WEBQUEST: Have Africans’ dreams at independence come true?
During the early part of the twentieth century, most sub-Saharan African
countries were colonized, or ruled, by European powers including France, England,
Belgium, and Portugal. The colonization intensified in 1898, after European nations met
to divide up Africa at the Berlin Conference in Germany. In 1957, Ghana became the
first nation to become independent.
Your quest today is to find out: How have African nations fared since
independence? What is life like for people? Is life better or worse now that Africans rule
themselves? You will focus on one of the four countries we learned about yesterday:
The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa. Circle the
country you have been assigned by your teacher.
1) FREEDOM: Freedom House tracks freedom in terms of human rights and democracy
throughout the world. Look at the following map: http://www.freedomhouse.org/reporttypes/freedom-world. Key: green=free, blue=not free, yellow=partially free.
a. In what regions do most of the “free” countries seem to be located? [6 Regions=AsiaPacific, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Americas, Middle East
and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa]
b. Where are the “not free” countries located?
In its 50 countries of 886 million people, only 13% of African people enjoy freedom.
Compare this with 43% “free” in the Asia-Pacific countries, 84% in Western Europe, and
83% free in the Americas. Only the Middle East and North Africa is worse, with 2% of
people enjoying freedom.
2) FREEDOM IN YOUR COUNTRY: Read the text on this page:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/regions/sub-saharan-africa.
a. What issues still remain as “serious problems”?
b. Now, find your assigned country in the drop down box and write down its degree of
freedom: ________
3) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: The United Nations ranks the economic development
of countries. Look at the map at http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/map/
a. In what regions are the most economically developed countries concentrated?
b. Where are the most economically underdeveloped countries concentrated?
c. Think back to the freedom map: Is there a link between economic development and
freedom?
4) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR COUNTRY: In 2011, there were 187
countries ranked from most developed (#1 is Norway) to least (#187 is Congo) by the
UN. The USA has a Development Index ranking of 4; life expectancy is at 78.5 years;
mean years of schooling is 9; and GNP (Gross National Product=indicator of a country’s
wealth based on goods and services citizens produce) is $43,000 per capita (per
person).
Go to http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/ and find your country. Click on it to get to the
information page for that country.
a. What is your country’s Human Development Index ranking?
b. What is the life expectancy at birth?
c. What is the Education Index (mean and average years of schooling)?
d. What is the per capita income?
5) DEVELOPMENT TRENDS SINCE 1980: Staying on your country’s page, scroll down
to the graph showing Human Development Index trends since 1980. These lines show
whether development as gotten better (line will increase from left to right) or worsened
(line will decrease from left to right). Also, the lines compare your country’s development
to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and the world (see key explaining what each colored
line represents). If your country’s line is below another line (for example, world
development), then your country is less developed than the average country. If your
country’s line is above, then your country is more developed.
a. Has human development in your country increased, decreased, stayed the same, or
something else since 1980?
b. How does your country’s development compare with the rest of sub-Saharan Africa?
c. How does it compare to the rest of the world?
6) HAVE AFRICANS’ DREAMS AT INDEPENDENCE COME TRUE? Imagine you are
a citizen of your assigned country. Think back to the hopes and dreams of independence
you learned about yesterday. Use the data and trends you found for your country in this
webquest to write a letter to a local newspaper answering the question: Have our
dreams at independence come true? What problems still remain for our country? Fill in
the information below to help you write your letter:
a. The hopes and dreams of independence:
b. Ways life has improved:
c. Areas that still need improvement: