2. African Nations Gain Independence
Preview
Starting Points Map: Africa and the Middle East
Main Idea / Reading Focus
British and French Colonies
Faces of History: Jomo Kenyatta
Portuguese and Belgian Colonies
South Africa
Map: Independence in Africa

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4. African Nations Gain Independence
Main Idea
After World War II, almost all countries in Africa gained independence from ruling European powers.
Reading Focus
What ideas and actions led to independence for British and French colonies?
Why did Portuguese and Belgian colonies have difficulty achieving independence?
What effect did apartheid have on the lives of black South Africans?

5. British and French Colonies
After 1945 European colonial powers began a process of decolonization—the withdrawal of colonial powers from their colonies and areas of influence. Great Britain and France led the way.
British colony of the Gold Coast, West Africa, first to achieve independence
African leaders established convention to demand greater participation in government
Ghana
Goal: to cooperate with British, gain influence peacefully
Less cooperative movement also brewing
1947, Kwame Nkrumah became leader of Convention People’s Party (CCP)
Two Movements
Nkrumah led strikes, demonstrations
British jailed him
Still transformed CCP into major political party
1951, British pressured into allowing national elections
National Elections

6. CCP swept Gold Coast national elections
New Nation
CCP swept Gold Coast national elections
Nkrumah continued to press for independence
1957, Britain granted Gold Coast full independence
Nkrumah became first prime minister of new nation, Ghana

7. Kenya
In the 1950s the Kenyan path to independence did not go as smoothly as it did in Ghana.
Ownership of land, possibility of independence led to conflict between white Kenyan farmers, native Kikuyu people
Farmers feared independence would cause them to lose large tracts of valuable cash crops in Kenyan highlands
Kikuyu wanted these ancestral homelands back
Conflict
Leader of Kenya’s nationalist movement, Jomo Kenyatta argued for Kikuyu’s right to land, its importance
Many Kikuyu farmers formed violent movement, Mau Mau
Group terrorized highlands, murdered anyone opposing them, including Africans who cooperated with white settlers
Mau Mau

8. British Regain Control
British eventually regained control of colony
British murdered, tortured members of Mau Mau movement
Late 1950s, British convinced to accept decolonization
1963, Kenya became independent nation
Jomo Kenyatta became first prime minister

10. French Africa Different Path Benefits in Relationship French Community
French African colonies followed different path toward independence
French goal had been to incorporate colonies into France itself
Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle tried to pursue goal after World War II
Benefits in Relationship
African leaders believed they should have greater opportunities for self-rule
However, rejected final break with France because they believed Africans could attain economic, cultural benefits from continued relationship
French Community
1958, de Gaulle called for referendum on continued union
Most colonies voted to join new organization, known as French Community
France granted most colonies of Community independence a few years later

11. How did Britain grant independence to its African colonies?
Find the Main Idea
How did Britain grant independence to its African colonies?
Answer(s): Britain granted independence to its colonies after they began nationalist movements.

12. Portuguese and Belgian Colonies
Transition to independence for Belgian, Portuguese colonies more difficult than for British, French
Belgians, Portuguese held on to colonies longer than any other European nations
Violence forced decolonization
Transition Difficult
After World War II, Belgian government agreed to prepare people of Belgian Congo for self-government
1950s, African nationalists in Congo demanded immediate self-government
1960, Belgians announced complete withdrawal; soon violence toward Belgian settlers, civil war erupted
Belgian Congo

13. Leaders Emerge in Portuguese Colonies
Portugal continued to hold on to colonies
Meanwhile, African leaders emerged in colonies of Angola, Portuguese Guinea, Mozambique
Leaders organized armies to fight for independence
Bloody Warfare in Portuguese Colonies
Long years of bloody warfare marked last decades of Portuguese rule
War, military coup in Portugal drained Portuguese economy; made it impossible to continue support of colonies
1974, Portugal withdrew completely from Africa

14. How did Africans in the Portuguese colonies achieve independence?
Summarize
How did Africans in the Portuguese colonies achieve independence?
Answer(s): African leaders organized armies to fight for independence; years of bloody warfare ended Portuguese rule.

15. South Africa Apartheid Racial Separation
In the early 1900s South Africa was run by white Afrikaners—descendants of the original Dutch settlers. Even though South Africa had received independence from Great Britain in 1910, nonwhites in South Africa were not free under the Afrikaner government.
1948, racial discrimination heightened when Afrikaner-dominated National Party began to run South African government
Instituted policy of apartheid, “apartness” in Afrikaner language
Apartheid
Apartheid policy divided into four racial groups: White, Black, Colored (mixed ancestry), Asian
Attempted to create greater separation between whites, nonwhites, impose harsh controls
Racial Separation
Apartheid laws banned interracial marriages, and placed further restrictions on African ownership of land and businesses.

16. Apartheid Laws Laws Harsh on Blacks Citizenship Denied
Apartheid laws especially harsh on blacks in South Africa
Required to carry passes, identity books
Also faced imprisonment if police found them in an area for more than 72 hours without pass
Laws Harsh on Blacks
Under apartheid, only white South Africans could vote, hold political office
Blacks made up nearly 75 percent of population, were denied South African citizenship
Restricted to certain occupations, very little pay
Citizenship Denied

17. Homelands Townships Further Segregation Citizenship Aliens
Apartheid placed limits on where blacks could live
Required to live in impoverished areas of cities called townships
Further Segregation
Restricted businesses allowed in townships, kept people poor
1950s, created rural “homelands” for tribes, groups
Citizenship
Did not include good farmland, resources
Used homelands as excuse for depriving blacks of citizenship
Aliens
Men forced to migrate without families to work in mines, factories, farms
Homeland policy made millions resident aliens in own country

21. What was apartheid, and how did it function?
Find the Main Idea
What was apartheid, and how did it function?
Answer(s): policy of separating whites and nonwhites and placing restrictions upon nonwhites; enforced by police, laws