From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. Non-African Poetry Instead of adapting the teachings and practices of the new religion to suit indigenous values, as it did when the same Christian religion adopted Greek, Roman, German and Anglo-Saxon native practices, the early Christian missionaries condemned totally as pagan, and to be avoided by their converts, whatever they considered strange. He moved to Techny in 2016. Ralph teaches English for Academic Purposes (EAP) online. Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. In the case of Ghana, like other nations, the impact . They preferred to hold onto polygamy, even at the cost of illiteracy. This conditioning was focused on norms that missionaries deemed incompatible with a Christian way of life. Missionaries continued to be the main providers of education even after colonial powers established control during the so-called Scramble for Africa which occurred between 1884-1914. Being able to speak and write in the colonisers language was considered a privilege. Hilliard, F.H., 1957. In spite of all this, with the advent of the First World War in 1914 in the Kwaku District there were 21 congregations with a total of over 2500 members. The greatest problem faced by the early European Christian missionaries was, the tropical climate and health Hazards. They were followed by other major missionary bodies, including the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. A permanent station was established in Lagos in 1868, soon followed by others at Lokoja, Abeokuta and Ibadan. Hastings, Adrian. The missionaries believed that in order to stabilize the faith of converts and to assist in character development, it was necessary that they should be able to read the scriptures or other books of religious instruction, translated by the missions. Soon after secondary schools were opened in other parts of southern Nigeria, including Bonny High School, which was taken over by government in 1904. Even if secondary education was provided, it was often reserved for the sons of local chiefs (Oliver 1952:212; Beck 1966: 120), an elite the colonial government could then call upon to help rule the colony, a common practice in colonial Africa. Teacher training colleges in Ghana did not expand as fast as the secondary schools. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century, informal education existed in Ghana with the goal of introducing young people into the society. Please click this link to download the chapter. The CMS began to work in the freed slave villages in Sierra Leone in 1804 and the Methodist in 1811. Its general scope extends to both Roman Catholic as well as Protestant missionaries in relation to education works. For instance, the Basel Mission established the first teacher training college in Ghana. 1 (1971): 103-115. Being ignorant of ones history causes one to lose part of ones identity and pride in that identity, and one is therefore more vulnerable to attacks denouncing ones culture as inferior, especially if at the same time one is being taught the noble history of another culture. The early success of the missionaries included areas like Freetown and surrounding villages. Call: +233558280780, Your email address will not be published. That there are parallels between contemporary Christian organizations efforts and the missionary efforts of the mid-nineteenth to mid- twentieth centuries is a reason for concern, considering the similar impact of missionaries of all Christian denominations on the education of Africans in the British and Italian colonies in Africa. From 1835 to the middle of the nineteenth century the Church was in opposition to traditional religion. Founded in 1875 by St. Arnold Janssen, we number more than 6,000 missionaries. How to Get Involved in Church Missions: The Ultimate Guide, 16 Causes of Crime Essay (with Solutions), Justify the Title of the Novel Second Class Citizen, The Role of Ghana in the Formation of the OAU, Economic Developments in Ghana Before Independence, 11 Causes of the Rise of Nationalism in Africa, Importance of the Odwira Festival in Ghana. Establishment of Christian Churches In Nigeria. The practice of inflicting multiple wounds on the bodies of so-called spirit babies now belongs to history. They were to spread the message of the Gospel, render social services to the people and to assist in the suppression of slavery and the slave trade. His request to the Danish Crown for missionaries was forwarded to . These attempts were traumatic for the students and threatened the survival of unique cultures. %%EOF One of the missions most important contributions to the colonial regimes was their role in educating the native Africans. Longman Nigeria Plc., 1994, Boahen, A.A. et al Tropics in West Africa History. After more than 20 years at Pope John XXIII School, he returned to the United States and served as parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd in Trenton, N.J., where he lived with Father Tetteh. They relied very much on their home churches for their funds. Also the missionaries set up model farms where scientific agriculture was taught and new crops were introduced for the people, to go alongside longstanding indigenous production. As Sir Henry Johnston, a key figure in the Scramble for Africa says, they [the mission stations] strengthen our hold over the country, they spread the use of the English language, they induct natives into the best kind of civilization, and in fact, each mission station is an essay in colonization (Johnston cited in Sheffield 1973:10). They include Sierra Leone 1900-1933; Ghana 1903; Cape Verde 1904-1910; and St Vincent 1907-1912. It started first among the Yoruba recaptives who had embraced the Christian faith while in Sierra Leone (freed from slave trading ships by the British Royal Naval