British Imperialism In Nigeria Essay

The definition of colonialism according to the online Oxford Dictionary is, “the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.” Specific focusing on British colonialism, it can be understood as the British Empire gaining control over and dependent area or people. The British Empire lasted from circa 1490s to the 1960s, and during that time frame they made it their mission to expand and conquer. The conquests of the British were vast and covered a multitude of regions throughout the world, including many of the African ethnic tribes of the area. The British dominated control of the west regions of Africa fairly quickly and fairly easily, and
But before the British, the Dutch came a gained control of the costal trading at the end of the 16th century. After the Dutch lost control of the region it was a juggle of power between other Europeans nations and some North American colonies (Metz 17). Due to the involvement of European nations in the slave trade, it caught the attention of other empires – in this case the British – who then became interested in the region and led expeditions to the area. The British entered Nigeria in the 1800s with hopes of military rule, trade power, and missionary influence (Metz 15). They also came in search of higher luxuries: gold; around this time the area was rumored to have many gold deposits and was known as the “Gold Coast”. Throughout the 1830s the area was caught up in a series of civil wars, dividing the tribes to an even greater extent; as a weakened front, it was hard for certain groups maintain their ownership of their land and the British began to move in. Finally, in 1851 the British seized control of Lagos from the tribes and by 1866 they had conquered and colonized the rest of the region (“Nigeria:
During World War I Britain drafted many Nigerian citizens to come fight alongside them. This caused a paradigm shift because the Nigerians realized that these “powerful rulers” were ordinary just like them. This cause many Nigerians to gain a newfound sense of nationalism, or a patriotic feeling that craved independence (“The Colonial”). After World War II, the League of Nations granted both England and France mandates over land in Nigeria. This caused a series of power grabs and fights and with tensions high, Nigerians became even more concerned felt that it was definitely time to be liberated