Nigerian History & Culture
Slave Trade
• 1400’s – 1807
• Africans sell other Africans
• Trade for alcohol, weapons & goods
• Many Igbo get rich
Strategy Change
• Slave trade abolished in 1807
• Europeans change strategy
• Use Africa for natural resources
• Carve continent up into colonies– The Berlin Conference
“Civilizing” Africa
• Many Europeans see “civilizing” the Africans as a duty
• Claim they are bringing religion and the modern way to justify the greed
3-Prong Attack
• Missionaries– Convert outcasts (osu)– Convert women
• Trade– British trade palm oil in exchange for goods
• Government– Bring in District Commissioners– Set up own police and courts
• Family Units– Multiple wives
– Each family has own compound
• Patriarchal Society– Men have power & women are
property
– Wife-beating is common
• Democratic Government– Ruled by elders (ndichie) and men
chosen to receive titles– Decisions made by clansmen
• Gods– Animist: recognize a number of gods
that embody the forces of nature– Oracles: priestesses whose job it is to
speak for a god