Things Fall Apart

An Introduction to Colonialism and Igbo Culture

Colonialism

• Colonialism: the control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people.

• Slave trade ended 1805, replaced by other trade including trade of raw materials

• European powers engaged in a “Scramble for Africa” starting in the 1870s. By 1890,most of Africa came under European control.

IndustrialRevolutionIndustrialRevolution

Source forRaw

Materials

Source forRaw

Materials

Markets forFinishedGoods

Markets forFinishedGoods

EuropeanNationalismEuropean

Nationalism

MissionaryActivity

MissionaryActivity

Military& NavalBases

Military& NavalBases

EuropeanMotives

For Colonization

EuropeanMotives

For Colonization

Places toDump

Unwanted/Excess Popul.

Places toDump

Unwanted/Excess Popul.

Soc. & Eco.Opportunities

Soc. & Eco.Opportunities

Ideology of African Colonialism

• Bringing civilization to “savages”• Benefiting natives• Taught superiority of European way of life,

backwardness of African• Christian missionaries arrived in Nigeria in

the mid-1800s, and by the end of the century had begun a strong conversion campaign. They wanted the African people to embrace Christianity.

The major European powers to acquire African territories were Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, and Italy.

King Leopold, the kingof Belgium, ruled

the Congo like his ownprivate estate. Natives

that did not supply enough rubber had

their hands cut off. Whilethe king profited, the people of the Belgian

Congo suffered greatly.

The Britishestablished

coloniesin West Africaand along the

length ofmost of EastAfrica fromEgypt to

South Africa.

Things Fall Apart is set during a period of British colonial rule of Nigeria in the late 1800s.

Nigeria did not gain their independence from the UK until October 1960.

Nigeria became a British colony in 1886.

Europeans divided Africa and ignoredthe tribal, ethnic, and cultural boundaries

of the African people. This has led totribal conflicts in many African nations

that continue to this day.

Igbo people, land, and culture

You will see a variety of pictures. On your paper take notes of what you

see and create one or two questions about what you want to know based

on what you see.

http://www.oraifite.com/culture-and-traditions/

Igbo Village

An Igbo village was part of a clan network made up of about five thousand people that were led by a council of men that made decisions democratically and shared a common market and meeting place

Igbo Wedding and Marriage• In the Igbo society,

polygyny is not merely tolerated, it is encouraged and accepted, still monogamous marriages very greatly outnumber polygynous ones. The normal age for marriage is 25-28 for the man and from 14 to 18 for the girl.

Yams

The Igbo were subsistence farmers, which means they grew crops to survive.

Men grew the important

yam crop. Women grew other crops.

Sacred Statue

• The ikenga statue is found in sacred shrines of the Igbo-speaking people of southeastern Nigeria. The ikenga is believed to possess a protective spirit and provides success and achievement. The word "ikenga" translates to "man's life force" or "place of strength."