Africa: Colonialism and
Civil Wars
The House at Sugar Beach (Liberia) and
Long Way Gone (Sierra Leone)
as Examples
Joyce Chen & Kate Liu
Heart of
Darkness
Desert?
Wars?
Hunger and
Poverty?
AIDS?
What is your general impression or
knowledge of Africa?
“a burst of yells, a
whirl of black limbs,
a mass of hands
clapping, of feet
stamping, of
bodies swaying, of
eyes rolling, under
the droop of heavy
and motionless
foliage. The
steamer toiled
along slowly on the
edge of a black and
incomprehensible
frenzy.” (Heart of
Darkness)
Stereotype (1): The Heart of Darkness,
filled with dangers and erupting sexual
desires
Out of Africa –
set in Kenya
about a woman
owning a coffee
planation
Tarzan –(white
skin), an aperaised white man
who is
courageous,
steady, loyal,
and close to
Nature.
Stereotype (2): “a white man/woman in
Africa,“ with Africa and the people as an
exotic backdrop Where are the Africans?



African
wildlife
Ivory,
specimen
Eco-Tour
Stereotype (3):exploration, safari
Joyce
Stereotype (4):Mystery, Ancient
civilization

Hollywood
movies: The
Mummy
series

Nefertiti (C.
13701330BC),
Queen of the
Egyptian
Pharaoh
Akenaten

The Great
Pyramid of
Giza
Joyce

Child soldiers
(including boys
and girls) in
African civil
wars

Starving
Children
(Kwashiorkor)
of NigerianBiafranWar
(1967-1970)
by Don McCullin

(UK war
Correspondent )
Stereotype (5):wars and refugees
Joyce
北非
1
2
3
西
非
中
非
1. A Long Way
Gone
2. Sugar Beach
3. Yellow Sun
Regions of Africa and Our Focuses:
Northern Africa
Middle Africa
Eastern Africa
Southern Africa
Western Africa
南非
東
非
Why has Africa been stricken by wars,
coups, diseases, hunger and poverty?
The Colonizers:
for Self-Interest
Agriculture of
Food  that of
Coffee, Cocoa,
etc.
Colonial
Heritage
Colonialis
m
Economic
Exploitation
Poverty
Racial
Conflicts
System of
Repression
Corrupt
System &
the Use of
Force

Colonialism in Africa: History &
Consequences
◦
◦
◦
◦
18th c. – 19th c
late 19th – 1945
independence
excerpts from The House at Sugar Beach
Decolonization and Civil War
 Child soldiers 
◦ Example (1): Blood Diamond, War Dance
(Uganda)
◦ Example (2): A Long Way Gone
◦ Example (3): War Child: Emmanuel Jal
Outline

I. 15th - 19th century: Waystations on
the African coasts and slavery
Motivation 1: middle station to Asia –
 Motivation 2: slavery -- The
development of sugar plantation in the
Caribbean and Americas leads to the need
for labor.

Colonialism:
History and Consequences (1)

I. 15th - 19th century: Waystations on
the African coasts and slavery
Consequences--enabled Europeans to
industrialize at the expense of Africa;
1.disrupted African families and communities;
2.(guns) increased violence of some African
elites and tribes against the other tribes;
3.African labor strained.
4.the beginning of African diaspora. (Asbury et
al, p. 12)
Colonialism:
History and Consequences (1)

II. Colonialism -- 19th century to the
end of World War II: [end of slavery] 
Commercial possibilities  "Scramble for
Africa" 1880s - 1910
◦ Motivation 1: For European industrialists,
there was a growing need was for raw
materials and markets. (Asbury et al, p. 13)
◦ Motivation 2: Need to exert more control -Capitalism leads to intense political struggle
and competition.
◦ Two kinds of Colonization: settler-colony and
non-settle-colony (West Africa, except Ivory Coast)
Colonialism:
History and Consequences (2)

II. Colonialism -- 19th century to the
end of World War II: "Scramble for
Africa" 1880s - 1910
1. Land occupation -- Berlin Conference in 1884 -agreement to divide up Africa among European
nations such as Britain, France, Germany, Italy,
Portugal and Belgium.
2. exploitation of labor power --> direct
production away from the growing of food
3. economic 'thumbscrews' -- Africans were taxed,
and failure to pay the tax was a criminal offence
(Asbury et al, p. 15)
4. cultural imposition -- "to civilize" the colonized
Colonialism: History and
Consequences (2)
Berlin Conference in
1884
Colonial Africa; Scramble for Africa

II. Colonialism -- 19th century to the
end of World War II: Consequences
◦ 1. 'tribalism': colonial borders split some ethnic
groups into two, while bringing into the same political
unit those with no previous relationships or, worse,
hostile to each other.
◦ 2. position of women:
1) the burden of food production and child care
increasingly fell on women
2) seen as inferior, not offered education or employment
◦ 3. position of the elites: (more next page)
1) intellectuals who resisted colonial control;
2) some enjoyed their wealth and power in the corrupt
system
Colonialism: History and
Consequences (2)