Squadron), and who returned home between 1839 and 1845. In fact, most of the norms opposed by missionaries concerned gender relationships. Today, local communities and ethnic groups that were more exposed to mission schools, still achieve higher levels of education, when compared to communities where there were no schools. Given the fluctuating standards between schools and regions and the lack of qualified teachers in the mission schools which had monopolies in well into the mid-twentieth century, it should come as little surprise that the quality of education continues to be a concern in many former colonies. They also prescribed many taboos which, in the light of modern medical science, had no relation whatever with the illness being treated. Foremost in the contribution of the early Christian missionaries to the development of Ghana is their efforts to bring Western education to Ghanaians. Specifically, it addresses the unique role of Christian missions in. Andreas Riis, assisted by a team of West Indian evangelists, laid the foundations of the Basel Missionary Church in the country. Although Lokoja had a small C.M.S. A short history of education in British West Africa. He introduced the Methodist Church in Asante in 1839, and won the support of the Asante king. The Basel Mission. For this reason, missionaries believed they were doing their students a favour by discouraging traditional practices and promoting Western ones. However, the discovery of quinine and other curative medicines in the late 19th century made the history of the missionary work in West Africa a different thing altogether. Indeed, most of our early nationalists were all products of mission schools. Almost all the missions in West Africa faced financial problems in the early stages of their missionary work. Among the first missionaries was the Rev. Kalu, Ogbu. The training college later became part of Achimota College. Samuel Adu-Gyamfi And Benjamin Kye Ampadu, Ajayi, J..F.A and Michael Crowder History of West Africa. As they could not recruit British missionary volunteers initially, the Church Missionary Society sponsored the services of German missionaries, who were Lutherans, to come out to Sierra Leone. The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of privately owned higher education institutions in Nigeria, including those owned by religious bodies and even by their individual members. Christian missionaries were the first to introduce European-style education in sub-Saharan Africa. Bamgboye & Company Press, 1976. The Journal of Negro Education (JNE), a scholarly refereed journal, was founded at Howard University in 1932. The effort of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. personal development The American Episcopal Evangelical (A.M.E.) Zion Church owes its foundation in Ghana to Bishop J. Bryan Small, who started work first at Keta in 1898. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995. The high temperatures coupled with high rainfall patterns in some parts of the country experienced during the daytime, made the missionaries stay indoors, which slowed down their activities. Buchi Emecheta The missionaries seemed to have concentrated much of their effort on the production of export crops. Lets now take a closer look at both the positive and negative impacts of the activities of the Christian missionaries in Ghana and the rest of Africa. Learn how your comment data is processed. In such situations, the message sometimes appealed to the local people depending on the efficiency of the interpreter. essay writing In 1950 Albert Academy was founded in Freetown; for-a long lime it was the secondary school in the Colony serving largely children from the provinces, among them were the future heads of state, Sir Milton Margai and Dr. Siaka Stevens. The American Episcopal Evangelical (A.M.E.) Zion Church owes its foundation in Ghana to Bishop J. Bryan Small, who started work first at Keta in 1898. It is interesting to note that this project is not a new concept. Wm. endstream endobj startxref The activities of the early Christian missionaries negatively affected the development of African traditional political institutions. African poetry On the opposite side, the coming of the Christian missionaries brought in its wake certain negative developments like disregard for African culture and rebellion against traditional authority. These trends occasionally brought kings into conflict with the missionaries and their converts. (As at December 2020). With the exception of the first two volumes, marked "West Africa", these items are drawn from the volumes Series CWW. As happened in Ghana, the development of training colleges in Nigeria was slower than secondary schools, though the C. M. S. had opened the first training college at Abeokuta as far back as 1849. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. Like the Methodists, the Roman Catholic missionaries spread the faith notably in the interior, which later became Protectorate. Besides education, they cared for the sick. Therefore, whether through their rigid educational polices or lack thereof, colonial governments contributed to the poor education, though there is no denying that missionaries also contributed to the quality of education to a great extent. self help Now, with the burgeoning Cocoa industry, the expansion of commercial activity, the development of gold mines and the building of roads and railways disturbed the traditional lifestyle. But the funds and other needed materials even when available could not reach their station in time. grammatical name In Fanteland, the Methodists and Roman Catholics pioneered similar works. In conclusion, the educational enterprise of the Christian missionaries in the British and Italian colonies of Africa during the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries was primarily negative for the African pupils. An attempt to respond to this question informs the underlying interest for this paper, namely, to explore the extent to which these institutions, especially . Development of Education in Sierra Leone. In regions where a denomination felt threatened by another denomination, the denominations were more likely to establish more schools in an attempt to gain more converts than their rival, while in regions such as northern Nigeria, where colonial policy prevented too much rivalry, schools were scarce (Bassey 1991:45). We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. This hymn sums up the reasons why the Christian missionaries came to Africa and other parts of the world. