If you want proof of the remarkable changes in Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, consider the fate of the Ndebele (pronounced en-duh-bee’-lee) and the life of one of their sons, Ndansi Kumalo. In the early nineteenth century the Ndebele were pastoralists living in southeastern Africa, a region of political turmoil and economic hardship as a result of overpopulation and drought. In the 1820s, they fled from the warriors of the Zulu chieftain Shaka, who in just a few years created a large and formidable Zulu state in southeastern Africa. The Ndebele moved to a region north of the Vaal River but ten years later were forced off their land by Boer trekkers, Dutch pioneers from the south who sought grazing land for their cattle. The Ndebele moved north of the Limpopo River to a region that is part of modern Zimbabwe. Despite their years of flight, they were able to subdue other groups in the region and establish a sizable kingdom with a population of 100,000.But the Ndebele could not escape danger. This time it came from the British, who, under the famous imperialist Cecil Rhodes, were anxious to exploit the region’s mineral wealth. In 1888, the Ndebele chieftain, Lobengula, signed an agreement with Rhodes that gave the South Africa Company mining rights in exchange for 1,000 rifles and a monthly stipend of 100 pounds. Friction grew when European settlers began establishing farmsteads around 1890, and war broke out in 1893. The Ndebele were defeated, and they were defeated again when they rose up against the British in 1897. The Ndebele then made one last journey to a vast but arid reservation their new masters provided.
One of the Ndebele who made this journey was Ndansi Kumalo. Born in the late 1870s, he was raised as a warrior to protect Ndebele land and raid neighbors for wives and cattle. He fought against the British in the 1890s and took up farming after the Ndebele’s defeat. In 1932, he caught the attention of a British filmmaker who was in Southern Rhodesia to make Rhodes of Africa, on the life of Cecil Rhodes. He was recruited to play the part of Lobengula, the Ndebele chieftain. To complete the film he traveled to England, where he took in the sights of London and made his first plane flight. He also related his life story to the English Africanist Margery Perham, whose transcription of it serves as the basis for the document I would like you to read (you can read it by clicking here). Rhodes of Africa was a modest success, and after it opened, Ndansi Kumalo returned to Africa, where he rejoined his large family. In the excerpt I would like you to read he describes events of the 1890s.
After you have read the document, I would like you to reflect on and discuss the following: Who was to blame for the outbreak of hostilities between the Ndebele and the British in 1893? How did conditions following the war lead to the 1897 rebellion? The conditions of the Ndebele rapidly deteriorated after the suppression of the rebellion. Why? Aside from raising revenue, what might the British have hoped to achieve by imposing, then raising, taxes on the Ndebele? What economic changes did the Ndebele experience as a result of their subjection to the Europeans? Do you agree with Ndansi Kumalo that the arrival of Europeans was a mixed blessing? Why or why not? Your thoughts…
5 comments:
Again another massacre by really dangerous weapons.
the british were hoping to enforce endentured servitude upon the africans. by raising taxes and putting the africans more in debt, that meant they had to work in order to pay it off. i do agree that it was a mixed blessing. because despite the fact that the europeans were mostly bad, they did bring some useful systems and innovations that would help the african agricultural society [basically all of africa.] i think that for the africans, it was a system to become accustomed to. they rebelled against it at first, but after they realized that 'if you can't beat em, join em', then they just resented the europeans while trying to take advantage of what little they could.
The hostility between the British and the Ndebele is caused by the British pushing them out of their homeland. Lobengula signed an agreement with Rhodes that guarunteed that the white man would never come back onto Ndebele land. Because they broke their promise, the Ndebele people have a reason to want to fight. After they were defeated by the British, the conditions didn't get much better. They also realized that they were slowly being pushed all the way out of where their ancestors were born and worked, so they had taken enough. The British had destroyed many of their cattle so they had to start all over with their supply of livestock. They planted crops and got taxed for anything and everyything.
africans realized that they could destroy europeans or change anything that was happening, so they just stuck with it. sure there were rebells here and there but nothing really happened. i think its kinda cruel but in a way it was good for africans cuz there agricultural system and a bunch of other things turned out good/better than it was going
British like almost always started the tension between the two. After the rebellion, they had hard times because of increasing taxes, the cattle were dieing off from sickness (which they ended up having to regain numbers through purchases or breeding), and whenever they need more seeds, the British would ask for more money than they were really worth. The relationship was bitter and somewhat sweet because of the introduction of education, plows, etc.
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