Kabaka's permission.
- During the Anglo-German Agreement in 1890, Uganda formally become a British protectorate or territory.
- This means that the British now start to dominate Uganda
- Uganda also signs several treaties, giving the British rights to harvest cotton in exchange for protection, in1894.
- Therefore, in 1894 Uganda, together with Buganda, joins the British Sphere of Influence
- However, the British trick Ugandan rulers to sign treaties that allowed them to take their natural resources. In return, as mentioned, they would provide protection from other imperialist countries and African tribes, however they did not really respect their promise.
- The British brought an army to colonize them.
- They also allied with Ugandan people that supported imperialism and would become part of military. They would help colonize Uganda by forcing natives to do labor for the British.
- British then set up an indirect government that favored Bugandan’s but upset northern tribes.
- This means that the Bugandan people were treated well while northerners were forced to join Ugandan Army, which was a position seen as for uneducated people.
- 1885 - 1887 : martyrs of Buganda - killed for steadfast Christian Faith.
The Buganda Agreement and the Uganda Procterate
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Results of Imperialism
Advantages
Disadvantages
- Prosperity in economic growth due to cotton plantations introduced by the British.
- The new earnings provided by this british-brought crop, led to several benefits in society.
- Ugandan people's spending on imported items such as: clothing, bicycles, metal roofing, cars.
- They now had the ability to invest in the youth’s education, which led to the creation of new schools.
- Christian African converts learned to read and write, because of the missionaries’ keen interest in education.
- The creations of local newspaper/journals.
- These were published on a monthly basis: Ebifa (News) and Munno (Your Friend)
- These were published on a monthly basis: Ebifa (News) and Munno (Your Friend)
Disadvantages
- The British rulers forced Ugandans to convert religion and to give them their labor.
- In 1904 they forced native Ugandans to harvest raw cotton which was going to be sold for British profit.
- British paid Ugandans to serve in army, which caused the young men population to decreased.
- Also, the British ensured that the battle casualties would be Ugandan. This caused some conflict with other African Nations.
- The British did take some resources from Uganda, but they did not deplete them because the focused more on the production of raw cotton.
- However, the exploitation of land lead to infertile land in the future, which would become a problems for farmers who wanted to feed their family.
- They also exploited the people for their labor in the cotton farms.
- Colonialism in Uganda did not have as many disadvantages as other countries because British introduced them to commerce.
- “Uganda appeared to be a model of stability and progress,” which would help them once they gained independence - if they were able to maintain it.
- Ugandan's did not have many problems with other colonizing nations. Therefore they did not have "white" settlers looking for their land for crash crops. They also had no legacy conflict.
- African producers also started growing cotton and coffee, which resulted in a "higher standard of living, financed education, and led to higher expectations for future."
Life for the Locals
- In short, indigenous people were the most affected in the whole ordeal, and it all began with the King:
- At the beginning of the Colonial Era, King Mwanga, who was ruling at the time strongly rejected British rule, he led a few unsuccessful revolts against them.
- As British influence develops, the increased exposure to the outside world, weakened the country, subsequently creating various conflicts in the region which deeply affected the natives:
- Rinderpest outbreak of 1891 (devastated local cattle)
- General outbreaks of sleeping sickness and smallpox (decreased the population size by half)
- There was a lot of religious disruptions (mostly british-christian) which eventually modificated the traditional dogmas and beliefs into christian ones.
- However other foreign religious potencies arrived in the country (British Protestant missionaries), and soon outbreak began to spread.
- War raged amongst the Protestant and Catholic Baganda converts.
- Certain states were not affected by the religious wars, however British influence became evident as they began to spread more towards the land north of Lake Victoria.
- Though small kingdoms often signed agreements and treaties with the british, the peoples of eastern, northeastern Uganda were rebellious and have to be overthrown by british military force.