African History Commons^™

Garfield Todd: The End Of The Liberal Dream In Rhodesia, By Susan Woodhouse (Harare: Weaver Press, 2018), Bizeck Jube Phiri

Zambia Social Science Journal

Susan Woodhouse spent 25 years writing this biographic book about Garfield Todd. Todd was the prime minister of Southern Rhodesia for five years from 1953 to 1958. The book is derived from the author’s memory of working for Todd for two years while he was in office. More importantly, the author gathered data for the book from archival research in Zimbabwe over a period of seven years.

British And South African Perceptions Of African Participation In The African Military Campaigns Of World War One, Eric Mathew Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Historians interested in reconstructing the events of World War One have consistently noted that the military campaigns that occurred in sub-Saharan Africa have been given scant attention. It is commonly accepted among researchers that while there has been some focus on the impressions of the individual European soldiers involved in this conflict, wide gaps still exist in the literature. Very significantly, a thorough search of the literature clearly reveals that the perceptions of whites towards their African counterparts who participated in the military campaigns has been very much neglected. This dissertation helps to close this gap by focusing on the …

Operation Airlift Africa: American Education And The Development Of Future Leaders From British Colonies In East And Central Africa, David N. Gachigo

Theses and Dissertations

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, over 800 students from British East and Central Africa gained access to American education through Operation Airlift Africa (OAA), a visionary initiative led by Kenyan trade unionist and politician Tom Mboya. Funded by private American donors, including Senator John F. Kennedy, and supported by scholarships from U.S. institutions, the program enabled African students to attend high schools, colleges, and universities in North America, mostly in the United States. This dissertation explores the impact of OAA on educational access for colonial subjects and its role in shaping future African leadership. The study argues that …

Decolonizing Health In Madagascar: A Francophone Perspective, Delaney K. Brenner

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Blackness And Nineteenth-Century Art In The Atlantic World, Rachel Hooper

Curatorial Publications

No abstract provided.

The Imperial Origins Of Genocide: Colonial Discourses And The Genocides In Timor-Leste And Rwanda, Zoe S. Appio

Honors Theses

This project aims to compare the ideological and structural colonial legacies that created the tensions for genocide to occur in Timor-Leste and Rwanda. It also aims to understand how these colonial legacies inhibited the international community's response and exacerbated the genocides. The genocide in Timor-Leste occurred from 1975 to 2002 and was perpetrated by the Indonesian government against the native Timorese population. The genocide in Rwanda occurred from April to July of 1994 and was perpetrated by the Hutu majority against the Tutsi minority. Throughout this thesis, I argue that colonial legacies like nationalism, racial hierarchies, and the maintenance of …

Silent Chains: Family And Religious Systems As Foundations Of Child Slavery And Labor In Ghana (1775-1956), Patricia Esi Quainoo

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

This study explores the often-overlooked role of children in slavery and forced labor in Ghana, emphasizing their exploitation in domestic service, agriculture, and other labor sectors. While existing scholarship often subsumes children within broader narratives of slavery, this research highlights their distinct experiences and their crucial role in sustaining Indigenous slavery. It argues that child slavery in Ghana was reinforced by familial practices such as the pawnship system, religious obligations like the trokosi system, and the reliance on family farms, where children served as producers and carriers of cocoa. Additionally, missionaries employed children as laborers in mission stations, schools, and …

Writing Back To Empire: Anticolonial Petitioning And Decolonisation In Postwar British West Africa, 1945–1960, Bright Alozie

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article reexamines petition writing as a strategic form of anticolonial resistance and negotiation in British West Africa between 1945 and 1960. Focusing on Nigeria and the Gold Coast (now Ghana), it argues that petitions – often regarded as apolitical or ineffective – were in fact deeply political texts through which colonised individuals asserted rights, challenged imperial authority, and participated in shaping decolonisation discourse. Drawing on new archival petitions, colonial correspondence, and administrative records, the study analyzes how a wide range of African actors – including trade unions, veterans, women’s organisations, and youth groups – appropriated colonial bureaucratic norms to …

El Doble Discurso Del Simbolismo De La (Pureza De) Sangre En El Diario Espiritual De La Donada Afroperuana Úrsula De Jesús, Yertty M. Vandermolen

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

Purity of Blood Symbolism and Double Discourse in The Spiritual Diary of the Afro-Peruvian Donada Úrsula de Jesús

Through a close reading of The Spiritual Diary, this study examines how the Afro-Peruvian donada Úrsula de Jesús—whose experiences and visions were recorded and transcribed by a group of literate nuns in her convent—employs discursive strategies to dismantle the discourse of blood purity and reformulate the meaning of the blood. Drawing on the Christian belief that all humans are created equally in the image of God and redeemed through the blood of Christ as promised for universal salvation, Úrsula constructs an egalitarian …

Plantation Matters: The Black Production Of Space In Southeastern Louisiana, 1830 To 1912, Noura Jabir

Pomona Senior Theses

Taking one Louisiana sugar plantation as a starting place, I demonstrate how African-descended laborers created life-sustaining spaces within/beyond the death-driving plantation complex during and after slavery.