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'cegastacademy_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_15',609,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-cegastacademy_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');The European missionaries began their activities in Ghana as far back as the early fifteenth century. Nevertheless, the first higher institution in Ghana, now the Presbyterian Training College at Akuapem Akropon, was established in 1848, first as a centre for training catechists, and later to train teachers as well as ministers of the Presbyterian Church. Prior to the advent of western education, Ghana's traditional social structures had inbuilt opportunities for mobility. Was this information useful? The consequences of norm conflicts are likely to manifest beyond educational pursuit. The Christian missionaries of different missionary societies made a tremendous contribution to education in South Africa. Therefore the period for the rise of Christianizing Missions in the late Nineteenth Century has been considered as reprise. For example, they made our people view polygamy and puberty rites as pagan practices. Public money was spent only on the small number of government schools, totaling nineteen when Governor Guggisberg assumed office in 1919. Further, the missionaries introduced improved methods of farming together with modern farm implements. History books tended to exaggerate in achievements of Europeans, making no reference to Africans own great past. Its message was that of love and the universal brotherhood of mankind. The missions agricultural schools were especially beneficial for colonial governments considering that governments believed that manual labour was a means to prevent discontent and unrest in the tribes (Hansen 1984:232). Initially,. Similar organizations were formed in several other European countries. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Then lets begin straightaway. The original letters from abroad cover West Africa from 1899 to 1933. The country has diverse geography, people groups, and languageswith English as the common language, and more than 11 others with state recognition. Preventive medicine was hardly known; the result was that epidemics of different kinds were frequent. Alignment is the degree of congruence between your teaching philosophy and your institution's mission. Because of rivalry, instead of building one common, multi-denominational school in a village that really only needed the one school, missionaries each built a school for their particular denomination and competed for students (Berman 1974:533). Unsurprisingly, the level of education increased as one moved closer to the missionaries. others adopted a system of education varied from one and the other hence, lacking consistency in the educational sector [3]. Among several others, the native Bishop Ajayi Crowther produced the first translation of the Bible in Yoruba. In addition to studying the impact of these struggles on education, we also need to understand how they influenced gender inequality. At the time of its inception, however, there was no publication that systematically or comprehensively addressed the enormous problems that characterized the education of Blacks in the United States and elsewhere. These contradictions are surprisingly absent from contemporary research. These included the Basel Missionary Society, founded in Switzerland, and the Breman Mission formed in Germany. In the British colonies, as elsewhere, religious missions were instrumental in introducing European-style education. A second reason for the poor education of the mission schools was that in many cases the teachers in mission schools were unqualified as teachers, but were instead preachers by training. In my study, I explored how colonial era conflicts and disagreements over marriage norms lastingly affected educational development. They discovered that the holy book did not clearly prescribe monogamy, and contained several examples of renowned Christian polygamists. DISCLOSURE. The First Missionaries were sent as a result of a request by Major de Richelieu, Governor of Christiansborg. Given their priorities, it should thus come as little surprise that missions often provided poor education to the African pupils. Debate Speech: Religion Has Failed Society, A Speech Outlining the Achievements and Problems of Your School, 7 Factors Accounting for the Shortage of Capital In West Africa, The Resurrection of Jesus According to Marks Gospel. This comes at no extra cost to you. In spite of the division, the parent Methodist missionary church played an important role in the history of Christianity in Sierra Leone. The Methodists, known as the Wesleyan Missionaries (after their founder), arrived in Freetown in 1811. In due course leprosariums and orphanages were built to supplement their medical services. The Society of the Divine Word is the world's largest Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers who focus on missionary work. What would have happened if missionaries had not insisted on monogamy? Introduction, spread and effects, 6: Christian Missionary Activities in West Africa, 7: Scramble for and Partition of West Africa, 9: Problems of Independent West African States, 10: West Africa and International Organizations, 11: Women and Authority in West African History, 12: The Environment in West African History. 