The Multiple Causes of Colonial Resistance and Rebellion

Britain was one of the countries that were actively involved in colonizing activities.
However, activities in most of its colonies were met by resistance and rebellion. This paper lists
three long-term root causes for colonies’ resistance to British policies and the immediate causes
for colonial anger or protest against British policies and discusses one of the long-term and the
immediate causes of resistance. This paper focuses on British colonies in Africa.
The three long term or root causes for colonial resistance to British policies were:
 Racist practices and segregation.
 Tax policies
 Labor exploitation
The three immediate causes for colonial anger and protests against British policies and actions
were:
 Displacement from land
 Arbitrary violence
 Abolishment of political structures.

Racist Practices and Segregation

The British colonies in Africa were marred with segregation and racist practices. The
natives were excluded from economic opportunities, investments, transport, education, and
religion (Njoh, 2007). Rampant abuse of enslaved Africans working on colonial white farms was
also reported. The separation practices were also enforced through violence. The conditions for
segregation and separation were viewed as essential determinants for regulating and controlling
colonies. For example, in the Berlin Conference in 1884 and 1885, the European delegates
settled on segregation as one of the ways to control Africans in the scramble and partition of

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Africa. It was largely considered that inhabitants of some of the would-be colonies were not yet
in a position to control and govern themselves. They needed to be controlled and governed to
ensure their civilization.
Most of the segregation techniques applied had previously worked in America, allowing
Europeans to wield power and control over local communities. However, in African colonies,
segregation was met with high resistance. The natives attempted to free themselves from the
confines of segregation and establish a balanced society. An excellent example can be observed
in South Africa, where racist practices were continued long after its independence in 1994
(Besada, 2007).

Displacement From Land

When the British arrived in their colonies, they looked for places to settle and establish
their colonies and army camps. They used violence to displace the inhabitants from their land to
this effect. The land has always been a significant factor in many societies because it is a
measure of wealth. When the British forcefully occupied land, it was interpreted as an immediate
and significant threat to the existence of the landowners, their families, and generations (Bacon,
2018). The landowners revolted against White settlers to protect themselves from further loss of
their ancestral land in solidarity to prevent it from happening to others.
Secondly, the land was an essential determinant of economic activity (Bacon, 2018). In
some colonies, such as British East African Protectorate, the British forcefully occupied the
lands with tea and coffee estates and the most fertile lands for other agricultural practices. The
threat of economic income and activity loss gave the landowners impetus and motivation to
revolt against the British colonialists. Most of the individuals who lost their land were kept in
concentration camps which left them further aggrieved. The British who successfully acquired

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land in African colonies were greatly regarded as settlers. They continued agricultural activities,
and Africans were used as laborers on the acquired farms. This caused immediate and
widespread anger.

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References

Bacon, J. (2018). Settler colonialism as eco-social structure and the production of colonial
ecological violence. Environmental Sociology, 5(1), 59–69.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2018.1474725
Besada, H. (2007). Enduring political divides in South Africa. SSRN Electronic Journal.
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1019090
Njoh, A. J. (2007). Colonial philosophies, urban space, and racial segregation in British and
French Colonial Africa. Journal of Black Studies, 38(4), 579–599.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934706288447