The British -- 'indirect rule
◦ Elites: (1) traditional elites like local chiefs used, or
some created, as intermediaries.
(2) intellectuals (the lawyer-merchant class) forming
National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA) in
1920. (Davidson 38)
◦ (3) Traditional Culture: tolerated.
The French --more interventionist and culturally
committed.
◦ created local elites who would serve them and, in the
process, become Frenchmen in language and cultural
outlook, though never quite equal to whites.
The Belgians and Portuguese -- the most authoritarian
of colonialist.
Different Kinds of Colonization:
The Elites & Traditional Cultures
Summary and Author interview
1.Helene
Cooper, a reporter for
the Wall Street Journal and the
New York Times who finally finds
her way back to Liberia, from
which she escaped during the
time of its civil war in the 80’s.
2.Marlene (same Pa, same Ma)
3.Eunice, a Bassa girl, adopted to
keep the girls company.
The Positions of the Elites: The House
at Sugar Beach
Congo people
 Elijah Johnson – born free in 1787 New
York
 Randolph Cooper – Norfolk, Virginia,
1796
Vs. Country people
Helene’s ancestors:
“freed-blacks-once-removed
the southern plantations”
from
Helene’s “royal” background—
◦ How is it described—or established back in the 19th
century?
◦ How does she look at her upper-class background
& her position between American black girl and
African black girl (29), or skin color differences(p.
31)?
 Eunice: How does Helene, her mother and the
servants in the house relate to her?

Djimon Hounsou
Will Smith
Discussion Questions
Congo people (FOB) vs. Country People
 skin color
 Congo –freed men from the US to
Monrovia
 vs. Re-captives – intercepted slave ships
sent to Free town, Sierra Leone (about
40,000), or to Monrovia (only 2000)
(Davidson 117)
 p. 34 slave ships vs. Elizabeth
 the meeting (p. 36)
 at the house – servant vs. family; father
over mother.

Class/Gender Distinctions established
Eunice –her background (39): a family
with many kids, living in a zinc shack with
no electricity, running water, or inside
toilet.
 Helene as a child – reluctant because of
sibling rivalry; felt superior (38-40),
showing off her house, her sister’s being a
“been-to” and her American accent.
 difference education:

◦ Helene—American school;
◦ Janice – a boarding school in England

Galway – refuses to wash her clothes.
Class Difference vs. Family Relations
Mother – p. 42 “lavished attention on
her”
 the kids – share the fear of the big house
and the ghosts (heartmen and neegee 44)
and rogues (43)

◦ Marlene sleeps with her first, then Helene.

Eunice: (45-46)
◦ good story-teller,
◦ can protect Helene
Family Relations
A Palaver Hut is a circular
structure constructed of clay and bamboo
or wood, with a thatched roof. Organic
materials including decomposed leaves
are plastered on the interior and exterior
for preservation and decoration. In West
African villages, the Palaver Hut is the
place where guests are welcome. (source)
 Fufu: a staple food of West and Central
Africa. It is a thick paste or porridge
usually made by boiling starchy root
vegetables
(right: A plate of fufu accompanied with
peanut soup source)

What is a “Palaver Hut?” Fufu?
1. resentment against economic exploitation;
2. reception of and resentment against third-rate
education;  Africans began to turns ideals that
colonialists espoused--of national independence,
democracy and human rights--against
colonialism.
3. social changes, e.g. the forming of trade unions.
4. Pan-Africanism;
5. World War II: Africans helped fight the war for
democracy, but the Europeans planned to keep
colonial rule after the War. The War, however,
reduced the power of UK and France. (Cf. Asbury et al, p.
18-19; Davidson199)
6. US rose to power but didn’t support colonization
End of Colonialism: Factors
• Non-settler colonies:
withdrawing colonial
government while maintaining
their economic interest there
• Settler colonies: bloody
struggles
Decolonization: A Long Process
Ex-Colonizers
1. Controlling the
exportation of non-food
crops so that the earned
money got transferred to
the colonizers;
2. e.g. Cotton= the Mother
of Poverty for Colonial
Mozambique
Colonial Legacy (1):
non-food crops 經濟作物
Informal Settlement in
the Cities
= Slums
e.g. Tsotsi in South
Africa
Colonial Legacy (2):
Uneven Urbanization
Figure 1 Urban growth rates compared with the expansion of informal settlements
in African cities, Asian cities, and those in Latin American and Caribbean area.
http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/427-7/#ch00fig01