2 (1983): 116-143. The missionary activities in Nigeria, especially their educational programs helped to whip-up the consciousness of a shared identity and helped to train a new set of elite that championed the course of nationalism and constituted a virile leadership for the young nation at independence.Click to see full answer What is missionary education?A mission school or [] They were followed in turn by the Methodists and the Roman Catholics. Moreover, mission education formed a poor foundation for future educational conditions in the former colonies. The Journal of Negro Education, 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination. 2023 Society of the Divine Word. 522 0 obj <>stream In conclusion, the converts tended to look down upon many things in their ancestral culture. The education provided in schools in early days also tended to place great emphasis on the superiority of western culture. Series CLS. J. G. Christaller produced a Twi Grammar and Dictionary. He was followed, three years afterwards, by the Rev. Crampton, Edmund Patrick Thurman. Renewed evangelism started when the Basel (later known as Presbyterian) missionaries started work at Osu (Accra). Missionaries continued to be the main providers of education even after colonial powers established control during the so-called Scramble for Africa which occurred between 1884-1914. Johannes Zimmermann, for example, produced a Ga dictionary, Ga bible and grammar book. Christianity reborn: the global expansion of evangelicalism in the twentieth century. Their records from World War One show their distance from the war and yet that it did affect . They did a lot to impact the social and economic lives of Africans. A new era began with the settlements of Black Christians from Nova Scotia in Sierra Leone in 1787 and the missionary advance inland from Cape Town beginning with the arrival there of J. T. van der Kemp in 1799. His immigrant Irish-born parents instilled faith and a firm work ethic in their sons. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. ), Father Auguste Moreau and Father Eugene Murat, arrived at Elmina and revived the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. In the later 19th century, the immense African interior remained the principal object of the Catholic Priests, and from 1867 until his death in November 1892 Cardinal Lavigerie planned the planting of churches in Africa South of the Sahara. For three years, he taught English and biblical ethics. According to the Head of the Methodist Church in Ghana, Mmofraturo was established in Kumasi, 'when it dawned on the early Wesleyan Missionaries that when the girl child was educated, she could grow up to face the challenges of the fast-changing world. Although modern scientific research has confirmed the medicinal properties of these concoctions, traditional medical practice had several shortcomings. His viewing and wake service took place on Sept. 26 at the chapel in the Divine Word Residence at Techny. Also, Christian missionaries in Ghana were as zealous as their counterparts in Nigeria in pioneering medical services. For example, they preached against human sacrifice. Some observers have argued that the Europeans used the Christian bible to justify the practice of slavery and the slave trade. Website design and development by Americaneagle.com, Inc, Society of the Divine Word- Western Province, Society of the Divine Word- Southern Province. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. For instance, on 2nd October 1792, the Baptist Missionary Society was formed followed by the interdenominational London Missionary Society which was established in 1795. station in 1858, it was not until 1889 that the missionaries entered Hausaland, which was predominantly Muslim. Through academic lessons and lessons on Western etiquette and hygiene, mission students were isolated from their traditional cultures, a traumatic experience that would continue to trouble many students for the rest of their lives. Thomas Thompson, arrived in Cape Coast in 1752. Kalu, Ogbu. The missionaries opened schools further inland, and by 1880, the Wesleyan Mission had eighty -three schools. mock tests The Ghana Education Decentralization Project (GEDP), launched in 2010 and ended in 2012, has increased the influence of local authorities over management . The Basel Mission, as a result of this phenomenal expansion trained many local personnel to man the new stations. hR]0+^$%K{_"/HevgV+bH6L %)`\ #\E*63Z_TsxlRZj:[/\IL-1b-i In the 19thh century, too, Afro-Brazilians returned to Benin and Nigeria with Catholicism. Thus, despite what the images of suffering African children on websites such as that of Compassion Canada might lead one to believe, it is time for Africans to educate their own, without any interference. Today, human sacrifice is generally frowned upon and considered an abomination. In short, the impact of teaching in the vernacular was more negative than positive, as it reinforced colonial rule and no doubt did very little to preserve native cultural identities, seeing as missionaries promoted European languages as superior and only used the vernacular because conversion and religious instruction were such high priorities. Ghana continued to call. These missionary societies laid the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church in West Africa, which lasted through to the independence period when African clergy replaced the white pastors.
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