A Multiple Perspective Analysis On Urban Poverty In Developing Nations: A Case Study On Nigeria, Colonial Implications, And Modern-Day Outcomes, Julian Rivera-Williams

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will dissect urbanization and poverty in Nigeria as a case study of the challenges of underdevelopment and the lingering effects of colonialism in Africa. To draw a complete understanding of challenges faced by developing nations facing systemic underdevelopment, high poverty, and low productivity– nations like Nigeria, my research will uncover colonial impacts and post-colonial policies that initiated urban poverty and underdevelopment outcomes we see today. The purpose of my thesis is to encompass existing fragmented academia on the causes and consequences of underdevelopment and connect historical implications to current impacts of global development today including the influence of …

Front Matter - Zamani 1, No. 2, Editors Note

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

The editors are pleased to present to you the second issue of Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies. Volume 1 Number 2 has a collection of research and forum articles as well as book reviews. There are four articles that builds from field research with different themes spanning from neolithic to the postcolonial periods. The themes include new neolithic dating; smallpox control in early colonial period in the former German East Africa (now Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi); evasion of colonial taxation; and the connection between land legislations and land conflicts among the peasant and pastoral communities. There are also …

New Chronology For Neolithic Cultures In The Lake Eyasi Basin, Northern Tanzania, Musa Said Mwitondi, Pastory Magayane Bushozi

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

There have been several studies on Neolithic Cultures in the Serengeti National. The recovered archaeological materials include domestic and wild fauna remains, potsherds and lithic artefacts, ochre, and stone enclosures, dating between 7200 and 4900 BP. In the East African Rift System (EARS), conventional ages for Neolithic Cultures are inferred from the most extensively researched Neolithic sites in Kenya, where the oldest Nderit ware, cattle and caprine in the Lake Turkana Basin, northern Kenya, date ca. 5200 BP. Studies on the Neolithic of EARS have been structured to fit into the migration or diffusion models that consider the spread of …

Smallpox Outbreaks And Immunization Policies In Tanzania From The Late Nineteenth Century To The First World War, Lorne Larson

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

An estimated 300 million people died globally from smallpox in the 20th century alone. There was very much a North/South divide in the existence of the disease in that period, with countries across South America, Africa and Asia recording the majority of cases. In 1966 the World Health Organization launched an intensive effort to finally eliminate the disease. The last known endemic case of smallpox was reported in Somalia in 1977, and that outbreak was promptly contained. In 1980 smallpox was declared eradicated – the only infectious disease affecting humans to achieve this distinction. This remains among the most notable …

'Evading The Tax Collector’: Native Responses To The Head Tax In Colonial Njombe, Tanzania, 1920-1960, Peter Chaula, Hezron Kangalawe

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Tax collection was one of the core preoccupations of the colonial government in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and other colonies in the Africa that persisted even after independence. Direct taxation formed the basis of colonial taxation in Tanganyika. Head tax was a dominant form of direct taxation with its burden being borne primarily by Africans. This article uses the colonial Njombe District of Tanganyika to explore the responses of the African taxpayers to the head tax. The available data indicates that colonial head tax policies and practices in Njombe elicited varied responses from Africans with covert forms forming the mainstay of …

Revisiting African Religion As An Academic Discipline In Africa: History And Prospects, Ivan B. Kivinge

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Three main religious traditions—indigenous African beliefs and practices (African religion), Christianity and Islam—have dominated everyday life of communities in Africa today. Scholarship on religion indicates that only African religion originated in Africa— Christianity and Islam are foreign religions. Many Africans today have been active Christians and Muslims, who are sometimes being misleadingly taught that African religion is demonic and forms of paganism. This article employs historical and philosophical approaches to show how the study of African religion has navigated through various historical currents and resultant implications on the way the current generation views it. In the end, the article proposes …

Major Trends In Oral Historiography In Mainland Tanzania, 1960s To The Present: A Review Of Published Sources, Albertus K. Onyiego

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This article examines the role of oral methodology in reconstructing historical knowledge in Mainland Tanzania over the last six decades. Although greater attention is paid to the period from the 1960s onwards, efforts have been made to illuminate on the use of oral methodology in the period before. The article is organised into four temporal sections, each representing a distinct phase of oral methodology. The first section explores the role of oral methodology before independence. It will be noticed that the gradual use of oral sources in the writing of history in Mainland Tanzania started way back during German and …

A Society For Professional Archaeologists In Tanzania: A Call For Action, Richard K. Bigambo

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This essay discusses the need for an Archaeological Association of Tanzania and provides its general structure. It argues that the proposed association is essential for promoting the country’s development, heritage preservation and conservation, and promotion of archaeological studies. In addition to providing resources and support for research, training, and education, it would facilitate collaboration and networking, help protect and preserve Tanzania's cultural heritage, and increase public awareness and education about archaeology in Tanzania. The essay also discusses the development of archaeology in Tanzania and the history and contributions of archaeological associations worldwide. This structure for the proposed association would enable …

Review Of Water Brings No Harm: Management Knowledge And The Struggle For Waters Of Kilimanjaro, Maxmillian J. Chuhila

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Water Brings No Harm is a key text that enables readers to understand the competing claims to resource control between government authorities and local communities on the ground. Scholarship on the relationship between local knowledge and expert knowledge in resource management and control suggests an asymmetrical relationship in which expert opinion assumes the primary responsibility.1 Bender contrasts traditional and imposed systems of resource ownership and management, arguing that there has been a struggle from both sides, as each side believes it has a rightful claim to ownership and management of water source.

Review Of Decolonising Sociology: An Introduction, Armstrong K. Matogwa

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Decolonizing Sociology is one of the few works in sociology that makes critical assessment of the discipline. It is a kind of self-critique within the discipline that aims to reveal epistemic setbacks that have existed for decades. To arrive to the point, Meghji, has situated his thesis along decolonial sociology, which interrogates dominant sociological theories in the context of imperialism. By so doing, he makes three main arguments as follows; first, what is called sociology is colonial in nature as it is based on the ideas of the Western thinkers namely Marx, Durkheim and Weber which emerged and institutionalized during …