Introduction: The Mfecane was a series of Nguni and Zulu wars that took place on the Southern tip of Africa during the 19th century. And this caused the whole demographic of this area to change there was also a whole social and political change that took place during this period. The Mfecane was set in motion by the Zulu kingdom because they wanted to expand their power over Southern Africa. And they also had a whole military revolution under the leadership of Shaka. And in this essay I am going to be looking at the role the Zulu king Shaka played in the Mfecane.
During the Haitian Revolution through August 21, 1791, to January 1, 1804, slaves were imported from Africa and oppressed by the white, French population. The slaves were outraged at the mistreatment and decided to revolt against their masters. There were many causes that started the revolution, such as social, economic, and political inequality between the white French and everyone else. The revolution itself also had an important legacy that inspired hope for the future of those oppressed as well as more negatively, death and tragedy. The Haitian Revolution was caused by oppressive slavery and discrimination against all but the French elite and led to the death of French and Haitians alike, the French’s expulsion from the island, and the spread of hope and freedom to other oppressed people all over the world.
Their human rights were destroyed from the first step of Atlantic Slave trade. According to “Thoughts ad Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery add Commerce of the Human Species,” written by Ottobah, A native of Africa, mentions “I was first kidnapped and betrayed by some of my own complexion” which shows African slaves were not going for their own will and destroyed human rights. Later in 16th century, most of African countries that were enforced to export slaves and kingdoms established special law in order to export more slaves. Law states that if one can’t sell slave, that guy is sold as slaves. Therefore, African people betrayed others, which led huge chaos and huge amount of African were (change to being) sold as slaves, which lead to complete chaos (and that resulted in complete chaos).
The first major ironic contradiction I came across in the book Mhudi by Sol Plaatje was the friendship between a Boer by the name of De Villiers and a Baralong by the name of Ra-Thaga. Ra-Thaga had his home, his people and his entire history destroyed by the ‘tragic, hero’ tyrant, Mzilikazi of the Matebele. Mzilikazi is the King of the Matebele, who are a people who split from the Zulu nation to establish their own nation elsewhere (Plaatje, 1975). In doing so, he went to all the neighbouring chiefdoms of the surrounding areas and gave them the choice of submission with annual tax, or complete annihilation (Plaatje, 1975). Mzilikazi wanted to build a strong nation, one that had the same respect status as the Zulu’s, and one would expect the people that followed him to agree.
Like most Zulu armies they had oxhide shields and throwing spears. Shak decided to rearm his men with lon-bladed short-hafted stabbing assegais this unforutnaley this did force his men to fight closer to their enemy. Then Shaka institued the regimental system based on age groups, quartered at separate villages and distinguished by markings on shields and combinations of headdress and ornaments. Shaka also devloped new standard tactics which were to be used in every battle. They were divided into four groups the strongest was called the chest which is when you pin down the enemy while two other warriors race out to encircle and attack from behind.
Numerous studies have been carried out on the slave trade’s consequences on the African continent’s development. It is widely agreed that it has caused a tremendous slowdown in the Black Africa development because of the human hemorrhage it provoked and the widespread disorganization of African states and nations’ lives exposed, at all times, to this terrible scourge and totally destabilized in all spheres of economic, social and cultural life. Actually, the colonization began as early as the fifteenth century when the Portuguese arrived followed by other colonizers (French and English in particular) who had set up trading posts on the African coasts. From this moment on, military, merchants, missionaries (the 3M) kept crossing the continent.
Born around 1745, Equiano lived a relatively noble childhood in his village of Essaka until local raiders captured him and sold him, beginning his lifelong struggle against slavery. (Edwards 44) As his expeditions and experiences with his masters began to amass, his anti-slavery rhetoric developed as well. By the 1780’s, Equiano “had become deeply involved in the politics of the black people, championing their cause” by forging relationships with white abolitionists such as Granville Sharp and by advocating for the publicizing of atrocities inflicted on slaves (Mtubani 90). Equiano, because of his unfortunate upheaval into the throes of slavery as a child, quickly became much more than a historical individual; he became a pivotal champion for the rights of his people as freemen and as
The Zulu Kingdom becomes one of the most powerful empires in Africa. Shaka was the illegitimate son of the Senzangakhona, the Zulu chief and Nandi the Langeni princess. Senzangakhona unintentionally impregnated Nandi and she was sent back to her people who came up with the name from sent her back was forced to take her in as his third wife. (At first Nandi was sent to live with her people since Senzangakhona denied being the father of Shaka) Due to that, they were mistreated and outcast. There was a little incident in the household that made Senzangakhona to banish Nandi and Shaka.
In the novel “A Bend in the River”, tribal feuds were the effect of the growing European culturalism in Africa. These local fighting little by little ruined the society and emerged the nostalgic
Camps were set up for former Rwandese soldiers to rearm, these camps were one of the reasons war broke out between Congo and Rwanda in 1996. To this day Rwandese forces are found along the border and continue to attack citizens (Outreach Programme on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations). Since then there have been genocide trails for those involved in the mass killings. In conclusion, the European colonisation of Rwanda by Belgium created problems it was unable to solve after the country gained its independence. The makeshift power structure implemented by Belgium created a polarized, racist society which became the perfect framework for a revolution after the country was