Independence  Civil Wars
Nation
1910-59
1960
South
Africa
1910-1931
Apartheid
(1948)
(1961)Rep. of
S. Africa
Independence
Nigeria
(1960)
1967 - 70
Sierra
Leon
(1961)
Uganda
Sudan
Liberia
1970
1994
Free
election
Continued conflicts between
Muslims and Christians
19912001
(1962)
1955 --------------(1956)
1980
1987-
1972
(1847)
Colonial Legacy (3)
1983(coup)
19811996
present
-----2005
1999-
Habeeb 15
1) ‘Regionalism’: Colonizers favored one
ethnic group over the others and even
drafted a constitution in favor of certain
region/ people that caused the hatred and
conflict between different ethnic groups.
e.g. Nigeria
(Yellow Sun) and
Rwanda (Hotel
Rwanda).
2) Corrupt Systems
-- “Un”-democratic elections: Manipulated
by colonizers or the power of neocolonization (the U.S). Later, the election
process was disrupted by violence (or
violent groups).
e.g. RUF in Sierra
Leone.
-- The corruption of civil servants and the
rise of military dictators
e.g. Idi Amin in
Uganda(1971-1979)
and Lansana
Conte in Guinea
(1984-2008).
3) Cold War and Neo-colonization
e.g. Somalia
Civil Wars 
LRA in Uganda
Sierra Leone’s example
Joyce
Racial Conflicts between Hutu (80%)and
Tutsi (15%, favored by the colonizers)
Hotel Rwanda --housed over a
thousand Tutsi refugees
Dictator:
The Last King of
Scotland --Uganda

Blood Diamond
= a diamond mined in a war
zone and sold to finance an
insurgency, invading army's
war efforts, or a warlord's
activity, usually in Africa
(source)
• Charles G. Taylor, [accused]
of supporting the RUF
insurgency in Sierra Leone
with weapons and training in
exchange for diamonds
• Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme (e.g.
YouTube)
•
Clips 1: 3:30  6:30;
chap 9
War Dance
1. Setting: the refugee
camp in Northern
Uganda, which suffers
from guerilla attacks by
LRA
2. LRA –around for 18
yrs; abducted about
20,000 children (source)
3. Bwola, the dance of
the Acholi  1: 24:21
Clips 1. Opening; 2. Nancy 9:23 53:40 3. Dominic 48:30 1:18:00



Hatred and legitimacy of revenge: boy soldiers’
“education”
◦ Losing family and friends
◦ Drug: cocaine, brown brown, the white capsule
◦ Hollywood entertaining war films became
casebooks
Alienation and sense of belonging
◦ Loneliness
◦ Not being trusted and gradually became unable
to trust anyone
◦ army as a family and other soldiers as brothers
Memories in war that hinder rehabilitation
◦ Withdraw stage
◦ Nightmares
◦ Violence
The cases of Child soldiers: kill or be
killed
Joyce
Ishmael Beah – (source)
-- born in Sierra Leone in 1980.
-- moved to the United States in 1998
-- published his memoirs in 2007
-- content:
• Age 12, his village attacked, he wandered around
until getting caught by the government army one
year later.
• At 16, he was removed from fighting by UNICEF
(聯合國兒童基金會), which got him
an adoptive parent.
The cases of Child soldiers:
(2) The Long Way Gone
What do you think about chapter 12 (about the
kids joining the army and then learning to kill)?
Is it too bloody? Do you find any recurrent
images or ideas?
 How do the soldiers (Lieutenant Jabati included)
and the children (Beah included) respond to the
war in the two parts of this chapter:
1) before the war with the rebel soldiers starts;
2) when it breaks out and the children start to
learn to be soldiers?

Discussion Questions

in village Yele -- a moment of peace for
everyone (101)
 the villagers chat about everything but the
war; children playing games, soccer, etc.
 the soldiers live apart from the villages, but
have fun playing music and smoking
marijuana.
 Signs of war –
 the dead people when the kids first met the
solders (100)
 orphans
 having nothing to do “after”
the daily routine.
Before the war


Beah –
 migraine
 remembering the past (102, 105)
Lieutenant
reading and keeping some distance from
the others (104)
 quickly hides his emotion also when the
war starts. (105)

Before the war –
amidst the incongruities
Soldiers –
 some traumatized (mad) 105
 some not returning
 some back with prisoners who were
then shut dead (106)
 Lieutenant

an apparent choice given (106-107)
instill hatred and fear – “they have killed
your parents” (106, 107, 108)
 Training – holding a gun,
wearing the uniform, running,
using the bayonet on banana trees.


During the war –
threat and education
The kids –
 do not go out of the tents to talk to
one another.
 Dream of killing and training
 one: humming melodies (113)
 Beah –
 migraine stops
 attention paid to nature (105)
 Imagines killing rebels.

why?
During the war – Beah’s
and the others’ responses
From Sudan; conscripted when he was 8.
 At 13, he and about 400 deserted the SPLA (the
rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army). Only 12
survived the trip.
 A British woman adopted him and later smuggled
him onto an airplane to Nairobi, Kenya, by
stuffing him into a large suitcase.

YouTube – official video
http://www.youtube.com/user/emmanueljal?blend=7&ob=4#p/a
 speech + a song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF_dHdNOgSA

War Child: Example (2) Emmanuel Jal
•Ashbury,
Roy, Wendy Helsby and Maureen O'Brien. Teaching
African Cinema. London: British Film Institute, 1998.
•《非洲現代史
》. 戴維遜(Davidson, Basil) 著; 蔡百銓 譯. 台北市 : 國立
編譯館, 民84[1995].
Civil Wars in Africa. William Mark Habeeb. Mason Crest,
2006/11/24 .
•
•When
Hollywood Goes to Africa
http://crawfurd.dk/africa/africanfilm.htm#outofafrica
•http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/
References

Half of a Yellow Sun –by Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie
Next Time